Tui does as she’s told and grins at me, her expression open now and accepting. I blink at her, trying to gather myself together, and cast an equally enthusiastic one back.

‘Blue eyes,’ she says wonderingly, her own brown pair focusing in on mine.

‘The same as Mummy.’

13

‘Did you say Frisbee golf?’

Kit’s eyes crinkle up at the corners. ‘That’s right,’ he says, reaching into his backpack and extracting three more plastic circular discs in various colours, one of which he hands to me.

‘See that net?’ he asks, pointing to a wooden post in the near distance. There’s a wire-mesh contraption attached to the top, rather like a hanging basket without the chains. I nod.

‘The aim of the game is to throw your Frisbee from each marker,’ he explains, gesturing to a flat paved area twenty metres or so in front of the post, ‘and get it in the net. You’re after a hole in one, really, just like you would be in a round of golf, but those are a rarity.’

‘Speak for yourself, bro,’ Griff interrupts, flexing his fingers until the joints crack. ‘Last time we came out here, I nailed you guys.’

‘Oh, shut your hole,’ Allie chides, pulling a face at him. I try to catch her eye, hoping to engage her in some form of female camaraderie, but she glances quickly away, giving Griff a light push and laughing when he stumbles over his own feet. Tui accepts a red Frisbee and clutches it tightly with both hands, her expression one of excitement, while Kit has stooped down to clip a lead to Beavis’s collar.

‘Sorry, mate,’ he says to the dog. ‘Can’t have you fetching all the Frisbees while we’re trying to play.’

Tui shrieks with laughter. It’s loud, throaty, and so full of unmistakable joy that I find it impossible not to laugh too. I notice that Kit, Allie and Griff are all grinning at her, too. I still can’t quite fathom the fact that this girl is my half-sister. My real flesh and blood, a sibling, right here, standing in front of me. I keep waiting for the shock to render me speechless or even send me into a full-blown panic, but so far, all I really feel is curious.

‘You go first, Gee-nie,’ Tui says to me, as we reach the first marker.

I glance uncertainly at Kit.

‘I think Griff should start us off, Tu,’ he tells her, putting one of his big hands on her shoulder. ‘Genie here has never played before, so she needs to watch us take a few turns, right?’

‘Ohh,’ Tui moans, clearly dismayed.

‘Honestly,’ I say quickly, smiling at her with as much reassurance as I can muster, ‘Kit’s right – I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. I’ll probably end up throwing this,’ I hold up my blue Frisbee, ‘into a tree.’