Yanking my daughter up and over the window frame, I held her to my chest, feeling her heart beating against mine. All I could see, all I could feel was the solidness of her body, her smile, her dark hair, her jeans, the hardness of the cast on her arm under a blue jumper that I didn’t recognise.

I stepped away from the window and Mel’s face filled the empty space. Her hands were extended towards Bella, her eyes wild.

‘You can’t trust Marty. He killed our children. Don’t let him near the girl. He’ll kill her too. Come back, Sarah.’

Sarah? I didn’t have time to think. Those hands were snatching at my daughter.

‘Hold on tight, Tinker Bell,’ I instructed. ‘We need to fly.’

Deirdre appeared around the side of the house from where I’d come, so I ran in the opposite direction, through the gardens, towards the chapel. Maybe we could double back to the car from there.

‘COME HERE!’ Mel’s scream echoed through the valley.

Bella’s soft breath was on my face. She wriggled against me.

‘Mummy, you squishing me.’

And then she giggled. A sound that I’d know anywhere. A giggle into my neck when I tickled her tummy. Giggling at one of Marty’s lame jokes; giggling at Swiper when she watched Dora the Explorer on TV.

I could hear the pounding of feet somewhere behind us. Oh God, I wasn’t fit enough to outrun them. We’d have to hide and then sneak up to the car.

‘We had a party, Mummy,’ Bella told me. ‘Lollies and choc ice cream. It was my early birfday. You should have come.’

‘I wanted to, darling, but I couldn’t find the address.’

‘Mel said you sent Lulu and Dora for the party.’

Was that why she came to our house last night? Not to sit with me but to steal Lulu and Dora from the bedroom. My daughter must have been asking for Lulu to get to sleep.

Puffing, with a stitch stabbing my ribcage, I scanned the property. Should we head into the forest? The chapel had disappeared from view momentarily but, as I ran, it reappeared. We could slip inside the chapel without Mel or Deirdre seeing.

I ducked into the portico and tried the door. Locked.

‘Mummy, key up there.’ Bella pointed to a hook. ‘Our cubbyhouse.’

Mel might guess that we were in here but what other choice did we have? I turned the key in the lock, stepped inside and bolted the door behind us.

Squatting down on the floor, I stared into Bella’s face and checked her arms and legs. Tears dripped down my cheeks and into her hair. Only now that she was with me did I realise that, deep down, I thought I’d never see her again.