‘No, that’s the River Mersey. The sea is out there.’ Mrs Kelly waved an arm to the right. ‘But the river is deep enough for even the biggest ships. That’s why Liverpool is the greatest port in the Empire. All the wealth of the city comes from those ships.’

May gazed at the scene below her. That must be where her father had sailed from, in a ship like one of those. ‘Where do they go?’ she asked.

‘Everywhere. America, Australia, India, China. All over the world.’

‘How do they find their way?’

‘They have instruments, like compasses and sextants, which tell them exactly where they are.’

‘So they don’t get lost?’

‘No, they don’t get lost.’

May said no more. If that was the case, how could it be that her father was ‘lost at sea’? It made no sense.

They reached the bottom of the hill and turned to their right along a broad street.

‘Now,’ said Mrs Kelly, ‘look there, May.’

She pointed ahead and May stopped short in amazement. In front of them, on a vast stone platform, stood a building like no other she had ever seen or imagined. Huge, its front and side lined with massive stone pillars, it towered above the street.

‘Is it a palace, or a castle?’ she asked. ‘Is that where the queen lives?’

‘No, though I think it is fit for a queen. That is St George’s Hall. It was built while you were just a baby. You would have been about four years old when it was finished.’

‘So who does live there?’

‘No one lives there. It is a civic building. It belongs to the people of Liverpool. They have concerts there, and grand balls and meetings. And at the back of it are the courts of justice and underneath are the cells where criminals are kept during their trials. Come along.’

Mrs Kelly led the way briskly along the street until they stood in front of the building. At her back, May suddenly heard a great snorting and puffing, like a gigantic horse.

‘Oh, what’s that?’

‘Just a steam train. That’s the station behind us. You can ride all the way to Manchester along the rails. Let’s cross the road.’

She took May’s arm and marched her across the broad street, weaving between coaches and traps and carts loaded with objects May could not identify, until they stood at the foot of the wide flight of steps leading up to the front of the building.

‘Oh, are those supposed to be lions?’

‘Yes. They are beautifully sculpted, don’t you think? You could almost stroke their manes.’

‘I wouldn’t dare!’

They climbed the steps towards the great door in the centre of the pillared façade. May hung back.

‘Are we allowed to go in there?’

‘Yes, it’s free for anyone to go in and out. Come along, there’s more to see yet.’