She had not expected to feel suddenly nineteen again, sitting on a different plane, but with the same overwhelming feelings of dread and regret. She knew it was instinct kicking in, and that it was only natural that she should feel nervous about leaving Tui – especially as she’d never done so before – but she could not shake the sense of wrongness that came with it. It had felt wrong to leave London all those years ago, and now it felt wrong to leave New Zealand.

Bonnie had replied to Tui’s message immediately, reassuring her that yes, of course she would bring her some new shoes, but that it might be an idea to keep her existing pairs in a cupboard, or up on a shelf. Beavis the puppy had been a birthday present earlier in the year – one that Tui had begged and begged for until Bonnie gave in.

With a yard to run, lessons to teach and Tui to look after, the last thing she really needed was a tiny tearaway chewing up her house, but the change in Tui since having her own dog to look after had been remarkable. She took on the role of ‘mummy’ from the very first day, for once not minding when Bonnie chided her gently for being heavy-handed, and displaying a soft, nurturing side that Bonnie had not seen in her before. She quickly went from never letting the pair of them out of her sight to actively chasing them out to play unsupervised in the garden or the yard. Tui had friends, both at the stables and at school, but none of them expressed as much unbridled joy to be around her as Beavis did. Plus, being a dog, he was mercifully free from the pity or judgement that Tui, with her myriad difficulties, often faced from the humans she came into contact with. Beavis accepted and adored Tui just as she was, and Bonnie now wished that she hadn’t waited so long to get him.

She had been left in the house alone today, as her host had errands to run, so Bonnie moved from the upstairs bedroom to the kitchen table, and once again read through what she had written the day before. The sooner she had everything written down and clear in her mind, the sooner she’d be able to embark upon what she really came to England to do. She wished she had come up with the idea of writing down her story before leaving New Zealand, rather than as an antidote to the crushing panic she’d experienced when she arrived in England. If she had, she would not only have been better prepared to face Evangeline, but she also wouldn’t have had to spend so much time away from Tui.

With one final fortifying gulp of the coffee sitting on the table beside her, a re-energised Bonnie once again picked up her pen.