Sunbeams bounced off the parquet floor. I rang the bell. Suddenly, stupidly, I felt nervous. Maybe Sam had just been trying to be nice. Maybe he really didn’t want me here at all. After all he was a vicar’s son. He was bound to have been brought up being kind to people and I was just one of them. I wasn’t anyone special, not like Liberty. He probably wanted her to be standing here, not me. He was probably using me to get closer to her. But no, that’s not what a nice, well-brought-up person would do. Aargh! I was so confused. I wanted to run away but a door banged off to the right and it was too late. Sam was already loping towards me. “Hi,” he said, quickly averting his eyes, “come in.” “Is it still okay? I mean I haven’t got the wrong day or anything?” He strode ahead and I almost had to run to keep up. “No, why wouldn’t it be?” He flung the words over his shoulder and I suddenly wished that I’d got some company, that Dad had come with me after all. Having him there would have made me feel brave.
