‘Right,’ Penny said brightly. ‘Let’s sort out your luggage. You may find the easiest way to get around during your stay is by bike. We can arrange a baby-carrier attachment, I’m sure.’

One look at Marigold’s white jeans, not to mention her appalled expression, told Penny this was not likely to be a popular option.

‘Fine, we’ll call you a taxi. Why don’t you go with them, Nell? I’ll follow on by bike, since we won’t all fit in.’

‘This is all rather impractical, isn’t it, having to travel so far to the town?’ Marigold complained frostily as they all clambered into a cab. ‘You didn’t mention that in the advertisement.’

Nell decided it might be wise not to say she hadn’t actually seen the advertisement, and had been absolutely stunned when anyone had booked.

She tried to distract them by pointing out the minuscule churches, the purple bougainvillaea that covered all the houses, the olive groves with goats sheltering underneath the trees and the tiny roadside shrines, but Marigold continued to look irritated.

Ten minutes later, they arrived.

‘But this place is in the middle of nowhere,’ Marigold objected. ‘What if we need nappies? Or baby milk?’

Nell had been about to say that to a lot of people, the peace of the place would be the appeal, but again she held back. It would only be a red rag. Instead she produced the tourist map from the hotel and handed it to them. ‘Here you are in this top corner,’ she began. ‘The island is only half a mile wide, so you’re actually very near everything. Just round here is the beach bar run by the hotel. And there’s the harbour, just ten minutes by taxi or a lovely journey by bike.’

Marigold stared at the map angrily. ‘It feels like we’re marooned on a desert island.’

Fortunately Penny arrived at that moment and rushed over to help them unload. ‘This is so exciting! You are the very first people to stay here,’ she smiled. ‘The locals call them smyrnata, these places – they used to be where the fishermen kept their boats in winter, that’s why they’re right on the water.’ She began to help carry their bags, while Marigold held the baby in her arms.

Marigold stood in frosty silence surveying what some people might call a picturesque spot set in deep peace, but clearly she saw as the back of beyond.

‘There’s a bakery just round the corner,’ Penny explained, correctly interpreting Marigold’s thoughts. ‘You can get delicious pastries and even a takeaway cappuccino.’

‘That’s something, I suppose,’ she acquiesced. The implication being that the location certainly needed compensations.

They climbed up the white stucco staircase at the side of the apartment, with Nell in the lead.

Once inside, Nell waited for Marigold’s judgement.