‘More than halfway, I think. Where’s the map?’

Maria pulled the leaflet out of her pocket, and it was sodden. He laughed, because it looked so sad, and she laughed too.

‘Disaster!’ he said. ‘We’ll never get home.’

‘No, we have the other map,’ she said, giggling. ‘We won’t get lost! Anyway, you’ve been here before. You remember this place?’

‘Not really. It’s very vague.’

‘You must try. I think this is a very old building – you must have come here, and sat against it.’

‘It was a while ago,’ he said. ‘But listen – I think we should have just one sandwich each, and save the other two.’

‘In case we have to spend the night here?’

She was laughing at him, and he was shaking his head.

‘No,’ he said. ‘But I think the last part will be hard. We’ll need an extra boost.’

‘A what?’

‘An extra boost. An… injection.’

‘Yes. You are very wise, Michael. I think, without you, I might have given up.’

‘There’s still time to do that.’

‘You want to give up?’

‘Do you want to?’

‘Of course not. I don’t have a choice.’

She took a sip of tea, and passed the cup to him. He took his first bite of ham sandwich, adding a few crisps. He waited, then, and the taste exploded: he hadn’t had that particular combination for years. For a moment, the ham stuck to the roof of his mouth as it always had, and always would, and she watched him as he worked at it with his tongue. Yet again, she was grinning at him, as if he was a clown.

‘Why don’t you have a choice?’ he said at last.

‘I do. I do, really… but…’

She bit into her sandwich, and he saw the same ecstasy cross her face as had crossed his. He waited as she chewed and swallowed.

‘I told someone I would definitely come here,’ she said. ‘Someone who… this is a secret, okay? Someone who is paying for my hotel. Paying for the train, also.’

‘Who?’

‘I must not say.’

‘Why not?’

‘You could get me fired.’

‘Why? And why would I want to get you fired?’

She laughed.

‘It’s because of all the rules,’ she said. ‘You’re not allowed to take money from people. Patients, I mean. In the hospice. If they find out, it could be a big problem for me. So you keep it to yourself, please.’

‘Keep what to myself? I still don’t understand—’

‘The fact that I just told you… That this person who is paying me… And you should drink the tea, before it gets cold.’

He took a mouthful as instructed.

‘So who is he?’ he said.