‘But, Dad,’ said Ruthy, ‘prize night is still weeks away. How long will Mum be gone for?’

‘She will have Christmas with her family,’ said Dad, ‘so she will be away for quite a long time.’

‘Noooo,’ howled Caleb. ‘I want my mum. I want my mum.’

Dad wrapped himself around Caleb and rocked him to and fro.

‘Come on, Caleb,’ said Dad. ‘Don’t be a baby now. Big boys don’t cry. Don’t you want your mum to be happy that she can see her family?’

‘No,’ said Caleb. ‘I want her to be happy here with us.’

‘Not going to happen,’ I heard myself say, and Dad snapped his head to look at me but didn’t say anything.

‘But why didn’t Mum say goodbye to us?’ said Ruthy, who had tears rolling down her cheeks now. ‘Doesn’t she love us anymore?’

‘I told you, she did say goodbye, and of course she loves us,’ said Dad. But that was all he said.

‘But who will make our lunches and look after us when you are at work?’ asked Ruthy.

And that was the question that shot a big bullet of fear right through my gut. I could feel the blood rushing to my face. My hands got all sticky and sweaty. I held my breath again, waiting for what I was dreading to know.

‘Well. It’s going to be fine really. Caleb is going to stay with Aunty Maisie and Grandpa. Because they live so close, he will be able to finish the school year at Rostrevor.’ He addressed Caleb, ‘Aunty Maisie will walk you to school every day and pick you up. And you will be able to see Grandpa every day and that will be lovely.

‘Ruthy, you are going to stay with Brother and Sister Hodgeson, who really love you and can’t wait to see you. I’ve spoken to your teachers and they are going to give you a big packet of work to do at the Hodgesons. They said you are very clever and it won’t put you behind.

‘And Dorcas, you are going to stay with the Roystons. You’ve known them all your life, and Maudie and Helen and Peter will be your friends. You are going to go to school with Maudie until the end of the year, and your teachers say you can sit their exams instead of the ones at your school and it won’t be a problem,’ said Dad.

We were all three crying now. Caleb was making noises that sounded like ‘woa, woa, woa’. Ruthy was doing her very distressed cry where she stops breathing and her face is all screwed up and her mouth is an ugly big hole with dribble coming out of it. I had tears streaming from my eyes but made no sound. There wasn’t a sound that could match the awfulness of it all. I was pretty sure my eyes would leak forever.

A couple walking past us slowed down as they heard us crying and turned to look as they went past. The woman made a little ‘oh what a shame, poor poppets’ face, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. A little boy raced past us then noticed we were something interesting, came to a halt, stood stock-still just a little way behind me, staring and listening. Then he ran off calling to his mother, ‘There’s people crying, Mum. There’s people crying over here.’