The boathouse appeared intact from the outside. I noticed the padlock was missing, but said nothing. It was only when we went inside that we discovered how, even here, the storm had taken its toll. The double doors leading out onto the lake had been blown inwards and one of them partly wrenched off, now hanging lopsidedly from a single hinge. The sturdy Mary Jane rocked safely at the end of its mooring line, but the canvas boat was nowhere to be seen.

‘Bloody hell, where’s Robin?’ Kit said.

‘Language, Christopher,’ his mother muttered.

‘Sorry, Vicar . . .’ He need not have been so embarrassed, as Pa often said worse than that.

‘Did you tie it up properly?’ she asked.

‘Of course I did,’ Kit snapped.

‘It’s not your fault,’ I whispered. ‘She’ll have just blown away across the lake. I’m sure you’ll find her.’

‘Surely Jimmy wouldn’t have taken her out all on his own?’ Kit said.

‘He can’t row,’ Pa said.

Kit and I exchanged glances, but neither of us corrected him. ‘He was really worried about that lost parrot,’ I said. ‘You don’t suppose . . .?’

‘What about the oars?’ Mrs Waddington asked.

‘Left them in the boat,’ Kit said.

‘For goodness’ sake, why do you think we’ve put up these brackets? You know you’re supposed to stow them away every time?’

‘Leave me alone, Ma,’ he snapped back. The tension was getting to all of us. ‘I’ll take Mary Jane and look. I expect Robin’s blown away in the wind.’ I wanted to hug him for his decisiveness. It gave me strength, too.

By the time we got back to the vicarage it seemed as though the whole village had been mobilised. A large group was gathered at the church gate.

‘The wife told us about Jimmy, Vicar,’ George Diamond explained. ‘Mr Blackman’s been getting everyone organised. There are three search parties out already – one group’s gone up to the main road, another is covering the woods, and we’re searching houses and gardens. We’ll find the little fella, don’t you worry.’

‘That’s very reassuring. Thank you, everyone,’ Pa said. Somehow I didn’t find the idea of search parties at all reassuring. In fact, it made everything frighteningly real. The need for search parties meant that my brother was properly missing.