‘Come on, Molly, concentrate. You did it before. Just relax and let me help you.’

After a few moments I began to get the rhythm again, and after a while realised that Kit’s hands had let go. I was rowing, on my own. We meandered a bit, of course, and I caught a very large crab, which had me falling backwards into his arms, but he set me upright again, and at last I managed to keep in a straight line and gain some speed.

‘You’ve got it, well done. Keep going,’ he shouted.

Jimmy laughed and clapped his hands with glee. Then, quite unexpectedly, he stood up, reaching forward, trying to catch the oars and causing the boat to rock alarmingly.

‘Me now . . .?’

‘Sit down, Jimmy,’ I shouted. ‘You’ll have us all in the water.’

From behind Kit said calmly, ‘Let him have a go, if he wants to.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Of course. He’s perfectly strong enough. It’s just a matter of getting the hang of it. Change places carefully, and I’ll show him how.’

I handed over the oars reluctantly, certain we were heading for disaster. What Kit didn’t know was that when he couldn’t manage something, Jimmy would get frustrated, throw things and walk away. If he threw away the oars, we would be stranded in the middle of the lake.

But my fears proved unfounded. In fact, he seemed to get the knack faster than I’d managed, and before long Jimmy was rowing on his own in a straight line and gaining speed, an enormous grin splitting his face from ear to ear, his face red with the effort.

‘Steady now,’ Kit said, leaning forward to guide the oars. ‘Right hand down, old boy, or we’ll end up in the brambles.’

Just then there were voices from the direction of the Hall – hidden behind the long bank of willows and tall grasses – and we heard his mother calling, ‘Cooeee. Christopher? Where are you?’

‘Bloody hell,’ Kit said. ‘My mother’s back earlier than she said. I’m going to cop it now.’

Selfishly, I thought of myself. Would they blame me for causing yet more trouble, only a day after the accident?

Kit leaned forward and took the oars from Jimmy. ‘Move to the back, laddie – careful now. I’m going to row you to the bank, is that okay? You can walk home from there through the woods.’ He pulled away with such power that the boat quickly picked up speed. ‘Don’t want you copping it too, do we? Wouldn’t be fair, after me leading you on.’

We reached the bank in a few short minutes. ‘Thank you for a lovely afternoon,’ I said as we clambered out.