Dani noticed there was a wide smile on her face as she talked. She’d come to realise that being around those kids was one of the few true bright spots in her life; they were just about the only two people that seemed to be able to bring a smile out of her. Yet even that part of her life she’d neglected.

Ben was beaming back at her and Dani quickly took her smile away.

‘I miss them so much, Dani,’ Ben said, and she saw cracks in his demeanour begin to take hold.

‘They’re good kids, Ben. Despite everything. They’re going to be fine.’

‘I just wish I could see them again.’

Dani didn’t say anything to that.

They sat through a few moments of silence, before Ben’s face again opened out into a wide grin.

‘What?’ Dani asked.

‘Remember when we were younger. You were always such a tomboy too, just like Chloe is.’

‘Yeah. I remember.’

‘There was this one time, we were ten, eleven maybe. The lads in school were giving you a hard time. I think you’d just beaten them at long jump or something. They were calling you all sorts, pushing and shoving you.’

‘It happened more than once, believe me.’

‘This one time, though, I was right behind you all. We were walking out of school and one of the lads grabbed your rucksack and pulled you backwards. You landed on your arse. I was about to rush forwards to confront the guy but you shot back up and clocked him one. A massive right hook onto his chin that sent him down. Pretty much knocked him unconscious. Everyone stood in awe.’

Dani sighed. ‘Mickey Farmer.’

‘Yeah, that was him.’

‘Was there a point to the story, Ben?’

Ben looked down at his hands and sighed. ‘I don’t know. Just that you always did know how to take care of yourself. And that I hope my Chloe is just like that too. I hope she’s just like you.’

Dani could see what he meant by that, though part of her also felt a little uncomfortable that one of Ben’s standout memories of her involved her being violent. How much different to Ben was she really? Part of his defence when he was on trial was that he’d acted with diminished responsibility, that he was schizophrenic. The jury hadn’t bought that. He’d not been diagnosed with a mental disorder, but surely there was something wrong with the functioning of his brain? Why else would he have flipped like he did?

That was the key aspect of what had happened that continued to worry Dani the most. It wasn’t as if her mind was in tip-top shape.

‘Can I ask you something?’ Dani said.

‘Fire away.’

‘Why did you do it?’

‘Seriously? That’s what you want to know? Haven’t we been through all this before?’