Even when he addressed me directly, he seemed to be looking somewhere to the side of my face. ‘Your passion is laudable, Miss Goddard, but I’m afraid we cannot escape the fact that, as a community, we have a responsibility to look after elderly frail people like Mr Chadwick. This is precisely why we have petitioned the council over several years to build ten council homes in the village, for deserving people like him.’

‘What if Eli doesn’t want to leave?’ I continued to glare, daring him to meet my eyes. He was a bully and a coward, and I felt suddenly powerful, facing him square-on with my arms folded in front of my chest.

‘Then I am afraid that the other matter – the legal issue concerning the lack of any formal lease for the hut – will come into play,’ he said, looking at my father. Pa’s eyes were lowered; he seemed determined not to take sides.

‘And you will evict him by force? Don’t imagine he will go quietly.’

Blackman hesitated for a fraction of a second. ‘We are sure it will never come to that, Miss Goddard. When Mr Chadwick sees the wonderful facilities he is being offered, he will see his old hut in a different light.’

‘He has made it perfectly plain that he will never leave his hut of his own free will,’ I said. ‘You’ll have to carry him out in his coffin, he says.’

Jimmy now began to shout, ‘No, no, no, NO!’ I turned to him to tell him to stop, but his eyes were closed and his hands over his ears. His cheeks burned bright red and he was well on his way to a fully-fledged tantrum. I needed to calm him down. Mother had always drummed into us that, because he had a fragile heart, he must not be allowed to get upset.

‘Take him for a walk in the garden, Molly,’ I heard Pa saying, over Jimmy’s shouts. ‘I will be with you shortly.’

As we walked in the cool of the evening, with the sky turning a luminous azure and the stars just beginning to appear, Jimmy’s breathing slowed and his face returned to normal. The mosquitoes had largely disappeared – apparently the countryside was so dry they had nowhere to breed – and it was the only place where you could hope to find fresh air.

‘We’re going to stop him somehow, don’t you worry.’ I tried to sound confident even though, inside, I felt quite terrified by the storm we had unleashed. Soon afterwards Pa came out too.

‘I’m sorry, Pa,’ I started. ‘But we had to do something to help Eli.’

‘I know how much this issue upsets you, and Jimmy. But it is absolutely the wrong time for me to take a stand. The diocese is launching formal investigations into the missing money, starting next week.’

My stomach lurched. ‘Oh, Pa, that’s terrible.’