I’m eating porridge made with water, topped with almond cream. Ama’s eating a vegan pain au chocolat and Big Ben has a full English: rootveg rashers, hash browns, beancakes and baked beans. That’s one too many bean things. I won’t sit too close to Big Ben today.

Big Ben says they had a great midnight feast. They smuggled so much food they couldn’t eat it all so they’ll supplement the vegan menu with all that meat. They stayed up till 3 a.m.! In our chalet, we all got to bed just after midnight, except Noon, who came back really late, but she’s allowed because she’s 4-leap. I stayed up all night reading my Bob Beamon book. I read it under the covers with the light from my TwentyTwenty like I do at home in case Grandma comes into the sitting-room to tell me to ‘go to sleep-o’. Once I start reading a good book, I can’t stop. Bob Beamon talked about how he was a criminal until he realised he was good at the long jump. Maybe MC2 should read the book so he can learn to be good at something and not be a criminal any more.

Ama finishes her croissant and looks at me for a long time. Then she looks at Big Ben and says:

‘Fiona’s looking good this morning. Think the rain cleaned her off.’

Big Ben leaps up and goes to the window. Ama lowers her voice.

‘Can we trust him?’

‘What?’

‘To keep a secret?’

I nod my head. Big Ben’s very good with secrets. He never told Grandma I read all the Harry Potter series under the covers with the light from my phone. That said, he’s only met Grandma twice. Ama walks over to the window and says something to Big Ben. He comes back to our table. She did well making him stop looking at his new carfriend.

‘This is top secret,’ she says. ‘Promise you’ll tell no one!’

We nod.

‘I’m here to find my brother,’ she says. ‘He went missing last leap day when he was 3-leap. I’m sure he came here. To this centre.’

‘Did he leap and refuse to come back?’ I say.

She gives me a hard stare. ‘Millennia made it sound like Leaplings were runaways. But Kwesi wasn’t like that.’

‘You should tell the police,’ I say. ‘If someone goes missing, they send sniffer dogs to sniff them out.’

‘We did,’ she says, ‘but obviously we couldn’t tell them he was going on a Time Squad trip. Or had The Gift. They searched the local area, then stopped looking after a week.’

‘But it’s their job to find him.’