Then she thinks about Kat, the stalwart dog walker who gave the girls breakfast yesterday and then took them to school. Beth can see her mum through the bathroom window now, hanging up tired sheets in their tiny, paved courtyard garden. Thinning grey hair, sagging jowls, no make-up and a shapeless cardigan. But something pure and good underneath, the same feeling that she gets from Kat. She returns the phone to her ear. ‘A friend of mine will pick Ava up; her name is Kat, Ava knows her. And she’ll take Martha too. I want them both at home until I’ve spoken to Mrs Crowmarsh about your inadequate security.’ She finishes the call and then, with shaking hands, scrolls down her phone until she finds Kat’s number.

Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Saskia

What to do, what to do. Saskia paces up and down her hallway, hands on her hips, brow furrowed, no doubt adding deeper lines to a face that really doesn’t need any more. God, what would have happened if she hadn’t walked past the school at that exact moment? What would that repulsive man have done to poor little Ava? The playground supervisor was useless. There was a tatty beanpole of a resentful teenager in her jurisdiction, and she didn’t even notice, just twirled her lanyard around her fingers and stared off into space. To be honest, Miss Lewis is barely in her twenties, too young to understand the high premium that children carry, so it’s really the government’s fault for paying such shitty wages.

She should have done more herself, Saskia realises. But once she’d screamed at the disgusting kid, and he’d stared back at her with those piercing, angry eyes, she’d felt exposed. Like the infrared dot of hate had been transferred to her own forehead. All she could think was that she wanted to get away from him, flee the scene and hide behind her locked front door. Does that make her a coward? Either way, it’s left her stricken with indecision. Because she has no idea what happened next. Is Ava okay? Has Mark been hauled off in a police car? Or did he run away before the school reacted? Judging by the responsiveness of the dreamy playground supervisor, Saskia can’t help fearing it’s the latter.

Normally she would call Beth in a heartbeat, fill her in on the details and offer to help in any way she could (while knowing that Beth would politely demur; of course she’d need to be the hero of her own story). But things are decidedly chilly between them at the moment. She thought walking Luna the other night would have warmed things up, but Beth still chose that steroid-popping dog walker to help out with the girls yesterday morning, and she hasn’t replied to Tim’s text, much to his disappointment (the only silver lining).