Rhys glanced over at Shaun, who was trying to calm the boys. Tyler was safe, Shaun announced. Everything was under control. They’d all behaved impeccably. He was very proud of them.

‘Tell Shaun it’s not negotiable,’ I continued. ‘And tell him he needs to do something about Matt. That poor kid’s a mess.’

Shaun wasn’t with his section when they finally showed up to help me with dinner. Dean was also absent; I wondered if he and Shaun were discussing the day’s events. As for Jake, he was out collecting firewood with section two, so Rhys and I had only five boys to wrangle: Nathan, Ali, Connor, Marcus and Aaron. Not that any of them misbehaved—they were all too tired. There was a lot of talk about Tyler’s injuries, and the helicopter, and the police, but no one discussed the fight on top of the zipline platform. None of the boys in that room seemed to know about it.

‘I’ll tell them around the campfire,’ Shaun had said to me earlier, between phone calls. ‘This needs to be handled very carefully.’

I hadn’t asked him what Vetnet’s prospects were. I doubted he even knew. His approach so far had been business-as-usual so I followed his lead, trying to ignore the faint air of anxiety that hung over the lazaret, draining the energy out of everyone. Even the boys were affected. Flynn stopped wailing. Sam stopped clowning. They were grumpy and snappish, but they did what they were told.

I was cleaning up after dinner when Aaron approached me. He’d been quiet in the kitchen earlier, obediently peeling oranges, gaze on the floor, knee jumping uncontrollably. Presenting me with a dirty plate, he said, ‘Miss? Can I talk to you for a minute?’ He looked nervous.

I stiffened, then gave a nod. ‘Talk away.’

‘What happened when I left Otford?’

The question took me by surprise. I had to gather my thoughts for a moment. ‘Well…your father and grandmother were very angry.’ A memory flashed through my head like a knife. ‘They blamed me for helping you run away, but I didn’t. I didn’t have any idea you were going anywhere.’

He waited. It still felt odd to see those familiar eyes so far off the ground.

‘The police investigated,’ I told him. ‘But they couldn’t find you—’

‘Me and my mum?’

‘Yes.’

‘Were you her friend? Is that why you got the blame?’

I tried to remember Krystal. Her image had faded; she’d been a wispy presence at the best of times. But I recalled how she’d confided in me. How she’d appealed for my help.

‘We were friendly,’ I said at last. ‘We weren’t close.’

‘Did you like her?’ His voice was tense, and I wondered why. Did he not like her?