She remembered the time she had found Cleo floating on top of the water. She had cried for the loss of her fish as Cleo had been so floppy, but that evening Daddy had brought her a clear plastic bag of water with Cleo darting around inside. She had a black dot on her tail that hadn’t been there before, but Daddy said that was because she’d been on an adventure. She liked the idea of that. Now she was going on one too. Tomorrow, Mummy would hammer a nail into her window frame, and Grace would never get outside again. Would she see any bunnies tonight? The thought brought a flutter to her tummy. What if she got caught? Her parents’ snores droned from their room across the hall. Mummy and Daddy always slept through. There was no need to be afraid.

She climbed back on to her bed, which was pushed up against the window. Close enough to see the moon outside when she pulled the thick curtains across. She waited for another comforting round of snores before lifting the rusted latch. The window moved freely and her eyelids fluttered shut as she basked in the night air, escaping her confinement at last. Sliding outside, her bare feet finally touched the damp ground. The air tickled her ankles, the hem of her cotton nightdress just high enough that it didn’t get dirty or wet.

She stared around the woodland in wonder, taking short, tentative steps. She was so happy she could burst. ‘When you wish upon a star . . .’ The Disney song escaped her lips the second she was out of her parents’ earshot. Touching the trees, she lost herself in the textures of this forbidden outside world. Her previous countryside jaunts with her father felt like a lifetime ago. She’d loved learning the names of the birds and the difference between a rabbit and a hare. She remembered the pheasants, which spent more time on the ground than in the air, and the ducks that hid among the reeds on the pond. Like her, her daddy was happier when outdoors. But these days he spent all his time in offices and cars. His wellies had been swopped for leather shoes, his jeans and jumpers replaced by suits and ties. But she wouldn’t let this sadden her. Not tonight.