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‘Oh. Of course.’

‘All I have to do is keep an eye on the kids and assist the main instructors. I’m not even planning on getting wet. And I’ll certainly keep out of your hair. Sorry, I have to finish setting up. We’ve got several demos and we’re hoping the families will join in.’

‘Great. It would be good for the club to have some fresh blood.’

‘Yeah, it’s never a good idea for the same old faces to take over. Oh, by the way, I gave Sybil a lift here. Her car’s being repaired. She’s over in the marquee green room. I expect we’ll both be too busy to speak again so have a good one.’

He walked away and Zennor was thrown. She’d braced herself for a confrontation and yet he seemed keen not to engage with her.

She shouldn’t be surprised, she thought, trudging over to the marquee acting as a green room for the day. She knew she’d hurt him after their row and regretted it.

Squeals of excitement pulled her back to the scene around her in all its vibrancy and joyful chaos. The theatre children had arrived and were racing around the sand while Paul and his helpers tried to gather them up. Their joy took her back to a carefree time when her parents were still there and everything had seemed uncomplicated.

It hadn’t been, of course. Being an adult brought the shackles of responsibility but it was naïve to think that these kids didn’t have problems of their own. Yet she hoped the theatre offered them a day of release and freedom to express themselves. They were on later as part of a pirate adventure comedy which also involved Sybil.

She didn’t expect to see Trev. It wasn’t his scene and he’d probably want to be at the St Piran’s to make sure his event, afternoon tea with a bestselling author, went smoothly.

She pushed her own worries aside. She was here for her clients: Fire Down Below, the fire act; the Driftstones, who were headlining as dusk fell; and of course Sybil, whom she spotted carrying her cloak to the green-room marquee. She was pouring water into a cup from a dispenser when Zennor caught up with her.

‘Hi there!’

Sybil broke into a grin. ‘Hello. How lovely to see you.’

‘Wouldn’t miss it for the world. So this is the green room …’ Zennor said. ‘It’s a bit basic.’

‘It’s not posh but I’ve had worse. I’ve shared dressing rooms with cockroaches, dodgy drains – and a rat in London.’

‘A rat?’ Zennor shuddered.

‘Oh, yes. It ran across the dressing room while we were all doing our make-up for Hamlet.’

‘Eww.’

Sybil shrugged. ‘The show must go on, darling. Did you know Matt gave me a lift?’

Instantly, Zennor was on edge. ‘Yes, I saw him earlier. I didn’t know he was going to be involved today.’

‘Neither did he. Dawn put him on the spot so he couldn’t say no. Typical Matt.’

Zennor nodded. ‘Mmm.’

Shrieks of laughter penetrated the tent wall, followed by a collective cry of ‘Ooh rah’.

Sybil rolled her eyes good-naturedly. ‘Paul has his hands full but the children are having a ball. It’ll be a change to perform with kids rather than to them. I ought to go out and have a word with Paul before I transform myself into Mary, Lady Killigrew, the notorious Cornish Sea Wolf!’ Sybil gave Zennor a chilling glare.

‘If anyone was born to play a notorious lady pirate, it’s you,’ Zennor said, returning her focus to Sybil. ‘I can’t wait to see that. Anyway, I need to catch up with the band. They’re still relatively new to big events like this.’

‘See you later,’ Sybil said. ‘And Zennor, please look kindly on Matt. He’s a good man.’

Zennor was stopped in her tracks. Had Matt been telling Sybil about their row on the beach? If he had, he must be really hurt. ‘Of course I’ll be kind to him,’ she murmured and managed a smile. ‘I’ll see you at the show.’

‘Noooo!’

The kids in the audience yelled as Sybil, now transformed into the notorious Lady Killigrew, and in chains, stepped up to the gallows on the stage. Some were clutching their parents’ hands.

Zennor thought it was a bit scary for a family show but suddenly, a man bounded from the audience on to the stage with a scroll, crying, ‘Halt! I come with a pardon from Queen Elizabeth herself! Lady Killigrew is to be saved by order of Her Majesty!’

To cheers and applause, Sybil threw off her chains and declared, ‘I knew Her Majesty would never let me down! Onwards to new adventures, me hearties!’