On Wednesday evening, the clubhouse was packed. A hundred and twenty people. More than had ever come to anything except the fun day.

The owners sat in the rows of chairs at the front. The renters stood at the back, or sat on the windowsills.

Penny Lockwood was handing out agendas at the door. When she saw me, she smiled sweetly.

“Kate! How nice. You'll be at the back, of course. The chairs are for homeowners tonight. We need to show the new owner a united front.”

“Of course,” I said.

I stood at the back between Doris and Liam. Josh and Sam sat on the floor, eating crisps. Nigel stood at the front in his tweed jacket, with his gavel. He kept looking at the door. “The Chief Executive of Hearthstone Homes should be arriving any minute,” he told everyone importantly. “I'm told she's coming personally. Which shows they're taking us seriously.”

He looked at his watch. It was seven o'clock.

“We'll start without her,” he said. “She'll hear what we have to say when she gets here.”

He banged the gavel.