The driver pulled away from the taxi rank to free up the cab behind him, then parked again in a nearby bay. He talked to her through the rear-view mirror and his eyes twinkled with a kind of merry sarcasm when he said, ‘See, there’s quite a lot of canal in London, love. There’s a fair few places to float your boat. Limehouse Basin? Battlebridge Basin at the back o’ Kings Cross? Ring any bells?’

‘No, I’m so sorry.’ She knew she was batting her lashes at him, hoping he wouldn’t give up on her and ask her to get out.

‘Lisson Grove? Little Venice? Cumberland Basin?’

‘Oh!’ she said, brightening. ‘I think it might be that Little Venice one.’

‘That Little Venice one, right-oh, very nice, so let’s take a chance that it’s on Blomfield Road then,’ he said, pulling smoothly away from the parking bay.

‘It’s Crazy Diamond, if that helps,’ Ali said. ‘The name, I mean,’ and he laughed and said, ‘Okey-doke, darlin’, very rock and roll. It’s not Dave Gilmour’s boat, is it?’

‘No, but good guess,’ she said, smiling back at him, feeling that she might have chanced upon London’s friendliest cab driver, or were they all this chirpy? And he was so sure of his route! None of the cabbies in little old Adelaide ever knew the way anywhere without recourse to Google Maps, but this guy was off like a rocket, away from the airport and weaving through traffic as if there was someone on his tail.

‘Where you from, love?’ he asked.

‘Adelaide,’ Ali said.

‘Where’s that then?’

‘South Australia.’

‘Blimey O’Riley, you’re a long way from home.’

‘Yeah, about ten thousand miles, but they do say home is where the heart is, so.’

‘Oh, right!’ he said. ‘Right! Who’ve you come to see, then? Who’s the lucky feller?’

‘A guy called Dan,’ she said. ‘He’s not expecting me.’

The cabbie winked appreciatively at her in the mirror. ‘Well, he’s got a nice surprise coming then.’

‘Hope so,’ she said. ‘Hard to say.’