‘I stuck her into one of the back bedrooms. Kassim’s outside the door and there’s another lad outside the window. She’s slippery. She is also traumatised at what she saw. Very vestal virgin, is our Georgio’s wife. Where the fuck he got her from I don’t know.’

Stephen grinned. ‘The Roman Road.’

Candy laughed in delight.

‘Amazing what you can pick up on the markets, ain’t it?’

Donna sat in the deepening twilight, her feet curled under her. She could smell the bedding and an odour of heavy greasy food. The kitchen must be nearby. Voices wafted into the room from the grounds and she guessed the hotel was open for business. All she could see in her mind was the child, and the blood. She had a raging thirst, but no appetite. Fear had made her bowels loose and she had had an uncomfortable time trying to hold everything inside her. There was no sanitation nearby. What was supposed to have been an ensuite bathroom was a dust-filled hole.

She could hear the movements of insects in the deepening gloom and had to stifle the urge to scream. As the doorhandle turned, she felt a wave of panic wash over her.

Stephen stood outlined in the glare of the corridor. As he switched on the light, Donna shielded her eyes with her hand.

Candy followed him into the room and said loudly, ‘Why didn’t you put the lights on, you stupid cow? Do you want anything to eat or drink?’

She sounded so normal, Donna felt for a split second that she was losing her mind.

‘How’s the child?’ Her voice felt rusty, as if she hadn’t used it for years.

Candy rolled her eyes. ‘I got one of the men to take her to the hospital. She’ll be fine.’

Donna licked dry lips. ‘No cars have left since I’ve been here, I’ve been listening out.’

Candy looked at Stephen in a ‘See what I mean?’ kind of way and shrugged.

‘I’ll get you a drink, all right?’

When she had left the room, Stephen walked over and sat on the bed.

‘Why did you come, Donna - eh? Why didn’t you keep your big nose out of it? You realise that I can’t let you leave now, don’t you? There’s too much at stake here. You saw and you heard too much. You’re like a fucking leech, do you know that? Like the spear in Christ’s side.’

His low sing song voice frightened Donna more than if he had struck her or shouted at her.

‘I see you’ve had a right-hander.’ He touched her swollen cheek softly with his fingers. Donna pulled her head away abruptly. It was almost a sexual act, a caress, and it made her feel sick.