He walked them to the front door; either well brought up, Robin thought, or escorting them off the premises. In the box of space between the inner and outer doors, he shook hands again. ‘As I said, we like Becca here. Will you keep me posted?’

Chapter Eight

‘How was school?’

Lennie pulled her feet up and rested her chin on her knees, eyes fixed on the TV, where a dreaming Homer Simpson frolicked after a trio of rabbits in the Land of Chocolate. Ecstatic, he took a bite out of a lamppost and a chocolate dog before he was stopped mid-mouthful by a nasal white rabbit with a Mr Burns overbite.

Lennie shrugged. ‘Okay.’

The Land of Chocolate morphed into a video game and the white rabbit bounced ahead up pink marshmallow platforms, taunting.

‘What are the other kids like? Anyone you think you might get on with?’

Her eyes stayed fixed on the television. ‘Maybe. I don’t know.’

‘What about the lessons – what did you have today?’

‘Geography and history this morning, maths and physics this afternoon.’

‘How were the teachers? Did you like any of them?’

Another shrug. ‘I was just kind of getting through it.’

‘I wish you’d stayed at home with Gran.’

‘That would have made it worse. Doing nothing, I mean.’

‘I know. Same here.’ She reached out and put her arm round her daughter. After a moment, Lennie relaxed and shifted closer.

Homer’s video game was quickly turning dystopic. The rabbit announced he’d slept with Marge and there was a crash on the other side of the wall as Christine dropped a pan. The lid did a slow drum-roll. ‘B … Bother.’

‘You all right, Chrissie, love?’ came Dennis’s voice from the tiny conservatory.

‘Fine.’

Lennie looked at her. ‘Not fine,’ she mouthed.

Dennis’s feet on the kitchen tiles. ‘Ah, at least it’s just water, sweetheart. Here, give me that, I’ll do it.’

‘Have you heard anything?’ Len asked.

‘Not about Uncle Josh. I spoke to Will and he said Peter’s …’ She hesitated. The urge to tell her that everything was fine, hunky-dory, not a cloud in the sky but she tried always to be honest with Lennie. ‘He’s stable. His injuries are very serious, as we knew, but he’s had surgery and he’s doing okay. Now we just have to wait.’

‘Could he die, too?’ Direct eye contact, nowhere to hide.

‘With a big injury, there’s always a chance something’ll happen. An infection or … But he’s being really well looked after. He’ll have nurses with him all the time in Intensive Care.’

‘Can we visit him?’

‘I don’t know. I’ll ring Will again in the morning.’ She gave Lennie a squeeze. ‘What are you doing watching TV, by the way? You still have to do your homework.’

‘I’ve done it.’

‘Already?’