‘Oh, Bex, they don’t know anything. They don’t want him to get away with it any more than you do, but sometimes it’s best to let things go. Do you have any idea which of the boys it was?’

Bex pictured the three of them, faces uplit by the orange flames of the fire. Sinister now in her memory. ‘No. I mean … I believe Kirsty when she says it wasn’t Lucas. And I can’t imagine Daniel … I suppose Gary is the most likely, but that’s not fair. Daniel was angry with me because I’d laughed at him. The truth is I don’t know.’

‘Look, Bex, if you knew for sure …’ Janet hardened her face. ‘Even if you knew for sure, I still wouldn’t encourage you to go to the police. But I’d help you.’

‘Help me do what?’

‘Hunt him down and kill him.’

Bex looked up. Caught her aunt’s eye. Laughed nervously.

Janet said, ‘I’m only half joking. You know the conviction rates?’

‘I should have reported it at the time,’ Bex said. ‘While there was still evidence.’

Janet poured more tea for them both. ‘Don’t let your life be ruined by this. How you react to it is in your own hands.’

‘But it’s not fair. He’s the one who caused all this, and he gets away with it.’

‘Life’s not fair. You may as well get used to it. But he won’t be a happy person, whoever raped you. That’s not the action of someone who’s okay. Console yourself with that.’

‘I still don’t want to kill my baby.’

‘Bex,’ her aunt snapped. ‘Stop it! It’s not a baby. It’s smaller than a blueberry. They miscarry all the time at this stage. If human life’s so bloody precious, nobody told nature.’

Catching the expression on her aunt’s face, Bex asked ‘Aunt Janet, did you …’

‘I didn’t have a miscarriage, I had an abortion. And it did not ruin my life. Okay?’

Bex swallowed. She’d been so wrapped up in herself. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘It was years ago, Bex. It’s fine. It was a contraceptive failure and neither of us wanted a baby. It wasn’t the easiest decision, but once it was made, it really wasn’t that huge a deal. That’s what I’m saying. It absolutely won’t ruin your life. Don’t give that amount of power to the rapist.’

‘You didn’t want kids and then you ended up lumbered with me anyway,’ Bex said.

Her aunt sighed. ‘I always thought I could be happy with kids or happy without kids. I’ve loved having you, but I didn’t want to bring one into the world, okay?’

Bex smiled. ‘I’m like a rescue dog then. Adopt don’t shop.’

‘I suppose if you choose to see it like that, yes.’