‘Well you deserve it,’ said Mr Patterson. ‘I honestly don’t know how the school is going to carry on without you.’

‘Oh, I’m sure you’ll cope,’ said Dolly, flushing at all the praise. ‘I haven’t been doing anywhere near as much as I used to.’

‘But you’re irreplaceable, Dolly,’ sighed Mr Matthews. ‘We’re still looking for someone to take over your clubs. I don’t suppose you’d change your mind about overseeing those until we find someone else, would you?’

Dolly shook her head.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘I just . . .’

Mr Matthews put up a hand to stop her.

‘No,’ he said kindly, ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. Don’t give it another thought, my dear, we’ll find someone, and in the meantime, we’ll juggle things between us.’

I was surprised Dolly didn’t back down but was sure she had her reasons.

‘Would you mind if I quickly went and used the computer before we go home?’ I asked her a little while later. ‘I just want to check my emails.’

‘Of course not,’ she smiled.

‘I won’t be long,’ I said, slipping out as everyone got stuck into another slice of cake.

I hadn’t seen Beamish for a little while but he had, as promised, left one of the computers turned on. According to what popped up on screen when I moved the mouse, I could see that he had been on Facebook, which came as something of a surprise. I didn’t have him down as someone who bothered much about social media. I didn’t particularly care for it myself. I did have a Facebook account but I rarely used it. I logged out of Beamish’s user profile on the school system and into my own.

‘Any joy?’ he asked from the doorway a few minutes later.

‘Yes,’ I nodded, twisting around to talk to him. ‘I’ve had another email from Mum. She replied to the one I sent almost straight away.’

‘She’s certainly keen,’ he said, coming further into the room.

‘She is,’ I agreed. ‘She wants us to meet before Christmas.’

‘That’s great.’

‘It is.’

I was nervous about seeing her and Dad again, but excited too. They were both in complete agreement that it would be best to talk things through face to face. It wasn’t a conversation I was looking forward to but once we had exorcised Jonathan from our lives, we could start afresh and that was a very happy thought.

‘You do realise that Christmas is just a week away,’ Beamish reminded me. ‘By this time next week Hattie, you will have seen your Mum and Dad.’

‘I know,’ I said huskily, ‘I can’t believe it. Apparently, they’re snowed under with work, but we’ll sort something out.’

‘Now that school’s finished, perhaps you could travel to see them instead?’

‘Perhaps.’