She prised him away from her and looked at him. He turned away again.

‘Max. Look at me. I need to know if you drank anything. That stuff is bad for you.’

He blinked, tears in his eyes.

‘No, Mummy,’ he said. ‘I didn’t.’

Of course, if he had done it, he would say that because he didn’t want to get into trouble. On top of leaving the bleach cap off, she had created a stressful situation which meant she couldn’t rely on what Max told her.

She took a deep breath.

‘Are you sure? It’s OK if you did. I’m not upset. I just need to know.’

‘I didn’t, Mummy.’

She stared at him. He looked serious. Honest. And he wasn’t showing any signs of having drunk bleach. Even though it was early, she thought that some of the symptoms might start quickly – stomach pains, for example.

She smelled his breath. It was sweet, exactly like she expected. She opened the bleach and smelled it. It was harsh and unpleasant, nothing like his breath.

Still, she had to assume he had drunk it. She picked up the bottle and read the label.

There was a warning symbol. A skull. She felt faint.

DANGER! POISON! CORROSIVE!

She read the label. There were instructions about what to do if it got in your eyes or on your skin. And what to do if your toddler drank it.

If swallowed, seek medical help immediately. Present this label.

That was it. No suggestions of what to do.

Only the instruction: seek medical help.

Which was impossible for her. She looked at Max. He seemed OK.

But all she could do – as always – was wait.

2

An hour later Max was asleep. He was lying on her, his chest moving up and down. He seemed normal, but she didn’t know how long bleach took to have an effect.

She thought it would be pretty quick, though. Quicker than this.

She slid Max on to her bed and picked up the bleach. She read the label, then took off the cap and smelled it again. It really was vile stuff. Enough of it would kill you, or do you serious harm.

She paused. If Max had drunk it, she would drink it too. She wouldn’t want to live with the guilt of having done that to him.

Maybe after Saturday she wouldn’t want to live at all. The bleach might come in handy then. It would be a way for her to kill herself if the man took Max. She no longer doubted that was what she would do.

The problem was, the man wouldn’t leave it with her and she had nothing to store it in. Even if she did have a storage container the man would see it and wonder what it was.