Tom didn’t want them to go. Not yet. He glanced from one to the other, at Tess’s ‘Go on, I dare you’ face and Nina’s look of expectation. Luckily, his parents stored most of the party drink, and all the food, in the back kitchen, which wasn’t really a kitchen at all, just a ramshackle room at the rear of the house. Even better, the room had a door that led directly onto the garden. That was how he’d got out. By now, the party-goers would be drunk. If he was careful, nobody would spot him.

‘I’d better go up and get another one, so.’

‘Yay,’ said Tess, rubbing her palms together. ‘Now we’re talking. Do you want me to come with you?’

‘Nope, it’s better if I go on my own. I’ll see you in a tick.’

Tom moved slowly up the path. Sometimes he squelched; sometimes he slithered; mostly he sank. What he needed was a pair of those snowshoes they wore in the films, the ones that looked like tennis racquets for your feet. Around him the snow continued to fall. The air was clean as peppermint. He thought of his parents. They would assume he’d slunk off to bed, but in the morning, they might notice the footsteps between the shed and the house. He’d have to come up with a story. As he edged closer, he heard a dull thump. They were playing music, old-timer records from the sixties and seventies. That was good. It meant there was less chance of somebody hearing him. He’d sneak in, take a bottle, no, two bottles, and sneak out again.

As he reached the corner of the building, a lightheaded feeling came over him, an enjoyable sort of lightheaded, like speeding over a humpback bridge. The door was inches away now. The light was on, but that made sense: people had to go in and fetch more drink or sandwiches. He peeped in and, through the snowflakes, saw what looked like a familiar figure leaving the room. Well, it was only a blur, really. All the same, he decided to stay out of sight for another few seconds. Only then did it occur to him that his parents might have locked the door. He counted to twenty before pressing down on the handle and giving a gentle push. He was in luck.