Within minutes something akin to a street party began forming along the back yards. Someone set up a speaker playing disco music as kids raced in and out of the adults’ legs clutching shiny new toys. There was no way that Mrs Lewinski could have been inside and not heard the commotion. I tried asking a few of the people pressing in for a picture, but no one knew anything.

Another message came through, from Mia this time, asking when we’d be arriving, causing stress to expand like a balloon trapped inside my ribcage. Henry caught my look of desperation and raised his hands, calling for everyone’s attention.

‘Does anyone know if Mrs Lewinski is inside her house, or has she gone out?’ he boomed.

‘Mrs L? She’s here, int she?’ A teenage girl waved her phone in Henry’s direction. ‘That holiday guy who goes on your weather show just posted. Mrs L went to his for… hang on… goose? What are they gonna do with a goose?’

I quickly found Byron’s Instagram page. There they were, Mrs Lewinski, Byron, and another two people I didn’t recognise, all beaming out at me. Mrs L was holding a very large glass of sherry.

I couldn’t help it, I was so relieved and happy for them I burst into tears.

There was no way that Henry Fairfax was going to break the speed limit, but I was grateful that he made every legal effort to get us to Charis House as soon as possible.

‘Does that happen a lot?’ he asked as we whizzed back down the A1.

‘No! Only when I’m making a formal appearance, like a community fair or a school visit.’

‘How often do you do those?’

‘It depends on the time of year. Maybe every other weekend I’ll have something on, about the same during the week.’

‘People really like you.’

‘I really like people. It’s one of the best things about my job.’

‘I don’t suppose Summer spends her weekends at village fetes.’

‘Summer probably has more friends than me. It’s not like I’ve got loads of other things to do.’

We left the main road and started heading towards the forest.

‘You don’t have many friends?’ Henry sounded surprised. Which surprised me.

‘Ur, hello, remember school? I wasn’t exactly Miss Popular.’

‘You always acted like you never needed friends. I mean, there was Lucy and that other girl, Rowena.’

I watched the snow-capped trees whizzing past. ‘Everyone needs friends.’

Henry cleared his throat. ‘I would have been your friend.’