‘Does he know we’re here?’ Tess murmured after twenty minutes. ‘If so, he’s clearly not in the least worried. And I think he does know, because every now and then I see his wicked little eye peering at me as though to say Come nearer if you dare. And he’s quite right, because I wouldn’t dare. Nothing would make me get any nearer.’

Presently, however, Mr Bell reappeared and began marshalling his troops. Jonty handed the mangel to Tess whilst he, Keith, Adam and Mr Bell took a corner of the pig net each. Adam managed to keep hold of the walking stick and the pig net, while Tess did as she was bidden and kept well back. She watched with considerable apprehension as the four of them crept towards the mud-splattered pig, net at the ready, but they had not got far when Crippen appeared to realise that his freedom was in jeopardy. He lurched to his feet with a horrible squelching sound and began to back out of the mud, his little eyes glinting malevolently and his mouth gaping open to show his excellent tusks.

‘Let the net down, boys,’ Mr Bell shouted. ‘Keep clear of them tusks, Adam. Ah, he’s comin’ your way. He don’t fancy goin’ back to his sty now he’s got his leg loose! We’ll use the net to guide him in the right direction, but keep clear! He’ll have us down like ninepins given half a chance.’

For a moment, all was confusion. Crippen’s gigantic hindquarters were in the pig net and his massive head was pointing at last in the direction required. But just when Tess thought they were about to win, Crippen turned more quickly than one would have thought possible for an animal his size, and charged straight for poor Adam, dragging the net and the three other men with him. Adam gave a roar of mingled fear and rage. ‘This way, master! This way, everyone,’ Adam bawled, but even as the words left his lips Crippen, head down and trotters twinkling, shot between Adam’s legs and galloped off, carrying the old man with him and heading in the direction of the village.

Tess had heard Adam described as ‘a fellow who couldn’t stop a pig in a passage’, but had never appreciated the truth of it until now. For Adam was bowlegged and Crippen had not only charged between those legs but actually carried Adam for several yards, the old man wielding the walking stick like a lance before sliding over the animal’s massive rump to land with a bone-jarring thump on the ground, all tangled up in the pig net and in no very pleasant humour.

Tess, trying to stop laughing, heard him muttering dire threats of what he would do to Crippen when he caught up with him, and admired his courage when he set off in pursuit, grimly dragging the pig net behind him. Jonty was laughing too, and so was Uncle Keith, but Mr Bell had clearly seen no humour in the situation. ‘After them!’ he shouted, very much in the manner of one of the cinematic heroes Jonty so admired. ‘If we let him reach the village . . .’