That made me gasp and I said, ‘Dad, we have to go back and get the beads in the tree house. We can’t leave them behind.’

But Dad said, ‘Just make a list of anything you need once you’re settled in and I can bring it into Sunday school for you. But only things you really need. I can’t imagine why you need some beads from the tree house. What are they, anyway? A necklace?’

None of us answered, because we didn’t want to explain the way the family was represented on the string to Dad. But as we drove on our way to Henley Beach, where I would be staying, which is quite a long way from home, I thought about those beads and where they should be on the string now. Should we take the Mum bead off altogether for a while? Or should we just make a much bigger space between the Mum and Dad beads? Was the string long enough at all now? And if we took the Mum bead off, should we take mine off too, because I had a feeling Mum would say I was the main reason she had to go to Scotland.

And there it was, my big fear. Was I the reason Mum couldn’t wait any longer for Grandma to come to visit us? Was I the reason she had to fly across the world to be with her mum? Was she going to say, ‘Honestly, that child is the living end,’ as soon as she walked into Grandma’s house? I didn’t know my grandma, and only got a flowery card from her for my birthday every year that said Happy birthday from your gran in spidery writing. But I had always hoped she thought well of me. I had the idea in my head that I was quite like her and so she would like me, and perhaps I would even be a favourite. For Mum to talk to her first and give her a bad impression of me was not ideal.

Caleb whispered loudly to Ruthy, ‘I can go and get the beads after school.’ But Dad heard him and said, ‘No, Caleb. No one is to go home without my permission.’

But Caleb looked at Ruthy and mouthed the words, ‘I will. I will get them.’

And then I thought of Daniel. ‘Dad, does Daniel know where we will all be now? Does he know about Mum? Will he know where to send Ruthy letters? Can we ring each other and talk sometimes?’

Dad said, ‘Enough questions now, Dorcas. Just settle down with the Roystons, and we’ll sort everything else out after that. Just hush for a while now.’

I looked at Ruthy who mouthed, ‘I’ll tell Daniel. Don’t worry.’ I wondered where Daniel’s bead would be now. And then I thought again about my mum, who was flying right across the world all by herself. I worried about who she might have to sit next to. What if it was a man who made bad nose noises like Brother Jupitus did when he sat behind her at the Memorial Meeting on Sundays? She hated men who made sniffy or whistling noises through their nose. Or what if there was a chatty woman next to her? Mum didn’t like chatty women. She called them all show and no go. And she might have hours and hours of someone blethering on. I wondered if she’d tell them off, like she’d tell me off. And what if when Mum needed to go to the toilet on the plane, there was a big queue of people? Venita said her mum nearly wee’d herself when they went on a big trip because there’s only one toilet and so many people.