I laugh, my breath instantly cooling, hanging in the air.

Love.

He looks down at me and, as his eyes lock with mine, there is such understanding between us. I would follow him anywhere – to the ends of the earth, if he asked me.

They’re unlocking the gates to the zoo. Walter pays the entrance fee and we walk into the deserted grounds, linking arms as we head straight down the centre path.

‘I’ve been so worried, without any news from you.’ I steal a look at him.

‘But you told me not to get in touch. I was certain they’d come for me. I didn’t dare go out. My mother was so angry with me when I told her I’d been seeing a German girl. Couldn’t tell her it was you, of course. She even made me hide in the attic for a couple of days. And all I could do was stay there, mad with worry about what might be happening to you. But nobody came, so I dared to come downstairs, then I dared to venture out. I can hardly believe it, but it seems Tomas didn’t report us,’ he says, and we huddle together for warmth. ‘After a few weeks I crept about, like some sort of criminal, trying to see you. I spotted you a few times going in and out of school. It was unbearable watching but not being able to speak or hold you. Two months without you has been a gruelling eternity. I couldn’t take it any more and decided to take the risk.’

‘I’m so glad you did,’ I whisper. ‘Tomas never said a word because I think he has a soft spot for me.’

‘What a genius you are,’ he says and winks.

‘Still. We need to be extra careful.’

‘Absolutely.’ Walter looks serious. ‘We were reckless before, but we can be more clever about meeting, vary the time and place. We can use Lena. She is totally trustworthy. She’s even kept our secret from my mother and father. She knows my parents would forbid it, if they found out.’

‘Isn’t it an awful risk for her? Why would she?’

‘You aren’t the only one who has other admirers, you know.’ He winks again.

But the chill of the day intensifies when I remember Karl’s words of warning and I glance behind me into the shape-shifting fog.

There are aviaries on either side of the path. A bedraggled owl perches in one, small birds flit about in another, and in the largest are some wading birds, standing on the edge of a small pond sunk into the concrete floor. I check again over my shoulder.

‘Relax, Hetty. No one is here. Tomas has done nothing, we’re in the clear,’ Walter says, hooking his arm through mine. I nod, but I can’t shake the sense that someone is lurking unseen in the amorphous shroud.

We carry on in silence, deeper into the zoo, past the otters and the North American beavers. The only other people around are zookeepers, handing out breakfast to the hungry inmates.