E and R worked out quite quickly that we’d be pushovers when it came to babysitting. They insisted that they were responsible enough to be allowed to catch the bus to Darlington on their own. We were pretty sure that they were too young but (because we were so sick of the pestering) we eventually gave in. The children never returned.

So now we faced a terrible dilemma. How could we explain to K and S that we had lost their daughters in another county during a thunderstorm?