Mathew turned at the sound of the gate closing and, for reasons unknown to everyone but himself, his anxiety levels soared. He headed quickly back towards the road, in a race against the closing gate.

‘Matty, what’s wrong?’ Sally shouted. ‘Calm down, darling, calm down! I’ll make you a hot chocolate.’ But not even the promise of his favourite drink was going to stop him from trying to escape.

Sergeant McDermott held up her hand, palm towards Mathew and shouted ‘Stop!’ but he wasn’t listening. Driven by an inexplicable fear, Mathew barged past her, knocking her off her feet. George raced forwards, worried that now he’d technically assaulted a police officer, they’d try to arrest him. ‘Don’t grab him! It’ll make him worse! He’s just frightened! Please don’t grab him!’

Cars were now speeding down the long, straight stretch of unlit road beyond the still-closing gate. Mathew was head down, tilted forwards as he ran. He had no comprehension of the danger ahead, George was too far away to help and the police were out of options. Officers stood, arms wide, shouting for Mathew to stop, but he couldn’t hear them above his own prolonged, high-pitched squeal. Then, in a flash, Mathew was on his belly with a police officer pinning each arm to the ground. He screamed at the top of his lungs in utter terror. Sally fell to her knees by Mathew’s head and stroked his hair as his screaming turned to sobbing. ‘OK, darling. OK. It’s over.’ Sally glanced up and could now see that the frustratingly slow-moving gates were finally closed. ‘They’ll let you up now, darling. And you’ll come with me into the house. It’s over and you’re fine. I’m not going to leave you. I promise. I’m not going to leave you ever again.’

Inside the Barrowmans’ house, Mathew helped Sally to make hot chocolate, while George placated the police in the lounge. They were very reasonable, mainly because Sergeant McDermott, who Mathew had pushed to the ground, knew him from a chess club they had both attended as children. McDermott declined to pursue charges against a man who clearly acted out of no malicious intent, and she also said she’d write a statement explaining the situation. ‘I truly am sorry for his behaviour,’ George said gratefully.

‘Don’t do that, George,’ Sally interrupted from the doorway. ‘Don’t apologise for him.’ She looked at the grass stains on all of the police uniforms. ‘It was awful, of course, and I am sorry this happened. But Mathew’s not a violent boy. He didn’t try to hurt anyone on purpose.’

‘Darling, they’ve already said there’ll be no further action,’ George said with a sigh. ‘Sergeant McDermott knows Mathew. She understands.’