“But he didn’t.”

“Shh. This isn’t a story about anyone we know. This is a story about the Princess. The presents were beautiful, but they also made her terribly sad, because she knew all the time they weren’t his to give. He’d stolen every one of them from his wife, even though she was a nice lady who’d been kind to the Princess in the past.”

Alicia closed her eyes to try and stop the tears running down her cheeks.

“The Princess felt terribly ashamed, because she loved the things he’d brought her even though she knew she didn’t have any right to them. She thought there must be something wrong with her because she enjoyed them. She was afraid of what would happen to the man if her father found out, and that it would all be her fault if her father hurt him. But what she was forgetting was this.” Finn took her hand and held it tight between his own. “She hadn’t done anything wrong. It was the man who was the thief. He was the one who stole from his wife. And he was stealing from the Princess, too, because he knew she was young enough to be deceived by stolen gifts. And when it all caught up with him and he got what he bloody well deserved, the Princess would be free. She’d be free. None of it was her fault.”

“But it was her fault,” Alicia whispered. “She kissed him first.”

“And was she bigger than him, and stronger than him, and older than him, old enough to know better? Did she force him to kiss her back? Or could he have just said no and meant it? If you see a little kid tearing off into dangerous waters, do you just shrug and leave them to get on with it? Or do you catch them and bring them back, in case they drown? Come here, you’ll be warmer.”

To her astonishment, she was suddenly very sleepy. She burrowed against him and closed her eyes wearily.

“I wish I could run away with Ava,” she said. “Are you going to miss her?”

“Yes.”

“Why aren’t you going with her? Can’t you afford it?”

Finn swallowed hard. “You know,” he said at last, “when I saw you running across the beach, I thought – I thought, if I came down after you – maybe I might even get to go first. But now when it comes to it… ”

“What?”

“Never mind.” His hand moved to his face, as if he was wiping it. “Go to sleep.”

As she drifted into sleep, she felt something splashing onto her head, like raindrops. It must be raining outside, she thought, and it’s leeching through the rock and falling on us. “Alicia.” Someone was shaking her shoulder, gently but insistently. “Alicia. Wake up.”

She was cold and she had an agonising cramp in the back of her neck. When the memory of where she was came back to her, it was like smashing into a wall.