He shrugged. ‘It’s probably easier then. I don’t have to try to make him like me. I’ve given up trying to make Sophie like me. She’s always busy with The Baby now, anyway. But Dad said he might take me somewhere tomorrow. If he doesn’t get called in to do some more operations.’

Again, Eliza tried to find the right words. ‘Does your mum know what it’s like here in Edinburgh for you?’

‘Of course. We Skype three times a week, even now when she’s on her American lecture tour. She got a bit teary last time. She misses me a lot.’

‘But she still sends you here?’

He shrugged again. ‘It’s a legal arrangement. She doesn’t want to but the lawyers said she has to. It’s not always bad. Sometimes after dinner Dad plays Monopoly with me. Well, he did once. You can say hello to my mother if you like. She’s Skyping me in’ – he checked his watch – ‘eight minutes.’

At his suggestion, they set themselves up in front of the meerkats. ‘My favourites are the ring-tailed lemurs, as you know, but Mum loves these fellows.’

Right on time, his phone chimed. ‘Mum!’ he said happily.

It was a relief to hear him sounding so cheery. To hear the warm tones of his mother in return. The phone was thrust in her direction. Sullivan’s mother appeared to be in a hotel room. Eliza instantly saw the likeness. They had the same thick dark hair, the same large dark eyes.

‘Eliza, hello! I’m Lisa. Thank you so much. You must think we’re an odd family, sending our son off with strangers. Except you’re not, of course. Everyone seems to know your godmother.’

‘You’ve got a great son,’ she said.

‘He’s the best,’ Lisa said, smiling that same big Sullivan smile. ‘You’ve made quite a fan, too.’

Sullivan looked pleased with himself as she handed the phone back. He pointed the phone in the meerkats’ direction, then blew a series of goodbye kisses at the lens.

‘A great start to my day,’ he said after hanging up. ‘Now, lemur time!’

As they followed the path, she spotted a bright-yellow sign pointing to a koala enclosure.

‘We’re not the only Australians in Scotland,’ she said. ‘Shall we go and say hello to them first?’

‘They don’t do anything,’ Sullivan said. ‘They just sit on tree stumps and look doleful.’

They went in, all the same. There was a female koala with a baby on her back, barely visible through an arrangement of eucalyptus leaves. Eliza and Sullivan waited for them to move. They didn’t.

‘Did you ever want to ride around on your mother’s back, Eliza?’ Sullivan asked after a while.

‘No, to Mum’s relief, I’d say. I was taller than her by the time I was your age.’