“Were the pictures new?”

“From before. Before her mum died.”

“So maybe the mouse was sorry, and decided he needed to live a better life?”

“He wasn’t a mouse, he was a rat! And that’s the point. Because if he was a rat, then his daughter was a rat too. And that’s why she was the way she was. When she was little she’d been all right, but now she was turning out horrible, just like her rat father. She was mean and greedy and she liked doing things she knew were wrong with a man she shouldn’t have done them with, and as soon as she realised she was a rat and not a mouse, it all made sense. So she ran away and hid, because she knew that if she didn’t, her dad would make her tell all of her secrets, and then he’d kill the man she’d been seeing, and he’d be dead and her father would go to jail, and it would all be her fault.”

“Rats can be lovely, you know,” said Finn. “I had a couple as pets once. They’re clever and resourceful, and they look after each other. And they make excellent parents. Much better than mice.”

“Not these rats. These rats were just – they don’t deserve to live, these rats. The world would be better without them.” She switched the torch on again and shone it down into the addit. “It’s so cold. We’re going to freeze. And the water is still rising. I don’t want to die.”

“Then we won’t. We’ll live instead. I’m going to tell you another story, okay? Are you listening? Yes? Don’t look at the water, it won’t do any good. The battery’s going, I’d better turn the light off for a bit. Is that all right?”

“I suppose.”

“So, this is a story about a Princess. She lived in a high tower her father had built for her, because he loved her more than anything else and he’d sworn a sacred promise that he’d never, ever let anything bad happen to her.”

“Was her father a King?”

“He was. Only a small kingdom, but it was his. Running a kingdom and being a father was hard work, so the King made time by getting rid of absolutely everything else in his life. He didn’t have any hobbies, and he didn’t have any lovers, and his only friend was a strange man who didn’t really know how to make friends, because he went everywhere in a glass cocoon that kept him safe from the outside world. Are you all right?”

“Fine.” Alicia hadn’t realised she was holding her breath.

“Anyway,” said Finn. “This story isn’t about the King. It’s about the Princess. You see, it’s all very well keeping your kids locked up in towers, but eventually, they have to go out.”

Alicia didn’t dare move.

“Is this all right?” asked Finn, very gently. “I can tell a different story if you prefer.”

“It’s okay.”

“So one day, a man her father knew began bringing the Princess presents. He brought her liqueur chocolates and beautiful jewellery and silky nightclothes. They were all things that were meant for a woman, not a little girl. And although the Princess wasn’t quite grown up yet, she desperately wanted to be treated as if she was.”