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‘Matti,’ he corrected.

‘Right,’ Fleur said, giving him a salute. She felt a moment’s awkwardness reaching for their father’s hand, helplessly glancing at the empty sleeve of his jacket, which he’d tucked into his pocket. ‘I’m Fleur, a friend of your mother’s,’ she said to the children before smiling at their father. ‘And you’re Jamie, I gather.’

‘I am, and you’re . . .?’

‘I’m Fleur Appleby. I offered to help out momentarily. Now, my friend Tom,’ she said, pointing him out from where he stood, holding the door open for their mother, ‘has bought us a bag of peanuts and I wondered if you’d like to have an elephant ride and see the monkeys?’

Their faces lit up, looking at their parents.

‘Go on,’ Claire said to her children, and she nodded at her husband to say all was fine.

‘Mum and Dad are right behind us,’ Fleur said, taking the little girl’s hand. She presumed William, who looked to be about ten, wouldn’t want anyone holding his hand but she saw Tom give him a wink when he looked up. She reached for Matti’s tiny hand and he didn’t mind a bit. ‘Is that a baby sister or brother?’ Fleur nodded at the pram.

‘His name is Alfred, but we all call him Alfie,’ Susan said.

‘But he’s not very well,’ William chimed in.

‘Yes, your mum mentioned.’

‘She says we have to be prepared to let Alfie go.’

The bluntness of the statement caught Fleur by surprise and she glanced at Tom for support. He looked as disheartened as she did. ‘Oh,’ was all she could say as Matti decided to no longer walk, but jump each step as they started off towards their destination. She smiled sadly at his golden head.

Susan continued. ‘Alfie’s been sick since he was born. But Mummy says we’ve had Alfie in our lives for four months, and we need to be very grateful for that blessing.’

Fleur had to swallow the rise of emotion at this statement.

‘Dad was in the war,’ William said, oblivious to the pain their honesty was causing. ‘He was badly injured and lost an arm.’

‘He’s a brave man, your dad,’ Tom said, ruffling the lad’s hair. ‘Now, Fleur tells me we’re off to meet an elephant.’ The children laughed. ‘And we have peanuts and we know her name is Lillian. Are we ready?’

‘Yes!’ they chorused and Fleur cut him a look of thanks for changing the atmosphere. She looked over her shoulder to where Claire and Jamie were following with baby Alfie, who was presumably settling as all the wailing had dissipated. Claire wore a look of total gratitude.

Fleur felt something pass between them. She had such a strong connection to the intense sorrow that these parents were feeling over their sick infant, while no doubt trying to keep life normal and happy for the other children. Her heart felt heavy for the family. She wanted to help them.

Tom led them down the path towards the rotunda, where the three children stopped with wide eyes to see Lillian, the young elephant, hauling around a wagonload of people. Tom cut Fleur a look of soft despair and she gave him a sympathetic smile in return. It seemed rather unfair that Lillian spent her time doing this, but Fleur would also argue that the elephant was given lots of love, plenty of food, safety and daily care by her keepers.

‘So, Tom is going to help you to put peanuts on those posts all around where Lillian walks.’ She pointed. ‘And this clever little elephant is going to use her trunk to snaffle up your peanuts with thanks.’

Susan clapped with pleasure and William already had his hand open to be loaded up with peanuts. Tom led the children forward, while Fleur dropped back a couple of steps to their parents.

‘Is this all right?’

Jamie looked relieved and Claire, expertly balancing the sleeping Alfie in one arm, squeezed Fleur’s elbow with her free hand. ‘You’re an angel.’

Fleur shrugged. ‘Not really. Your children are charming.’

‘Not back in the restaurant, I don’t think.’ Jamie grinned. ‘I might join Tom.’ The women nodded as he moved off.

‘I’m betting they were perfectly behaved until Alfie got upset,’ Fleur reassured Claire, who nodded and looked momentarily sad. ‘Susan said he’s not well.’

Claire looked down for a moment. ‘I can’t bear to talk about it, to be honest, but the reality is that our darling Alfie won’t be with us for much longer.’

Again Fleur felt like she’d been punched in the stomach by the rawness of the admission. ‘Words fail me—’

‘Nothing to say, truly. We’ve known for a while. I’m a nurse, and I’ve learned over the course of my career to make peace quickly with the inevitable. We’ve explored all avenues . . . Alfie probably shouldn’t have lived at all, but he’s a little fighter, like his father. This is a battle he can’t win, though.’

They stood in silence for a moment, looking at the sleeping baby.