‘Course it’s possible. What you’re saying is that you’re not prepared to do it,’ he said.

‘I’ll do my best.’

‘And if your best isn’t good enough, you’ll regret it,’ Caleb insisted.

Amelia tried to help, pointing out, ‘She hasn’t said it’s impossible,’ as the flight attendant retreated.

‘I’ll cope either way. It’s not like I can’t bend my knee,’ said Xander.

‘That’s good, but not the point. These people –’

Xander cut him off kindly, saying, ‘Listen, thanks anyway.’

Caleb had to make do with carrying all Xander’s luggage as well as his own. I would have helped, but Amelia beat me to it, and of course my cousin told her the extra weight was no bother to him. There were no free trolleys in the airport. Although we didn’t have to walk far to drop our stuff off, it was a hot day, and by the time we made the plane Caleb was bright red with effort. They put Xander in a standard seat. He was fine with it and mercifully Caleb didn’t argue. He just sat there, next to Amelia, stewing. My cousin had drawn in his spikes for now, but I couldn’t help feeling he was likely to do a different kind of damage when he eventually lashed out again.

28.

When booking plane tickets Xander had got a message through to the hotel, so I was hopeful Mum or Dad – possibly both of them – might be at the airport in Kinshasa to meet us. I was surprised to see Uncle Langdon there instead. He was wearing a yellow Hawaiian number today, and somebody in the bustling airport crowd had just bumped his takeaway coffee cup, slopping some of its contents down his shirtfront. He was annoyed by that and seemed more bothered by the stain – he kept dabbing at it with a handkerchief – than he was concerned to see how we were. I imagined that meant he hadn’t heard about the gorilla attack, Xander’s leg or the death of Innocent, but when he finally gave up with the coffee spot his offhand, ‘Bad luck,’ to Xander suggested that he knew exactly how it had happened.