Izzy is dealing out cards to the other children. Every movement she makes seems careful. It’s as if someone is watching her or she is watching herself. That’s what it must have felt like with Paul all the time. Izzy puts her cards down and claps her hands; she’s won the round. She looks up and meets Grace’s gaze with a triumphant little smile; Grace smiles back. Melly was right, Izzy is a survivor.

Charley tells her mum that it’s been a really long time since there were any actual dyslexia lessons for Blake and the others, which is funny because that’s why they all made friends in the first place. She wasn’t even supposed to be there. Mum says they can’t possibly ask. Ash died less than six months ago, which is nothing. According to Mum, some people are sad forever when their children die. Poppy says she misses Ash really badly but she doesn’t want to talk to her parents in case it reminds them; Mum says they’ll be thinking about it all the time anyway. They see them almost every day. Charley gets that it’s been really hard for Izzy because of what her dad did and she can see that Izzy’s trying to be nice, but it still doesn’t make Charley like her much. She misses Dad, but not as much as she’d miss Mum to be honest. Dad slept with Eve, which puts her off both of them, though Blake says to get over it. He thinks Mum has. Charley doesn’t think she has, quite.

Blake misses Dad all the time. Dad going to Africa makes about the sixth or seventh major bad thing this year. Ash dying was the worst, obviously. Then Sorrel being kidnapped and Paul turning out to be the one who kidnapped her. What happened to Izzy and what happened to her mum. The knife thing, obviously. He misses Dad in the mornings, mucking around with them and laughing, it made Mum’s nagging bearable. And he misses him in the evenings watching telly. And going to football. He doesn’t care if Dad made out with Eve, so what? He doesn’t know if Izzy’s one of the good things or one of the bad things. They play normal things like Monopoly now. She’s nicer to Charley and Sorrel and Poppy. Well, to everyone really.