‘Eliza? Sweetheart?’

She sat upright. Oh no, the pie! It needed to go in the oven!

Her mother soothed her. ‘I’ve done it, don’t worry. It won’t take long.’

As it warmed up, her mother asked her how her day had been. It was mostly good, Eliza said. Except in the last lesson one of the boys in her class had pinched her. It had hurt.

‘Do you want me to come to your school tomorrow and kill that boy?’

It was such a naughty thing to say that Eliza found herself giggling. She shook her head.

‘Could I hurt him badly?’ her mum said. ‘Blind him? Break his pencils in two? Set his books on fire?’

Another giggle, another shake of her head.

‘Spoilsport.’ Her mother smoothed her hair back in the way Eliza loved and kissed her again.

After dinner, they did the dishes together. Eliza was on the way to her bedroom to change into her pyjamas when the phone rang. She heard her mum talking and laughing. She guessed it was one of her two godmothers.

Eliza loved Maxie and Olivia. She only got to see them once or twice a year, with Maxie being so busy acting in her TV show in Sydney, and Olivia now living in a hotel filled with art in Edinburgh with her new husband and stepsons, but it was always great fun when they came to stay. Her mother was always so happy to see them too.

She was in bed reading when she heard her mum finish the phone call. Jeannie appeared at her bedroom door shortly after, with a glass of wine in her hand, a big smile on her face.

‘Eliza Maxine Olivia, I have major news.’

Eliza liked it when her mother made these kinds of announcements.

She came over and sat on the edge of the bed. ‘Tomorrow I will be phoning your school. I will say it is in regard to the forthcoming school concert. I will be asking the relevant person to reserve three tickets for me.’

‘Three?’

‘One for me. And one for each of your godmothers.’

Eliza’s eyes widened. ‘Both of them are coming? At the same time?’

‘Both. Alive and dangerous,’ her mother said.

That concert was one of Eliza’s happiest childhood memories.

The school hall was packed by six p.m., every seat filled, people lining the walls too. Eliza kept peeking out from behind the stage curtains. She started to worry that they’d be late, or not get there at all. Something made her look just before the concert began. The back door of the hall opened. Her mother came in first, so pretty in a red dress, smiling widely, her black curls so shiny. Somehow, she spotted Eliza and blew her a kiss. Olivia was next, tall and slender with wavy brown hair. Then Maxie, curvy, with dyed-red hair. They were wearing colourful dresses too.

They looked so amazing that the photographer from the local paper came up afterwards and took a photo of them with Eliza. It appeared on the front page the following week. Of course, the headline was about Maxine Hill, the famous soap actress, being in town, but Eliza was still named, and so were her mum and Olivia.