After a few moments, satisfied now that he wasn’t following me, I stopped to dry off and change back into my clothes. As I sat there, trying to gather my breath and sort out my thoughts, something else caught my attention. It was the unmistakeable gurgle of Eli’s chesty guffaw. He had company, by the sounds of it. I started up the path and, growing closer, began to recognise the sound of the other person’s laughter: it was Jimmy’s. Sure enough, when I came in sight of Eli’s hut they were both there, sitting on the steps with mugs of tea in one hand and biscuits in the other, still chuckling.

‘Jimmy? What on earth are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at home with Mrs D and Pa.’

His little face fell. He’d probably wandered off into the churchyard and down through the woods, without a thought of the worry he’d cause. Now he looked so downcast that I couldn’t go on being angry, so I gave him a hug instead.

‘You seemed to be having a good joke,’ I said. ‘What was that all about?’

Eli chuckled again, tapping the side of his nose with a tobacco-stained forefinger. ‘Thass between you and me, ain’t it, laddie? Can I make you a cuppa, Miss Molly?’

It was tempting. The familiarity of this little porch, the smell of wood-smoke, the chipped enamel cups and ever-present plate of oatmeal biscuits made me feel safe again.

‘Oh no, thank you, Eli. We’d better get back. Everyone will be wondering where this naughty boy has got to.’

Jimmy dawdled and complained most of the way home.

‘Don’t you realise how much Pa and Mrs D will be worrying about you?’ I shouted, annoyed with myself, as much as with Jimmy. ‘You can’t just wander off without telling someone where you are going. Don’t you understand?’

‘Sorry.’

‘What was so important that you had to see Eli this afternoon? You know I would go with you any other time?’

‘Help . . . my friend.’

‘Yes. We all want to help him,’ I barked.

Jimmy stopped on the path, refusing to move, with tears falling down his cheeks. I took his hand.

‘But when you run off, we worry about you.’

‘My special friend.’

All the upsets of the afternoon crowded in, nearly bringing me to tears. I’d shouted at my brother twice and gone alone to the lake with Robert, whom I thought I trusted and regarded as a pal. And the sad truth was that Eli was not simply Jimmy’s special friend. He was his only friend in the village.