With that, before he could stop me, I snatched up the notes, two fistfuls, and ran for the door. Max was athletic for his age and he was wearing a tracksuit and trainers, but his age was sixty and mine was twenty. He made an awful roar, the kind of noise you imagine a wounded bison might make. I slammed the door behind me, ran downstairs and out of the house by the front door. Luckily, as usual, my key was in my pocket. It was early and it might have been that no one was up, but I rang Silver’s bell and Wim came down to let me in. He came surprisingly fast, but then he was a surprising person. The great thing was that you never needed to explain anything to him, just as he never explained his own conduct to anyone. I raced up the stairs, my hands full of money, burst into Liv’s room. Whether she had been alone all night I couldn’t tell, but she was alone then. And asleep.

I shook her. It wasn’t very kind of me but I had to wake her. She was one of those slow surfacers who take ages to rouse themselves, but while she was making wa-wa-wa-what’s-the-matter noises, I held up the money for her to see before stuffing it under her pillow.

It was strange how exhilarated I felt. I had been thrown out of my home, I had been insulted—even someone with less amour propre than I had would have seen Max’s words as insults—and for all I knew the police sirens might be sounding for me any minute, but I felt full of happiness and energy. Adrenaline, I suppose it was, released by the running and the snatching of the money. I rushed into Silver’s room. He wasn’t asleep. He put out his arms to me and I got into bed with him. Quite a long while after that I told him what Max had said and how I had been evicted. I seemed to make a habit of being thrown out of places and wondered what establishment would be next to do it.

“Not this one,” said Silver. “I’ll come back with you to collect your stuff.”

No, I said. That might not be wise. I’d do a Liv, I thought, and keep my refuge a secret from Max and Selina. But first I’d talk to them.