‘I don’t know what’s happened to women,’ the man continued angrily. ‘First your mother ignores all her responsibilities and disappears off here on some feeble excuse. And then with absolutely no word why, she stays on for weeks!’

‘You can talk,’ Wendy snapped. ‘Where the hell have you been?’

He ignored this and looked round pugnaciously as Moira and Nell began to work out what was going on and searched for Penny in case they needed to step forward and protect her.

Colin had finally glimpsed her at the edge of the crowd, talking to a Greek man.

‘Right,’ he said loudly, pushing people out of his way as he fought towards her. ‘Go and sort out your stuff, Penny. There’s a ferry to Santorini in the morning and we can fly straight to Athens from there. I’ve booked our flights for 11.45 tomorrow night. It all works as long as you get your bloody act together.’

Penny could see her three friends all lined up in her defence. Nikos too was at the ready, trying to catch her eye. She shook her head, both to acknowledge their support and to indicate that she could manage this on her own.

‘Hello, Colin,’ she greeted her husband, forcing her voice to be calm, her posture erect. What she saw was a small, sweaty man, bristling with anger and eager to find a scapegoat for his irritation. In the past it had usually been her.

She thought of all the years she had spent being slighted by him, her every opinion put down and dismissed. His eternal criticism of everything, from her driving to what kind of mother she was. Why had she put up with it all this time? It was only at a distance that she could appreciate how steadily he had undermined her self-confidence, making her feel she was a nobody.

Crossing her arms, she remembered she was wearing the silver snake amulet Dora had bought her in Zanthos. The same bracelet she’d worn when she was young and carefree, before she’d made the decisions that had shaped her life. The blue jewel in the snake’s eye blinked at her, urging her to be brave, to see that it wasn’t too late.

Suddenly Penny began to laugh.

‘What the hell is the matter with you?’ Colin demanded, looking at her as if she had lost her mind. ‘Why are you bloody laughing, you stupid woman?’

‘Because I find you ridiculous, Colin. You’re charmless and controlling and there is no way I am going back to England with you.’

Moira and Nell exchanged a proud glance. Penny was doing just fine. They both wanted to cheer.

‘Then what the hell do you think you’re going to do?’ he demanded nastily.

She held out her hand towards a man on the fringe of the crowd, whose dark eyes were already locked on hers. ‘I am going to live with Nikos.’