Krystal came to see me late that afternoon. She’d refused to attend the meeting with Scott and Joyce. ‘We can’t be in the same room,’ she’d said. ‘And anyway, I’ll be at work then.’

She was on the registers at Bretts Agricultural Supplies, which closed at five every day. We agreed to meet at school after that; I was restocking paint when she knocked on the door, very timidly, and said, ‘Hello?’

She was still wearing her uniform, which was a harsh shade of burnt orange. Her hair was a mess and she walked as if her feet hurt. Though she was probably small enough to sit on one of the kids’ chairs, I offered her my own.

‘Whoof!’ She collapsed into it with a sigh. ‘Thanks. I’ve been standing all day.’

‘I’ve never been to Bretts.’ It hardly needed saying, since I wasn’t in the market for fence posts or bulk herbicide.

‘We have great gardening stuff. Really high quality. Kent and Stowe spades.’ A flicker of interest animated her features for a moment, then fled, leaving her limp and washed out. ‘So what do you want me to do? Sign a paper or something?’

I handed her Howard’s permission form. Then I sat on the edge of my desk and described our plan for Aaron. Counsel-ling. A caseworker. Maybe a paediatrician? ‘There are plenty of things you can do at home. That’s what this program is about.’ I tapped the collection of worksheets I’d printed out for her.

‘Sure. I’ll do that.’ She started flicking through them. ‘Follow the leader?’ she read aloud.

‘It’s a body awareness exercise. You press your finger against his finger and move it around so he has to follow you. Then you swap. It’s a lot of fun.’

‘Scott won’t do this. Even though he’s got nothing else to do.’ Krystal looked up at me. ‘Did you hear he was suspended? On full pay? For beating up my cousin?’

‘No.’

‘He’s home all the time now, and he’s spitting chips. It’s bad for Aaron. I’m really worried.’

So was I. But I didn’t want to dwell on it. ‘Another thing you can do, when you go shopping with Aaron, or when you take him to a playground, is talk about things as they happen. And make sure you listen to his replies. That’s very important.’ ‘Mmm.’ Krystal’s mind seemed to be on something else.

‘What happened to Blaine will help me a lot. Now Scott’s suspended, there’ll be an inquiry. Maybe I can get Aaron away from him.’