Bobby looked pleased. ‘Not quite as much as that,’ he admitted. ‘But almost. And it’s a great responsibility being the man of the family.’

‘The man of-? Don’t you have a father?’

Bobby made a face. ‘Sort of.’

Alex felt an uneasy stillness settle over him.

‘What do you mean, sort of?’

‘Well, I don’t really know him very well,’ Bobby said. ‘He’s not around much.’

‘I expect he’s busy,’ Alex said.

‘Oh, yes, he’s always very busy. Too busy for us. He and Mummy aren’t together any more.’

‘Do you know why that is?’ Alex asked carefully.

Bobby gave a shrug.

‘They were always rowing, and Mummy cried a lot.’

A strange feeling went through Alex. Corinne had never let him see her cry. Not for a long time.

‘Did she tell you why she cried?’ he asked.

Bobby shook his head.

‘She doesn’t know I’ve seen her and I have to pretend not to, because she doesn’t like anyone to know.’

‘So you don’t know why?’

Bobby shook his head.

‘Perhaps she misses your dad?’ Alex ventured.

‘I don’t think so. He’s nasty to her.’

‘How?’ Alex asked, a touch more sharply than he’d meant to.

‘I don’t know, but when they talk on the phone she cries after she’s hung up. But he doesn’t mean to be nasty,’ Bobby added quickly. ‘He just doesn’t know how people feel about things.’

Alex hesitated for a while before saying, ‘So maybe it’s better that they’re not together?’

‘Oh, no,’ Bobby said, shaking his head vigorously. ‘He’s coming home for Christmas and it’s going to be brilliant-that is-if he really comes.’

‘Has he said he will?’

‘Yes, but-’ Bobby’s shrug was more eloquent than a thousand words.

Alex could not speak. There were too many thoughts swirling around in his head, and they were all of the kind he found hard to cope with. The best he could manage was to put his arm around Bobby’s shoulders and squeeze.