The big, burly, armed security guard turned white as a sheet. The man was literally carrying a gun, but he was too scared to take hold of a tampon.

‘Totally understand that I can’t go in, so if I can give it to you to give to her, I know she’ll be very grateful. Honestly, it’ll be a disaster if she doesn’t get it, she has terrible periods, so heavy, it’s like someone turned on a tap. I tried to get her to switch to a menstrual cup, but she wouldn’t have it, and I said to her, I said, Rebecca, they’re so much better, much less mess. They catch the blood rather than soak it up and—’

‘Enough, enough,’ he said, holding out his hands, and I began to panic that if she didn’t stop talking, he might find a way to make her. ‘Her name is Rebecca? Rebecca what?’

‘Rebecca de Winter,’ Rachel replied with complete confidence. ‘She’s wearing a red dress, very pretty, dark hair. I’m sure you’ll spot her right away.’

‘I’ll find her and bring her out to you. Wait there,’ he ordered, looking over his shoulder before slipping through the black curtain and disappearing from sight.

‘Fran!’ Rachel hissed. ‘Now!’

‘Rebecca de Winter?’ I asked, sidling around the corner, my heart thudding in my ears. ‘Really?’

‘I was watching the Netflix version on the plane on the way over,’ she muttered. ‘There’s two hours of my life I’ll never get back. It was the first thing that came to mind.’

‘Thank god he’s not a reader.’

‘I had an inkling.’ She straightened the bow on my shoulder and took a step back to check me over. ‘Right, shoulders back, put a smile on your face, and look like you belong there, because you do.’

‘What if I get caught?’ I said, beginning to panic. ‘What if that security guard comes back, shoots us both, and throws our bodies in the sea?’

Rachel gave me a delicate hug so as not to disturb my dress, then grabbed the handle of her suitcase. ‘You’re completely insane and I love that about you, but I also need to head back to the harbour for my ferry, and you ought to get in there before the clock strikes midnight,’ she said.

‘What happens at midnight?’ I asked, suddenly very sad that she was leaving. ‘Will I turn into a pumpkin?’

‘I heard that’s when Beyoncé is going to perform,’ she whispered with bright eyes. ‘Go on, go, before he comes back!’

With a deep breath and an uncertain nod, I pulled back the black curtain and stepped through to the other side.