Liselle turned on the woman, saying sharply, ‘Well, shouting at her when she’s like this isn’t going to help, is it? Go and make a pot of coffee.’

Danny and Boysie looked at one another. Of one mind, they picked up their aunt and carried her up the stairs to her room. Plonking her down on the bed none too gently, Boysie threw a cover over her.

‘She should be put away, Liselle, as much as we all love her. She ain’t doing herself no favours with the drink.’

Liselle sighed heavily.

‘She won’t go. I’ve tried all that. There’s a place in Surrey where they dry you out, but she goes mental if you even mention it. Sometimes I feel like buggering off out of it, I really do. Just leaving her to it. I’ve got no life to speak of. I just watch her day and night. Look what happened when I went out with you today. All this.’

Danny felt an enormous surge of affection for the cousin who was more like his sister. Their situation while growing up had been so similar, no father and their Aunt Briony being the main person in their lives, even Liselle’s.

‘Come on, she’s out for the count now. Let’s all go out together, we know a terrific little club!’

Boysie joined in. ‘Yeah. Come on, Lissy, she’ll be out ’til the morning. Even black coffee won’t help her now.’

Hearing the name they had called her as a child made Liselle smile. ‘All right then. I suppose you’re right. She won’t wake now for about twelve hours.’

‘There you go then. Get dressed up and we’ll be your dates tonight.’

Boysie spoke in fun but Liselle looked at him and said seriously: ‘Boysie, you two are the only dates I’ve ever had.’

As she left the room the twins looked at one another sadly. Poor old Liselle, stuck looking after their Auntie Kerry who could sing, who could do anything as long as it was musical, yet couldn’t leave the drink or the drugs alone.

As they went to leave the room Kerry stirred and opened her eyes. Looking at the twins she said: ‘Evander?’ Then closing her eyes she was gone again.

Boysie said, ‘What did she say?’

Danny shrugged. ‘Something about lavender, I don’t know. Come on, let’s go downstairs, this place gives me the creeps.

Liselle got changed and walked out of the front door as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. When her mother was unconscious, like now, at least she knew where she was, and how long she was going to be there. That in itself was a result.