Sacha never said what was on her mind. When Shelly had first met her, she'd assumed it must be shyness - but increasingly she'd come to suspect that it was Sacha's way of subtly manipulating people to wonder about her, to place herself a little bit more prominently in their thoughts. Shelly didn't begrudge Sacha this: as far as she was concerned everybody did the same thing in their own way. She did it by trying to engage with people, by making sure she became friends with people she met.

So when Sacha didn't initially respond very clearly one way or another to Hannah and Shelly's news that they'd be looking for a new place to live, Sacha obliged Sacha by wondering what was on her mind, and then tried to force the issue by reading the rental ads in the newspaper very obviously and prominently - it had worked on Hannah, after all - but beyond that she didn't worry about it too much. Sacha could take care of herself, whether she wanted to come with them or not. Whether she came with them or not didn't make much of a different to Shelly: Shelly was looking at two- and three-bedroom houses alike, and she wasn't so deluded as to think that they'd find a place in any kind of a hurry.

But Hannah, being Hannah, couldn't stop wondering what Sacha was going to do, and couldn't stop asking Shelly about it.

"How would I know?" Shelly said in exasperation, but no matter how many times she said it Hannah kept asking the same question. "Have you thought of asking her?" Shelly suggested.

"God no!" Hannah exclaimed. "She'd probably bite my head off." Shelly couldn't see why Sacha would do this over such a simple enquiry, but she supposed Hannah had her own experience of dealing with Sacha and it was greater than hers. "Still," she pointed out, "there is going to come a time when we'll need to know."

"She'll let us know" Hannah said assuredly. "She always lets you know. She just has to make a decision. But let's not force it. Let's just wait. Best to wait."