‘I’m too short to be stunning,’ Sue said. ‘And I’ve got a pointy nose. They used to call me Beaky when I was a Brown Owl. Actually, Tamsyn, I think you started it.’

Tamsyn ignored her. ‘That skirt is a triumph now that I’ve raised it a couple of inches. Good job my sewing machine is still here, useful, really, don’t you think …’

‘And this shirt is too tight, you can see my chest area,’ Sue said.

‘Yes, cleavage is the technical term, I believe,’ Alex said. ‘It looks good. To be honest until now, I’ve always thought of you as having more of a shelf than breasts—’

‘Mummy!’ Petal appeared in the doorway, with her usual predilection for a grand entrance, her wild red hair cascading over her shoulders, a smudge of paint streaks like a warrior’s badge across her nose. ‘Choir practice was the best fun. Cordy knows all the best songs. And none of them are carols!’ Her eyes narrowed as she noticed something different about her mum. ‘You look like a lady!’

‘Well, Mummy is a lady,’ Tamsyn told her. ‘It’s one of the main defining features of most mummies, their lady-ness.’

‘You look nice.’ Meadow poked a finger into Sue’s cleavage. ‘Are you going to meet Daddy, is he coming home tonight?’

‘I …’ Sue turned to Alex for help.

‘Mummy is going to meet a movie star for dinner,’ Alex said. ‘And Tamsyn is going to need your help to get the grotto ready for Santa.’

‘Cordelia’s already found the Halloween spiders,’ Meadow assured her.

‘I probably won’t go,’ Sue said, pulling her squirming daughter into a hug. ‘Shall I not go? It would be better if I stayed, wouldn’t it?’

‘No, you have to go,’ Meadow said. ‘If you stay you won’t let us have the zombie elves!’

‘Besides,’ Alex said, ‘it’s almost eight, you can’t cancel now, that’s just rude and weird and … Sue, you run this town. Every day, all day. Give yourself a night off from …’ She glanced at Meadow. ‘From everything. Just enjoy it.’

A car horn sounded from outside, and Meadow ran to the window.

‘Mummy, a sports car!’ she cried. ‘A yellow sports car!’

‘Well, how ridiculous. How on earth did he get that up and down the streets of Poldore, foolish man,’ Sue said, as she peered out of the window and saw a canary yellow Ferrari parked on the only road it could have driven along to pull up outside the castle.

‘Well, off you go then,’ Alex said. ‘I feel so proud of you.’