They both giggled. Nell looked at her watch, grateful they had left plenty of time to find the terminal and buy their tickets. To be honest, Nell always left plenty of time for things. She thought people who were late were selfish and rude.

‘I don’t see why we didn’t buy the tickets online,’ Dora pointed out. ‘Queueing for tickets feels like masochism in this day and age.’

‘Penny said it would be cheaper.’ Nell realized that Dora probably couldn’t imagine a world where counting the pennies mattered. ‘You know your problem?’ She tried not to sound sharp. ‘You’re too used to turning left on aeroplanes. Experience real life for a change. We’re retracing the holiday we all shared when we were students. It’s significant. A milestone.’

‘I hate milestones. They remind me how many miles I’ve come.’

Dora’s attention was suddenly grabbed by two Orthodox priests who were walking past them swathed in black, with tall black hats and beards that would have made your average Shoreditch hipster choke on his sourdough sandwich. ‘Look, they’ll know, they’re Greek and it’s their duty to be helpful to strangers.’

Dora strode forward and shook the hand of one of the priests enthusiastically. He blanched with shock and stepped backwards, as if Eve herself had materialized on the smelly dockside, the fateful apple in her hand, ready to bring about man’s eternal fall from innocence.

‘Excuse me, but do you know where Terminal P1 is, to the Cyclades Islands?’ Dora enquired.

He shook his head violently and scuttled off in the opposite direction.

‘That was helpful,’ Dora complained. ‘To think I assumed meeting at the terminal would be like catching the Eurostar and I could buy a cappuccino and a copy of Grazia.’

‘Come on, it must be round here,’ Nell said. Even though it was so early in the season, the sun was beating down and Nell found she was sweating profusely. There were people everywhere, pushing and shoving. Apart from two little boys sitting on the harbour wall fishing, it was more a scene from hell than a Greek holiday fantasy. She’d been told you could see the Acropolis once you were on the ferry, but at the moment all she could see were angry-looking people shouting at each other and a row of smokers sitting puffing away next to a heap of suitcases. They rounded another corner to find a bright-red-painted building with ‘Passenger Terminal’ written above it.

Not only was it closed, but chained and padlocked. They plonked themselves down on the bench outside and leaned on their pull-along bags. ‘Oh, bloody hell.’ Nell wiped the sweat out of her eyes. ‘I know. Why don’t we ring Penny? I bet she’s found it.’