Rob kicked the dust with his feet. I was so desperate for an excuse to go to the lake I caved in. ‘Tell you what, I’ll ask Pa to keep an eye on him for a couple of hours.’

‘I come?’

‘Not this time, Jim.’

‘Want come.’

‘I’m going with Robert. We’ll go another day.’

Jimmy grabbed my arm. ‘Come.’

I shook him off, too fiercely. ‘No, Jimmy. I said no. Go away and stop bothering me, for goodness’ sake.’

Mrs D heard me and popped her head round the kitchen door. ‘Is everything all right here?’

‘Can Jimmy stay with you for an hour or so, Mrs D?’ I pleaded. She seemed to size up the situation with a single glance: me looking flushed, Jimmy looking crestfallen, Robert shifting his feet with embarrassment in the doorway.

‘Of course. Come here, laddie. You can help me with the baking.’ Jimmy’s sad little face filled me with guilt, but by the time Rob and I reached the lake, my conscience had disappeared. It was a perfect day and I felt suddenly light and carefree in this beautiful, peaceful place. Even in the furnace of that summer heat, it felt immediately cooler in the shade of the tall willow trees beside that great spread of still, dark water. Willow fluff floated on the air and settled as a haze on the motionless surface of the lake, and the only sound was a hidden coot tick-ticking to warn others of our arrival.

Wormley Hall and most of its gardens were hidden behind the curve of the lake. I could see the boathouse and the swimming platform, but both were deserted. Of the four islands, only Pirate’s Lair was in full sight; it made me smile to imagine Kit as a young boy with a red handkerchief round his head and a make-believe sword between his teeth. But where was he now?

Rob interrupted my reverie. ‘Coming in, Molly?’

‘Aren’t we waiting for the others?’

‘It’s too hot to wait.’

My costume was already under my shorts and T-shirt, so I stripped off and waded in. The water in the shallows was warm, but below the top three inches it became cooler, even cold. Within a few feet of the edge the gravel bottom disappeared, and to save stirring up the stinky mud we both plunged in, gasping slightly at the contrast in temperature.

As we swam, I told Rob about the snake I’d seen on the day of Kit’s birthday.

‘Sure it wasn’t a dragon?’

‘Don’t be silly. Even I know the difference.’

‘How long would you say?’

‘Only a foot or so.’ I trod water to hold my hands in the air, measuring it.

‘It’ll have been a grass snake. And it was probably more frightened than you were.’

‘Then it was pretty frightened.’