Maybe if she answered any questions her pupils had, if she was honest with them, the whole thing would blow over. At least she could try to shoot down some of the more outlandish rumours that were circulating. So she lifted herself on to her desk and faced the class. ‘Is there anything any of you want to ask me?’

‘Is it true, miss?’ asked a girl at the front. ‘Was you kidnapped as a girl?’

Karin nodded. ‘Yes, it’s true.’

They all started chattering, excited at hearing the truth straight from the horse’s mouth.

‘And one of the other kids died, that’s right, innit?’

‘That’s right, she was called Becky.’

‘What happened, miss?’

Karin folded her arms. ‘Myself and five other children were abducted by a man called Jerry Swann. He took us to a farmhouse and we were held captive in a cellar for two weeks, with very little food or water.’ She left out the part about the long nights she spent alone with Jerry. ‘We all managed to escape but Bex… Becky was grabbed by our abductor. And when the police got to the house, she was… killed.’

One of the kids made a slitting motion across his throat.

‘Holy shit,’ said another kid. ‘It’s like a movie!’

‘So that’s why you’ve got a dungeon in your cellar.’ Eager to get more attention, Charlie raised his voice. ‘Because it makes you feel at home!’

There were giggles and gasps, and Karin glanced up at the clock, hoping for the bell to ring.

‘I heard you got loads of kids locked up down there. The ones who got their homework in late, innit.’

Everyone roared, except for a boy called Lucas, who doodled on a piece of paper at the back of the class.

‘That’s enough now.’ Karin clapped her hands, trying to reassert her authority, but everyone ignored her, and she knew she was on the verge of losing control of the class.

‘Was you abused?’ called someone. ‘Did he stick his thing in you?’

Karin waited till the noise died down. ‘He never touched us, not like that, but it was a very frightening thing to happen.’

‘Was Becky your friend, miss?’ asked a girl.

‘Yes.’ Karin swallowed. ‘She was.’

‘Do you miss her?’ asked the girl.

The class went very quiet. Karin felt a knot of emotion in her throat. ‘Very much so.’

‘Maybe if I don’t behave,’ shouted Charlie, ‘I’ll disappear too!’

The kid rolled his shoulders, grinning, drinking in all the laughter.

Lucas didn’t even look up from what he was doing when he said, ‘Just like your dick disappeared years ago.’

The class roared and Charlie looked furious. ‘Fuck off, Lucas!’

But Lucas smirked at Charlie, who jumped up. Lucas stood too, and the boys stood nose to nose at the back of the class. Karin felt her phone buzz in the back pocket of her jeans.