‘Mr Blackman?’

‘“The Blackness”, they call him.’

I looked up at her. ‘Crikey, that bad?’

She lit a cigarillo. ‘Tell your father to take care around that man,’ she said, batting away clouds of smoke with her spare hand.

‘But he’s the church treasurer . . .’

‘Indeed.’ The word hung in the room, weighted with meaning.

‘And is that a problem?’

‘Let’s just say we go back a long way. But I like your enquiring spirit, Miss Goddard,’ she said, laughing now. ‘Come on, girl, no slacking. You’ll never get those copies through if you slow down. Let’s get this job done, shall we?’

After we’d finished, she made me a cup of tea and poured herself another glass of whisky. ‘Shall we sit outside? It’s a lovely day, for a change.’

The house might have been in need of a lick of paint, but her garden was immaculate: filled with colourful spring bulbs, with a large patch dedicated to vegetables and a small orchard of fruit trees covered in lacy blossom. In the shelter of the outhouse was an ancient bench, where we both sat in the unaccustomed warmth of the sunshine.

‘Your father says you’d like to be a writer, Molly,’ she said, lighting another cigarillo.

‘Oh, it’s nothing,’ I said, feeling my cheeks colouring.

‘It’s the best age to begin,’ she said.

‘Why? When did you start, Miss Calver?’

‘About your age. I sent articles to my local newspaper under a boy’s name. John Calver’s “Stories from the school gate”,’ she said dreamily. ‘Dear John did quite well for a while.’

‘What happened then?’

‘They twigged that I was a sixteen-year-old girl and told my parents. And that put a stop to that. But I’d got the bug by then, and after college I went back and badgered them till they let me make coffee and type up copy. Later I got to be their first-ever woman war correspondent. Best days of my life, Molly. So keep up the writing, my dear. And if you ever want someone to read your stuff, I’d be happy to help.’

I thanked her for her kindness, but knew that was many months away, even years. I was nowhere near being ready to show anyone my dragon story – except for Jimmy, of course.