‘S’pose.’ Jaxx chewed on a tatty nail and tried to look unbothered.

Less than five minutes into our assessment of his current reading ability, an elderly woman called out from the refreshments table. ‘Help! It won’t stop!’

The cup she’d placed underneath the coffee machine was rapidly overflowing as liquid continued to sputter out. The woman was trying to get another cup to replace it with, but her hands were so twisted with arthritis that she could barely pick up the stack of compostable cardboard cups, let alone tug one free.

In one fluid motion, Jaxx dived across, whipping his cap off and thrusting it under the spout as he yelled, ‘Get back!’ Unfortunately, the woman didn’t get back, so he also knocked into her, sending her stumbling into a bookcase.

An instant later, Irene also rushed over. ‘What are you doing!’ she screeched, yanking Jaxx’s arm and catching him off guard just at the moment he picked up the woman’s full cup.

I watched, horrified, as scalding hot coffee splashed out of the cup and all over Irene, as well as Jaxx’s pristine white trainers and the wooden floor.

I quickly got up to help, but in the three seconds it took me to get there, Jaxx had ducked under the table and turned the machine off at the plug, bringing the spurting to a stop, and was now facing the wrath of Irene, who appeared no less fearsome due to coffee dripping down her neck and soaking into her cream blouse.

‘Ollie, call the police.’

‘I don’t think that will be necessary.’ I crouched down beside the woman, who had landed in a crumpled heap by the bookcase.

‘That thug assaulted us.’ She glared at Jaxx, but her whole body was shaking. ‘If you want to mug someone, do it in the street, not my library!’

‘Er, no. I came to help her with the coffee machine,’ Jaxx replied, frowning.

‘It got stuck, Irene,’ the woman added, her voice trembling. ‘The coffee was spilling everywhere.’

‘Here.’ Jaxx offered Irene a pile of napkins. ‘Did your hand get burnt?’

‘What?’ She ignored the napkins, looking at her hand as though she wasn’t quite sure who it belonged to.

‘Need to get that in cool water,’ Jaxx added. ‘Come on.’

‘I’m sopping wet,’ Irene said, sounding alarmed.