‘She’ll be free to wander,’ Bex cautioned, ‘so she needs to work out quickly that you’re the source of rewards. Now get one of Dad’s coats.’

I did that, reaching up awkwardly with my unchained arm. ‘I’ve got it.’

‘You’re going to let her out, and then throw some food at her. Okay? Can you open the cage at the front and let her out? Stand back. She might be a bit over-excited. Can you imagine how you’d feel if you’d been trapped in there?’

I fiddled with the catch and pulled open the door of the cage nearest me.

The pig shot out and barged into me, knocking me off my feet. She was enormous and seemed completely unaware of me. The other pigs grunted and pushed at the fronts of their cages.

I scrambled up, bruised and now scared of this panicked animal. I told myself she was scared too. We needed to help each other get out of here.

The pig looked around the gloom of the barn. Her attention was everywhere but on me. She was heavily pregnant. Frighteningly big. She stood, listening. An ear flicked in my direction. I chucked a handful of food towards her. It landed on the concrete floor and the pig looked down at it warily. She didn’t go for it immediately, but looked back up again. Although I was focused on the pig and on what Bex was saying, part of my brain kept telling me I might be about to die, and wondering if Mum would be okay. She’d have to cancel her trip to El Salvador.

‘If she’s too stressed, she won’t eat,’ Bex said. ‘Which means we’re pretty much screwed.’

Something in the pig’s body softened and she reached down and snuffled on the ground, picking up the food.

‘She’s eating it!’ I told Bex.

‘Chuck her some more. She needs more time to settle.’

‘Yes, okay. Except we don’t have more time.’

‘Well, do you have any better ideas?’

The pig ate and then looked up. Her body language had softened some more. I chucked a few pellets at her. She’d registered my presence. I made an effort to slow my breathing and project calmness towards her. I didn’t know if it would help but it was making me feel better.

The pig shuffled in my direction. ‘She’s coming towards me,’ I said. I wasn’t scared of pigs, but this one was enormous and looked flighty, and I was chained to a wall.

‘You need to get her to notice the dummy coat. Hold the coat out towards her.’

I held the coat out. ‘She’s not going to bite me, is she?’

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