She didn’t ask where she was going. Didn’t ask when she would return. They’d been through so much together, taking that first leap of faith that changed the world – that was how it had seemed – and now Holly had built an entire life and she didn’t want to hear Freida questioning it, or questioning her motives. There was no point.

Holly stood ready to say a brisk goodbye and get back to her children – Daphne had pinned Leigh to the floor and was intent on tickling her feet until she screamed, one sock already peeled off – but Freida held her shoulders and looked into her eyes as if searching for something there that she couldn’t say out loud. Holly looked back, confident and happy, and just smiled. Aarav was starting to squirm, but Freida reached around awkwardly to give her a hug that seemed now to have lasted longer that it felt at the time.

‘There we go,’ Holly mumbled, putting Aarav into his baby bouncer then kneeling on the floor to untangle her other children. ‘You should visit your daughter,’ she called over her shoulder, as Freida lingered in the hall. She hadn’t meant anything by it, except that everyone needed their family, didn’t they?

‘Perhaps it was my fault,’ Freida said softly, turning back just for a second before she left.

Holly didn’t reply, because it wasn’t spoken as a question. Besides, she had no idea what Freida was talking about.

‘The babies are dying,’ Eva said.

If Piotr found her too blunt, he hid it well.

‘I only know of one.’

‘There have been others.’

He blew out his breath like a sigh and leaned forwards. They were sitting either side of the kitchen table, which was large enough to keep some distance between them. Eva had been caught off balance by the hug. She’d thought he’d come bursting into her home with ideas; she’d assumed he would try to take control. But he didn’t. If anything, he seemed less confident. A diminished version of himself. Fatter, though.

‘They don’t know why it’s happening,’ she said.

‘I think they’re trying to blame the parents.’

‘You spoke to Rosie Bhattacharyya?’

He shook his head. ‘Kaz.’