Now here she is, in the middle of the hospital car park, fumbling for coins to feed the parking meter. The time on the bridge has left her with more questions than answers. For the second time that day she walks through the swing doors into the warm fug of the Bristol Royal Infirmary, following the signs to the lifts and from there up to the second floor, left down the corridor towards the ICU. It is quiet now, in that soft, certain way that hospitals at night always are. Over at the nurses’ station a group of nurses and orderlies in various uniforms mill about attending to banks of screens and papers. There’s no one she recognises from the morning but that’s not surprising given that more than twelve hours have passed and the staff must have changed shift. Approaching the desk she waits, hoping to catch someone’s eye. A young woman with her hair pinned into a ponytail turns and smiles and comes over.

‘Can I help?’

Honor explains who she is and asks to look in on Satnam. She watches as the young woman’s face closes up like the petals of a daylily once the dusk sets in.

‘A minute or two is all I need.’

‘And you are?’

‘Yes, I’m sorry. I’m a friend. The mother of a friend.’

Honor watches the young woman bustle off to the nursing station and return moments later. ‘I’m sorry, but the family have said no visitors except immediate family and representatives from the university.’

‘Not even for a few seconds?’

The young woman shakes her head softly.

‘Can you at least tell me how she is?’ Alive, evidently.

‘I’m really sorry.’

‘Please give her a message then. Please tell her that Honor and Nevis…’ she stops, thinking that the nurse will never remember that ‘…will you tell her that the crew of the Kingfisher is looking forward to welcoming her on board again?’

‘The crew of the Kingfisher.’

‘You will tell her, won’t you?’

The young woman smiles softly and turns away.

In the lift on the way down Honor resolves to call Narinder and ask her to change her mind. The two spoke briefly last summer, when Satnam was staying on the Kingfisher. The exchange was tense but civil. Narinder wanted her daughter home and was hoping Honor might persuade her. She also wanted to be sure that Satnam and Luke weren’t sleeping together. They were, of course, but Honor didn’t see it was her business to say one way or another. Satnam was an adult, entitled to do whatever she wanted.

A few weeks later, at the beginning of the academic year, when Nevis and Satnam were moving into the flat, the two women had another encounter. Narinder wanted to know from Honor whether Nevis went out with boys.

‘Not that I know of,’ Honor said.