‘I’m going to enjoy you,’ said the woman. ‘Enjoy you a lot.’

Mary didn’t understand the remark and couldn’t think of anything to say, although she wanted to, so she tightened her mouth again. She was very proud of not crying, despite the pain in her mouth where the brace had cut. She didn’t have anything really to cry about: be frightened of. Dad would pay. And he’d punish them. He had men to do that: men with things like hearing aids in their ears and sometimes little knobs pinned to their jacket lapels that they talked into. She’d have to be careful not to miss anything out, when she got back to school. It really would be difficult for the rest of the class to believe.

The beach house wasn’t really on a beach, although there was a shoreline and shingle and a bathing hut collapsing from neglect and the constant battering from North Sea winds. The main building was just short of the Dutch border where the river fanned out into the Westerschelde, isolated by at least two kilometres from its nearest neighbour, a major consideration for its use. Its basement encompassed and utilized, with specific modifications, the impregnable blockhouse constructed by the Nazis in the Second World War to protect such an essential waterway.

The North Sea gale was driving the rain horizontally by the time the Mercedes reached the three-storey, shutter-protected house in front of which three other cars, all Mercedes, already stood. Henri Cool had to stand against the rear door to hold it open to release Felicite and the child. As she got out, Mary was caught by the force of the wind and became entangled in the straps of her backpack; she would have fallen completely if the woman hadn’t grabbed her. Wide-armed and protective, Cool propelled them towards the house.

In its lee the wind was only slightly less fierce, and still more than enough to defeat the sudden dash that Mary had intended. She didn’t even try, allowing herself instead to be shepherded through the unlocked door into the vaulted, high-ceilinged entrance hall. The relief was abrupt and disorientating – Felicite and Mary staggered afresh without the need to brace themselves against the storm – although the wind continued to hammer at the closed shutters as if trying to get at them.