Rather nervously, the bursar tied his handkerchief to the end of the cane. He walked through the rows of children to the end of the hall, where a triptych of large panel windows looked out on the grounds. He opened the latch on one of them and poked the cane out nervously.

‘Damn soft tactics,’ Hutchinson whispered to Merryweather. ‘Who are they, anyway? Where are the police?’

‘Hello,’ called Mr Moffat, nervously. He waved the cane gently back and forth, the handkerchief flapping. He was standing a good distance from the window. ‘We don’t know what you’re talking about. But Mr Rocastle wants to meet with you. We can work something out.’

‘Until the police get here, anyhow,’ Rocastle murmured to Alexander. ‘This thing they’re after; it isn’t the artefact you’re missing, by any⁠ —’

There came a sound from the window. The cane and handkerchief had spread across the room in a wash of red light. The bursar was staggering backwards, clutching his chest. He was shouting at something that had fixed itself there, a blazing red spot that he was scrabbling at like it was a stinging insect.

With a great cry, he managed to catch it and threw it at the window. The spot exploded, and the glass shattered into a billion pieces, the window exploding outwards in a sonic boom.

The boys fell to the ground, covering their heads with their hands. The bursar staggered back to them, his palms bleeding.

‘Doctor…’ hissed Bernice, her hands curling into fists. Smith was shooing Joan back behind the curtains of the stage, his expression full of panic and confusion.

Rocastle was staring at the stormy light that was flooding through the windows, the first strikes of lightning making their way across the distant fields. A slight smile seemed to force its way on to his face, but then he clenched it down and his eyes shone with a determined certainty. ‘Farrar, Wolvercote, Trelawny, away from the windows!’ he shouted. ‘Captain Merryweather, run to my office, call the police! Mrs Redfern, tend to the bursar! Boys, find your house master, and in those units, follow me.’ He pulled a set of keys from his pocket. ‘We’re going to break out the arms and make a show of it until help arrives!’

‘Doctor…’ Bernice tried to catch Smith’s eye as he stared at Rocastle in disbelief.

‘Other teachers are to check that doors are locked, board up windows and otherwise provide for a state of siege.’ He spun back and called to the boys. ‘Get up! Buck up and play the game!’ The boys were getting to their feet, the Captains running round their forms, pulling the younger ones to their feet and slapping them on the back.