‘Are you all right, old chap?’ he said, when he saw that James was conscious.

‘I think so,’ James croaked. His mouth and throat felt painfully dry, as if all the liquid had been drained out of him. He propped himself up on his elbows. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what happened.’

He looked around. He was still at the top of the tower, lying on the stone floor.

‘It’s lucky I grabbed hold of you,’ said Haight, grimly. ‘You should be careful, standing so near to the edge; these old ruins aren’t at all safe.’

‘I know. I felt unwell for a moment,’ said James. ‘I still don’t feel quite right, sir.’

Haight put his hand to James’s forehead.

‘You feel pretty hot, old chap.’

James was just about to ask Haight for a drink when the beak splashed the remaining contents of his water bottle on to his face. ‘That should feel better,’ he said, helping James to his feet. ‘Now, let’s get you down, eh?’

James was very wobbly and Haight had to stop him from falling over again. James shook his head and let Haight support him as they descended the winding staircase. Halfway down they met Cooper-ffrench coming up. He was sweating even more than he had been before and looked flustered.

‘Is he all right?’ he said.

‘Nothing damaged,’ said Haight, ‘but I want to get him down and into the shade. Touch of sunstroke I imagine.’

Cooper-ffrench followed them outside and across the site to the canvas awning. A small group of curious boys clustered round asking questions, but Haight shooed them away. James sat down. He felt desperately tired and his stomach was light and fluttery. He thought that at any moment he might be sick.

‘You shouldn’t have been up there by yourself,’ said Cooper-ffrench.

James remembered Cooper-ffrench’s angry look from the courtyard. ‘Why did you shout?’ he said. ‘You called out my name.’

Cooper-ffrench glanced nervously at Peter Haight. ‘I was trying to warn you,’ he said. ‘You looked… you looked like you might fall.’

‘Yes,’ said James. ‘I felt giddy for a moment.’

‘The main thing is that you’re all right, old man,’ said Haight. ‘I wouldn’t want to lose one of my charges.’

‘The main thing is that it doesn’t happen again,’ said Cooper-ffrench, brusquely.

‘Leave him be, John,’ Haight snapped. ‘The boy’s had quite a scare.’

‘Yes, well…’ Cooper-ffrench muttered and walked off, mopping the back of his neck with a grubby cloth.

That evening, back at Torralba, James was getting ready for bed in the school hall when Haight approached him with a cup of strong tea.

‘Feeling more yourself, now, James?’

‘Yes, thank you, sir,’ said James. ‘Much better.’

‘Care for a cuppa?’

‘No, thank you, sir, I don’t drink tea.’

‘Can I get you anything else?’

‘No, I’m really all right, sir. It’s passed. I don’t know what came over me. I think it was seeing Mister Cooper-ffrench like that; it gave me quite a shock.’