‘Gosh, it’s like history!’ he gasped.

‘Mark!’ Justin said sharply.

‘It’s all right.’ Evie chuckled. ‘He didn’t mean it rudely. It must be like something out of the Dark Ages to a modern child.’

In the end they settled down to watch the news, until they heard an ominous sound outside. Evie turned down the sound and they all listened in alarm.

‘It’s raining!’ Mark whispered in horror.

They went outside, where it was pelting down.

‘It’ll be all right in the morning,’ Evie said.

Mark looked at her. ‘Promise?’

‘Promise,’ she said recklessly. ‘And now I think you should go to bed. It’s late and tomorrow’s a big day.’

‘Can we go swimming?’

‘What about your cold?’

‘It’s better, honestly. Isn’t it, Dad?’

‘I wouldn’t have brought him here otherwise,’ Justin assured her. ‘Mark, you heard what Miss Wharton said. Up to bed.’

Mark took her hand. ‘Miss Wharton-can I call you Evie?’

‘Mark!’

‘Well, I’m not his teacher any more,’ she said. ‘Evie it is.’

Mark departed, satisfied.

‘I apologise,’ Justin groaned.

‘Don’t. He’s just being friendly.’

‘How friendly do you think he’ll be tomorrow when it rains?’

‘It won’t rain.’

‘How can you be sure?’

‘Because I promised him. You heard me.’

‘Yes, but-’

‘It won’t rain. I promised.’ She yawned. ‘I think I’ll go to bed too. Sea air makes me sleepy. ‘G’night.’

‘Goodnight.’

In her room she undressed and went to bed, listening for the sound of him coming upstairs. She was still listening when she fell asleep.

She didn’t know what roused her, but she awoke suddenly in the darkness. The clock by her bed showed two o’clock. She listened and thought she could hear a voice talking in the distance.