‘Pick it up with no hands,’ she had instructed, watching as the teenagers, bored and having seen it all, casually dipped and picked it up with their teeth instead. They hadn’t looked quite so cocky when she’d torn a strip off the top and asked them to do it again. Five rounds later and it was a flat disc on the floor, and they were all splitting their sides laughing.

Now, as Bell sat crouched against the shed wall, waiting to be found, she burrowed her feet into the soft earth. There was no need to bother with shoes out here; the grass was so springy and soft, it was almost like walking on fur.

She closed her eyes and waited as she heard Linus counting up to fifty in English; she was never one to miss a teaching opportunity, plus it bought her a little extra time. He could have counted to eighty in Swedish in the time it took. She dropped her head down, her arms loosely on her knees, glad of the rest. She could have killed for a coffee. They’d been playing flat-out for an hour now and she hadn’t had any breakfast yet.

‘Found you!’

Her eyes flew open as she looked up into the dark, beady eyes of Emil’s terrifying sister.

‘I thought Linus was seeking?’ she spluttered.

‘Oh. Is he?’ Nina shrugged. ‘Well, we can hide together, then. Mind if I join you?’

In those white jeans? Bell wondered as Nina sat down on the cool earth beside her. Hiding in the narrow crack between the potting shed and a rusting lawnmower had seemed like a safe bet for a few minutes’ peace, but now it felt like the most dangerous place on earth. ‘How did you find me?’

‘I saw you disappear into the bushes there. I always used to hide here too, when Emil and I played this game as kids.’

‘Oh. The mower was here back then?’

‘Oh yes,’ Nina nodded, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from her Chanel bag. ‘Nothing ever changes here, although I guess you could already tell that by the decor in the bathrooms.’ She offered Bell a cigarette.

‘No. Thanks. I don’t smoke.’

‘No, neither do I. Well, not officially, anyway,’ Nina said, casting her a sideways look and a sly grin. ‘I suppose it doesn’t look good on the CV, does it? Nanny, smoker.’

‘No. Not really.’

‘D’you mind?’ Nina hesitated before lighting up, the cigarette already perched between her lips. The question was clearly rhetorical, but Bell shook her head anyway. ‘So . . .’ She exhaled a plume of grey smoke. ‘You seem to like your job.’

‘I do.’

‘How long have you been doing it for?’

‘Three years. The Mogerts are the only family I’ve worked for.’ She noticed Nina flinch at the sound of Max’s surname.

Nina’s eyes narrowed, assessing her. ‘But you’re, what – late twenties?’

‘Twenty-six. Before that, I was travelling,’ she said, anticipating the next question.