‘Tough day,’ her mother said. ‘Madam was like a bag of cats all afternoon. She refused her dinner, and any alternative I offered her, and then she refused – point-blank – to have her bath. She was so incredibly grumpy and cheeky and nothing I could do would bring her out of it.’

‘Maybe she’s sickening for something? You know she always gets cross when she’s getting sick. I’ll keep an eye on her overnight – let her sleep in here.’ She reached out her hand to feel Clara’s forehead for signs of a fever, but her skin was cool.

‘Jo, come and talk to me in my room,’ her mother said, and Jo followed, curious as to what her mother would say.

She sat on the bed and averted her eyes while her mother slipped into her pyjamas.

‘It’s not a cold, or a sickness. When I was making dinner, she asked if she could put on a movie and, of course, I said okay. I was sure she’d watch The Princess Bride again, or Toy Story. But when I came into the room, she was glued to that remake of Annie.’

Jo’s heart sank. She guessed what was coming.

‘So we had a very difficult conversation about why she doesn’t see her birth mum any more and why she probably wouldn’t see her again.’ Her mum’s voice cracked as she spoke. ‘She asked if her mammy didn’t love her. She doesn’t have much of a memory of her, you know. And she asked why her mammy wouldn’t come back, or her daddy too. I took out her life story book – you know, the one we made when we were adopting her – and went through the story, but she just got very sad, and then very angry. I know she was just testing me, and looking for a reaction. But, God, it was tough and my heart aches for her. No child deserves that pain in their life.’ Jo watched her mother dab at her eyes. It was heartbreaking to see her so emotional, and while she knew that Clara’s anger and many questions were perfectly natural given her past, she knew her mum cared so deeply about each of her charges that she felt their pain too. Especially when it came to Clara.

‘But, Mum, a huge part of her life is that she got you and Dad, and me too, of course. She got good parents. A good family. She is lucky. You don’t treat her any different to how you treated any of us. Except, maybe, you love her a little more.’

‘I love you all the same,’ her mum cut in.