‘Not with me along, it isn’t,’ David said. ‘I’ve given it a good deal of practical thought.’

‘If I go with him, you’ll have to go,’ Constance said. ‘And I’m going with him.’

Diana looked at David. Had he really been around them long enough to know what he might be letting himself in for? Did either of them have the right to act on Constance’s cheerful resolve when she had no way of being responsible for it? Diana did long to go, not only for her bones but for her spirit, but, if it turned out to be too difficult for Constance. …

‘Do say you’ll come, D,’ David said. ‘I know we can manage it.’

‘You don’t even like to travel.’

‘Flying down to the desert isn’t exactly travelling,’ David said. ‘You can’t get the good of the sun from reading about it or watching it on TV.’

Why did she always imagine the worst? The airport would be hard for Constance, but with David to handle the problem of tickets and baggage, Diana could concentrate on reassuring Constance. The desert itself might be good for her.

‘Let me think about it,’ Diana said.

‘As long as you think positively,’ David said, ‘and I’m not sure you do when you’re alone. I’ve already checked out flights. We can go directly to Palm Springs and rent a car to drive into Borrego.’

‘It’s late to find a place there,’ Diana warned him.

‘We can stay in Palm Springs if we can’t get into Borrego.’

Constance got up and started out of the room.

‘Where are you going?’ Diana asked.

‘Upstairs to pack,’ Constance said.

‘Darling, even if we go, it won’t be tonight.’

‘What can I do about it then?’ Constance demanded.

‘One hard thing,’ David said. ‘The doors are going to have to be locked there, too. Otherwise Diana will be too frightened to go because, if you wandered off in the desert, we might never be able to find you.’

Constance looked at Diana.

‘He’s right,’ Diana said. ‘I would be too frightened.’

‘I don’t ever mean to frighten you.’

‘I know you don’t, but I have to help you not to.’

‘I haven’t lost my mind.’

‘I know you haven’t, but you can lose your way.’

‘I understand the locks,’ Constance said.

‘Well?’ David challenged.

‘We can’t chew up rental doors the way we did here,’ Diana said.

‘The boys are working on that problem.’

‘Oh, David, I’d love to go,’ Diana said.

‘Then just leave it to me,’ David said.

Diana saw in his delight a flash of the boy, her brother, when they were about to escape the often tension-filled house for a party or a day at the beach. Her ‘given’ had been given back to her.