I pull a few more items out and find a letter in an envelope addressed by hand. That’s unusual enough to merit inspection. I put it to one side to take downstairs and dig around some more. My fingers touch something thin and rubbery. It turns out to be a small, clear-white plastic strip with a sticker attached. Lottie had one of these around her wrist after she was born. This must be Kai’s. I lift it closer to the light so that I can read it properly. And then I read it again, because it isn’t what I expected at all.

There’s a metallic clank, the unmistakable sound of someone putting their weight on the ladder. Shit. I stuff the bracelet into my back pocket and slide the letter under my top, pulling the waist of my jeans over it, then I turn as a tousle-haired Kai puts his head through the hatch.

‘Oh, sorry, Kai. Did I wake you?’

‘I woke up anyway.’ He looks round, his eyes large. ‘What are you doing?’

My mouth is as dry as the wood in the rafters above me. I think fast. ‘Your mum told me she had some old junk for the school fair up here, and as I couldn’t sleep I thought I’d take a look.’

‘Can I come up?’ he asks.

‘No,’ I say quickly. ‘It’s filthy. I’m coming down.’

The school summer fete has a bric-a-brac stall, and we’ve all had a letter asking for donations, so as excuses go, it’s not a disaster. Kai looks sceptical but evidently decides not to press the point. I climb down after him and close the hatch, then put the hook back where it came from.

ANNA

April 2018 One Month Earlier

SITTING ON THE VICTORIA LINE, ANNA TRIED HARD TO concentrate on her book. It was Saturday and Kai had gone to Ben’s parents for the entire weekend, she was all dolled up and on her way to meet Douglas. It was a real date. She gave up on the novel, and discreetly studied the other passengers. A man, younger than her, caught her eye and she sensed a spark of interest, but he got off at the next stop. Even so, that tiny connection made her bloom. Anna wondered what Grace would think if she knew who she was meeting. She had given Anna a bunch of yellow tulips to thank her for helping her out that time. It was a sweet gesture, but it didn’t give Anna any pleasure. If they had been true friends, gifts wouldn’t change hands; it would be assumed that they were there for each other. But it was a beginning, and she mustn’t get neurotic. It would happen. She would get to Nick, and through Nick to Tim. Those two owed her. Between them, they had stolen the last precious years of her childhood. They had betrayed her.