Ella wondered what use a blind person might ever have for old photographs, but she merely grunted in agreement. Once she was settled in Christine’s bed for the night, with Lily asleep in a makeshift cot on the floor, Ella began to make plans. Christine was evidently unused to living with a baby. She seemed to be enthralled with Lily, constantly enquiring what the baby was doing, and asking to hold her, but the novelty might wear off after a few disturbed nights. Ella had a feeling she had read somewhere that blind people had a very heightened sense of hearing. But more worrying was the thought that Ella could hardly insist that Christine keep her guest’s presence secret. Ella had done her best to drum into Christine that she did not want her violent husband to be able to track her down, but Christine was bound to blab to someone. Even if Ella insisted she was sharing the news in confidence, it only took one person to suspect that Christine’s unexpected visitor was the woman who was plastered all over the news for disappearing with a baby, and the police would be knocking on the door to investigate, and then everything would be over. They were bound to take Lily away from her, and that would be worse than the prison sentence she might have to serve.

Christine spent most of the next day holding the baby and giving her the bottle which Ella prepared, handing her to Ella only when her nappy needed changing. Ella tolerated Christine’s hogging the baby. Not only did it help to cement a relationship between Christine and the baby, making Christine less likely to expose Ella, but it kept Christine indoors. If she went out, there was no knowing who she might meet and what she might say.

‘What’s she doing now?’ Christine asked repeatedly.

Swallowing her irritation, Ella would reply with various fibs. ‘She’s looking at you’, or ‘She’s following you with her eyes’, and ‘She’s watching your lips really closely when you talk’.

Her lies were rewarded with a smile from Christine. Ella was not spinning her falsehoods out of an altruistic wish to make Christine happy. It suited Ella to persuade Christine to allow them to stay in her home as long as possible. But it was wearing, pretending to befriend Christine and having to be grateful to her all the time. However easy or difficult Christine proved to manipulate, there were other considerations. Sooner or later her neighbours were bound to notice there was a baby living in the house next door, and their curiosity might be aroused. Besides which, Christine had friends who visited her. It was going to be impossible to keep the baby’s presence secret for long.

On Monday morning, the doorbell rang. Ella was instantly on her guard.

‘Don’t answer it,’ she hissed.

‘It’s only Gina,’ Christine replied.