‘You’re very kind. But you must have noticed that I’m green, my legs are short and I’ve got knobbly skin instead of scales. It’s no wonder they called me ugly. But if I’m not a proper dragon, what on earth am I?’

Next day Jimmy and his sister went back to the lake, with his copy of his storybook about Peter Pan. He opened the page they’d marked and showed it to the dragon.

‘What on earth is that?’ she asked.

‘It’s a crocodile,’ he said. ‘It’s green, has short legs, knobbly skin and lots of teeth. But it hasn’t got any wings. And it doesn’t breathe fire.’

‘Heavens, it’s just like me,’ she said, crawling forward to the edge of the lake and tipping her head sideways to peer at her reflection in the water. ‘So you think I could be a crocodile – not a dragon after all?’ By now she was smiling with all her teeth.

‘I think it’s a definite possibility. And if it’s true, then you are definitely the most beautiful crocodile I’ve ever met,’ he said. ‘Isn’t that better than being an ugly dragon?’

‘Much better,’ she said, nudging him affectionately with her snout.

11

It was the last day of the summer term and anyone observing our weepy farewells would have believed us to be parting forever, not for just a few weeks.

On the bus home, even with Jimmy at my side, I found myself feeling bereft and empty, staring at the unending stretches of countryside going past. There was still no news from Kit, and I was tired of reading trashy romances. There were only so many happy endings I could take, when there didn’t seem to be any prospect of one for me. To hell with Kit! He didn’t deserve me anyway, that’s what Dinah said. ‘There’s plenty of fish in the sea,’ she said breezily. Except that in terms of boyfriend choice, Wormley was more of a puddle than an ocean.

And now six long weeks of summer holidays yawned ahead, with nothing to do except look after Jimmy and try to make sure he didn’t wander off or get into trouble. Pa seemed increasingly distracted and was often away at meetings, or at the church. I tried to suggest he should come for walks with me and Jimmy, now that the better weather had arrived, but he put on that falsely jolly smile and said he was sure we’d enjoy ourselves better without a boring old adult coming along. I watched for any further evidence of him drinking too much, but either it was under control or he’d got better at hiding it.