Jem was wrestling with Cass, trying to calm the boy down. As Lily drew closer, she noticed a figure haloed with sticky red liquid. Blood. Glenn was on the floor, battered and shaking, curled up like an earthworm who’d spent too long in the sun. She knelt down to face Maeve and Brenna.

‘Girls, I need you to do something for me, all right? Maeve,’ she turned to the wide-eyed little girl on her left, ‘I need you to go and get me a big bowl of hot water. Careful not to burn yourself. Brenna,’ she said, turning to the other girl, ‘I need lots and lots of cloths. Can you both do that for me?’ The two little girls puffed up their chests and nodded, proud that they had been given such important tasks. The fear in their statures dissipated with this newfound responsibility. They ran together out of the room, holding hands.

Lily didn’t stand around to watch the girls disappear; she was too keen to inspect the state of Glenn. She dashed forwards and knelt by Glenn’s head, lifting it so it was elevated and resting it on her lap. Morven joined her.

‘Can I do anything?’ she asked. Lily recognised the look in her eyes as a desperation to be useful. Lily herself had felt like that every time Uncle Alf was called out to help someone with an injury. She hated to sit by, idle, when someone was suffering.

‘Yes, if you would. Go up to Jem’s study and go into my bag. There should be a brown bottle full of a thick liquid, and also a metal tin labelled Wolf’s Bane Salve and a box labelled White Willow Bark which I really hope hasn’t been ruined by the water. Bring me those as quickly as you can, as well as some bandages if you can find any.’ Morven nodded and disappeared.

Lily stroked Glenn’s hair, attempting to soothe the boy. He was whimpering and there was blood painted in swirls and splatters across most of his face. His knuckles were grazed and raw. His breath was laboured as he tried to contain his cries of pain, and Lily watched as red and purple bruising formed on his neck – bruising that looked suspiciously finger-shaped. Cass had strangled him. She didn’t know what had caused the fight, or who was to blame, but she felt an overwhelming urge to protect this poor, vulnerable boy. She laid a comforting hand over his chest as she looked up to see how Jem was progressing with Cass.

No longer fighting, Jem had managed to subdue Cass enough to sit him on one of the armchairs, as far away from Glenn as he could get the boy. Although, it looked like Jem didn’t trust him enough not to lash out again, as he was kneeling in front of the chair, holding Cass’s arms at his sides. Jem’s back was to Lily, but she could tell that he was whispering to the boy, calming him down and attempting to extract some form of explanation. Lily had a suspicion that there was more to this than it seemed. Growing up in an apothecary, she’d learned much about how the human body changes and how the formative teenage years often trigger outbursts of emotion. She’d studied remedies and tinctures that could calm and soothe an anguished heart. But for some reason, she knew already that they’d be wasted on the shaking scarlet-faced Cass. Lily half expected steam to start pouring from his ears. This wasn’t a petty fight. This was serious.