‘We went to the beach, didn’t we, Hannah,’ said Izzy. ‘It’s amazing.’

‘What beach?’ asked Jason.

Everyone turned and stared at him. He put both hands up. ‘What?’

Fliss looked over at him as if she were peering over the top of a pair of glasses. ‘Don’t you know anything? Philistine. Inch beach is one of the longest beaches in Europe.’

Jason shrugged, indifferent to her rudeness. ‘Never heard of it.’

‘Don’t suppose you’ve ever been surfing?’ asked Fliss with a curl of her lip, but her eyes were watchful.

‘Nope. Not much call in Bethnal Green.’

She studied him for a moment and then with a quick regal assent of her head said, ‘I’ll take you next Saturday.’

‘You’re on.’ Jason raised a hand for a high five. Fliss gave him a withering look and he lowered his hand with nonchalant grin.

The hands of the clock crept closer to nine o’clock and one by one they finished their breakfast and sauntered through to the kitchen. Izzy was already there pulling on her clean, neatly pressed apron.

‘Look, they’ve all been washed over the weekend. Isn’t that a nice touch?

‘I like to start the week clean, fresh, and ready to go,’ said Adrienne, appearing behind her like a silent cat and making Izzy jump. How on earth did she manage that in those jewelled flip-flops that she wore?

The kitchen had been set up in readiness with various bowls and implements and by the central counter were several tiered baskets of vegetables filled with carrots, onions, potatoes, broccoli, and a couple of leafy greens that Hannah wasn’t familiar with. Conor and Mairead appeared, carrying another two baskets of vegetables.

‘Morning all. I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend. The weather was certainly fine.’

Everyone chorused ‘Morning’ like primary school children in assembly.

‘This week we’re focusing on vegetables, although I’m going to start with making a stock. A really good stock is the foundation of lots of so many dishes and once you’ve got this learned, you’ll never use another stock cube again. Or I certainly hope you won’t.’

Hannah heard Jason snicker while Alan and Meredith both dutifully nodded. ‘Today we’re going to make a simple beef stock. Easy to keep in the freezer.’

They were dispatched to their stations and Hannah smiled to herself. Making stock didn’t sound too challenging. A nice easy start to Monday.