The children looked wide-eyed at the boot, and Peggy was about to tell them it was rude to stare when Daisy pointed and asked in her piping voice what that was on Betty’s foot.

‘I’m so sorry, Betty,’ babbled Peggy in an embarrassed fluster.

Betty smiled and shrugged. ‘Please don’t be. It’s only natural for children to be curious,’ she said before cheerfully sticking out her foot and waving it about. ‘This is my magic boot and only very special people can have one.’

The children’s eyes widened further. ‘Magic?’ whispered Daisy.

Betty nodded and smiled. ‘This boot covers my bad foot in a spell to make it all right again so that I can walk just like you and Lucy.’

There were appreciative murmurs, but Daisy was still curious. ‘Why’s your leg bad?’ she asked boldly.

‘I got very sick with something called polio when I was a little girl,’ Betty explained. ‘And it made this leg all thin and weak so I couldn’t walk on it. That’s when I was given this very special boot.’

‘But why …’

‘That’s enough, Daisy,’ Peggy butted in quickly. ‘Go and play before the tide comes in and washes away your lovely castles.’

She could see Daisy was on the brink of disobeying her, so dug in the basket again for something to distract her. ‘Here we are,’ she said, handing over a couple of rock buns. ‘Try not to get too much sand on them.’

The little girls ran off with the buns clutched in their small hands, and Peggy sighed. ‘I’m sorry about that, but once Daisy starts with her questions, there’s no end to them.’

‘Shows she has an intelligent, enquiring mind,’ said Betty comfortably. ‘I hope there are more like her in my new class. It does make life harder, but it’s also much more interesting.’

‘I hope that means you’re staying here,’ said Peggy.

Betty glanced at Brendon and clasped her fingers in her lap. ‘That was the plan,’ she said quietly. ‘While Brendon was at sea I discovered that a new junior school was opening here, and managed to secure a post starting in September. It seemed ideal at the time, but now I’m not so sure.’

Peggy felt the dart of unease again. ‘But why? This is a lovely place to bring up Joseph with all his family around him.’

Brendon cleared his throat and rested his hand on Betty’s entwined fingers. ‘It’s my mother,’ he said flatly. ‘We’ve been here since last night, and she didn’t exactly welcome the news of our marriage – or that our son was born before it.’

‘Good grief,’ gasped a shocked Peggy. ‘What’s the matter with the blessed woman?’

Brendon shrugged. ‘She feels we’ve let her down by doing things the wrong way round, and is absolutely seething over the fact we got married without inviting her.’