Bette said, ‘She’s got Basil with her.’

‘What?’ said Hessel, abruptly muscling his way to get a view out of the window. ‘Why would she do that?’

It was so strange, everybody just standing completely still, looking at each other without moving. Not Bette, not Hessel, not the boy.

So I said, ‘Leonie said yesterday she had to come back and she was going to bring her son to meet me. I thought that would be okay.’

‘Anna –’ Hessel said, but then he said nothing else and sat down in the armchair. Bette smiled at me, a strange, complicated smile – unsure of itself. Leonie and her son were just standing around their car. I finished my tea and said, ‘Maybe they’re waiting for us to go and say hello.’ When neither Bette nor Hessel answered, I pulled on a jacket, slid my phone into my pocket, stepped out the back door and walked out across the gravel.

Leonie was leaning with her elbows on the bonnet, talking to the young man. He had his back against the car door and was facing away from me, towards the old house, so I was actually quite close by the time they heard my rasping footsteps and looked up. Leonie turned quickly. ‘Anna!’ she said with a smile, and the young man wheeled around so fast he nearly fell over. He had long lashes, and he was wearing eye make-up, I saw now – dark lines around the underneath of his eyes. And he looked either younger or older than I’d first thought, seeing him through the window – he had a youthful expression, but the jawline of a grown man.

‘Hello,’ he said, holding his fringe back from his face so he could see me. ‘Wow,’ he said. ‘Hi.’ And then, ‘This is really –’

Leonie cut him off. ‘Basil, remember.’

He looked peeved and rebellious, like an angry toddler. ‘Seriously, Mum?’ he said. ‘We’re going to play the stupid game?’

‘I don’t want you messing about.’ Obviously there was some stand-off between them; their eyes were locked. Something was going over my head, and finally the young man shrugged. Leonie nodded silently at him and said, ‘Anna, this is my son, Basil.’

I held out my hand for him to shake, and the way he stepped towards me to take it – a weird little wiggle as he walked – reminded me of an excited puppy trying not to wag his tail too much, so his body kind of wagged instead.

‘I’m going in to see Bette,’ said Leonie. ‘You kids coming?’

‘Hessel’s in there,’ I warned.

But Leonie just laughed. ‘Poor Hessel.’

At that point Hessel came out of the back door, looked at us all standing there, and then strode off towards the stable.

‘Or not,’ I said. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and gestured vaguely towards the paddock. ‘I’ve actually got to go and find some reception, so . . .’

‘I’ll come with you,’ said Basil and strode off ahead of me towards the fence.