The excited chatter in the back grew louder because not many of them had travelled through the tunnel before. Doors closed to form their carriage and safety messages were broadcast in English and then French. Neil led an expedition to find the toilets. Isaac gave Doggo a drink of water and a Bonio to gnaw as they were last vehicle in their carriage so he could get to the rear doors of the minibus.

The train was rumbling along and in the tunnel before Lily quite realised. Apart from visiting the facilities – which were tastefully wallpapered with a picture of a lavender field – she sat in her seat and ate her chicken sandwich. It barely seemed as if they were travelling at all, apart from a slight popping of the ears. She spent the rest of the time trying to curl and uncurl her hand to keep it moving and turning in her seat to peep through the headrest and chat to Neil and Franciszka in the seat behind.

Then they were coming into Calais, popping up into the daylight as everyone did up their seatbelts and the minibus rolled off.

‘Hooray! We’re in France! Isn’t it weird to suddenly be in another country?’ shouted Emily in her high, excited teen-girl voice. ‘Oh. It doesn’t look much different to England.’

Lily agreed, except for vehicles driving on the right and the French language on signposts. They were staring out at countryside that looked a lot like what they were used to in Cambridgeshire. Mainly flat. Some industry. Some fields. Lots of roads.

Lily fell asleep again after the next pit stop and more codeine. Whenever she surfaced she blearily hoped she hadn’t dribbled or snored, but, though her arm was getting cramped and uncomfortable in the sling, she just couldn’t keep her eyelids open.

She finally woke up properly, trying to stretch her legs and her un-slung arm. ‘Where are we?’

‘Chalons en Champagne,’ Isaac said, swinging the big vehicle onto a small road off a larger one. He drove the minibus into a car park and parked, taking up two spaces. He looked at her with laughing eyes. ‘We’re at the hotel, Sleeping Beauty.’

Then she noticed it was dark outside and looked at her watch. It was after five. ‘Oops,’ she said sheepishly. ‘It’s the codeine.’

Everyone laughed, getting out of the minibus stretching and groaning, glancing around at the very ordinary-looking hotel, dragging on their backpacks and regarding Lily expectantly. Oh, yes, she was heading up the trip. ‘Let’s check in,’ she said, trying to wake up sufficiently to get with the programme.

Emily had appeared beside Carola, giving her mum a hug. ‘Look at all those bird nests in the trees, Mum. Some of them are enormous.’

Isaac gave her ponytail a tweak. ‘It’s mistletoe.’