Something else changed that summer. It was the very first year Danny had shown any interest in going to the sleep-out on the beach where all the kids would take their sleeping bags and stay the night. Maria couldn’t fathom why this year he wanted to go. It broke her heart as she watched him carefully packing an overnight bag: a toothbrush; a bar of soap, both tucked into a washbag. She closed her eyes and contemplated telling him he wouldn’t need either of those things, but then, imagining his reaction, she crept away.

She knew it would be better if he didn’t go. Maria could protect her son by keeping him away, even though David would disapprove. But at the same time she’d always longed for Danny to want to join in, and that was why she was fighting her desire to stop him.

How could she know what was the right thing to do? Remove your child from what might hurt them, or let them face it and hope they’ll be stronger for it in the end?

David often told her she mollycoddled Danny. ‘He needs to learn how to toughen up,’ her husband would say, though there was always a glint of something else in his eyes. Fear that maybe he didn’t believe his own words?

The thought of Danny sleeping on the beach with the other kids tore at Maria. She could imagine exactly what it’d be like – a group of kids tightly packed around a campfire, the older boys showing off with their guitars. Meanwhile her son would be tucked into his sleeping bag on the outer edge of the circle, not knowing how to join in even if he wanted to.

Maria tried brushing the thoughts away as she retreated downstairs and into the garden. She jumped when she caught sight of a figure suddenly appearing to the right of the house. The trees were so thick there anyone could wander in from the woods. She’d often considered asking David to build a fence around that side too. There was no way of knowing what was their garden and what was the woods, but usually the only people who used it as a walkway were her friends. As it was, her visitor today wasn’t. And he knew perfectly well where he was walking.

Danny zipped up his bag and stood back to look at it. It was the first time he’d packed his own things for a night away and he was pretty sure he’d remembered everything. His mum had been asking questions and he knew she couldn’t understand why he was suddenly going this year when every other he’d outright refused, but there was no way he could tell her his reasons.