“Oh right.” Kate looks as if she doesn’t much want to, but she launches in. “You know, I don’t know anything about your home situation. And I don’t like to pry. But you have to admit it’s a bit unusual for two children to be hitchhiking around the world by themselves.”

“I’m fifteen; I’m not a child.”

“I’m not talking emotionally, my darling,” says Kate, reaching out to take Rat’s hand with unexpected tenderness. “Goodness—for a fifteen-year-old, you are … alarmingly grown-up. I’m talking … well, legally. Does your mother know where you are?”

“Yes, of course.”

“And it’s all right with her, you two just taking off?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure? I admit, manners are different everywhere, but most parents, if you’re sending your child abroad, you call up, you ask, Is it all right if so-and-so comes to stay from such-and-such a date, you buy a ticket, you put the child on the plane or train or whatever, with a nice sum of money to tide them over in case of emergency, you make sure there’s someone meeting them at the other end.”

Rat wants to disappear. Not for the first time, Vanessa is being judged as a mother and failing. “We did call. I e-mailed Gillem months ago to ask if it was all right if we came. And he said yes.”

Kate smiles. “It’s not that we don’t want you here—my God, after all these years, it’s about time we did get to know each other!—it’s just—does your mother really know where you are?”

“She knew we were coming here. She didn’t mind.” Rat lies, then considers. “We tried first to go to my grandmother in Collioure, but she was in the hospital. I suppose we could go back to my grandmother, I’m sure she’s home by now.”

But in fact she feels too tired even to think of packing up again and hitting the road. She can’t afford this encounter with her father to end in defeat. She thought she was tough, but she’s not.

Kate once again takes hold of her hand. “My dear girl, don’t look so desperate. You can stay with us as long as you like. Why shouldn’t this be your home as well as any other? But I want your mother to know where you and Morgan are. I understand if you’ve had a quarrel or whatever, and you need to get away. I quite understand. But I don’t want her to worry, let alone have the Missing Children Brigade suddenly descend on us. Do you feel able to call her up and tell her you’ve arrived safely and you’re going to stay for a bit? Or would you like me to talk to her?”