No one notices us. The frightened mother with straight, brown hair, wearing her husband’s choice of clothes. The little boy in tears.

That’s the thing about the city. Nobody notices.

There’s a giant privet hedge by the railings, big enough to hide in.

Tom cries harder. I cuddle him in my arms. ‘Don’t make a sound,’ I whisper, heart racing. ‘Don’t make a sound.’

Tom nods rapidly.

We both clutch each other, terrified. I shiver, even though it’s a warm summer’s day.

Tom gives a choked sob. ‘Will he find us, Mum?’

‘Shush,’ I say, crouching in my flat leather sandals, summer dress flowing over my knees. ‘Please, Tom. We have to be quiet.’

‘I’m scared.’ Tom clasps my bare arm.

‘I know, sweetheart,’ I whisper, holding his head against my shoulder. ‘We’re going away. Far away from him.’

‘What if he gets me at school?’

‘We’ll find a new school. One he doesn’t know about. Okay?’

Tom’s chest is against mine, his breathing fast.

He understands that we can’t be found.

Olly is capable of anything.

Lizzie

Monday. School starts. It won’t be like the last place, Tom knows that. It will be hard, being the new kid.

‘Come on, Tommo,’ I call up the stairs. ‘Let’s go go go. We don’t want to be late on our first day.’

I pack Tom’s school bag, then give my hair a few quick brushes, checking my reflection in the hallway mirror.

A pale, worried face stares back at me. Pointy little features, a heart-shaped chin, brown hair, long and ruler-straight.

The invisible woman.

Olly’s broken ex-wife.

I want to change that. I want to be someone different here.

No one needs to know how things were before.

Tom clatters down the polished, wooden staircase in his new Steelfield school uniform. I throw my arms around him.

‘A hug to make you grow big and strong,’ I say. ‘You get taller with every cuddle. Did you know that?’

‘I know, Mum. You tell me every morning.’

I hand him his blue wool coat. I’ve always liked this colour against Tom’s bright blond hair and pale skin. The coat is from last winter, but he still hasn’t grown out of it. Tom is small for his age; at nearly nine he looks more like seven.

We head out and onto the muddy track, stopping at a blackberry bush to pick berries.

Tom counts as he eats and sings.

‘One, two, three, four, five – to stay alive.’

‘It’s going to be exciting,’ I coax as Tom and I pass the school playing field. ‘Look at all that grass. You didn’t have that in London. And they’ve got a little woodland bit.’ I point to the trees edging the field. ‘And full-sized goalposts.’

‘What if Dad finds us?’ Tom watches the stony ground.