Jae Morel was also twelve and had known Marc since their first day at school. Marc was a handsome boy, with tangled blond hair, and Jae had always liked him. But as the daughter of the area’s wealthiest farmer she wasn’t expected to mix with boys who came to school with bare feet. At age nine she’d moved from the village school to an all girls’ academy in Beauvais and had almost forgotten Marc; until he’d begun working on her father’s farm a few months earlier.

At first the pair only nodded and smiled, but since the weather had turned fine they’d managed a few conversations while sitting together in the grass, and occasionally Jae would share a bar of chocolate. They both sought a deeper connection, but their talk centred on local gossip and reminiscences from the days when they’d shared a classroom.

Jae always approached the cow shed as if she was taking a stroll and couldn’t care less, but she often doubled back or hid in the long grass before standing up and pretending to bump into Marc by accident as he came outside. The process was strangely exciting, even though they’d never exchanged more than words and chocolate.

On this particular Wednesday, Jae was surprised to see Marc emerge from the side door of the cow shed, bare-chested and in a vile temper. He lashed out with his rubber boot, sending a metal bucket clattering across the farmyard before he grabbed another and put it under the tap mounted on the shed’s exterior.

Intrigued by Marc’s fury, Jae hunkered down and leaned against the trunk of an elm. She watched as Marc wriggled out of his filthy boots then glanced around furtively before removing his under-shorts, trousers and the socks into which they were tucked. Jae had never seen a boy naked and clapped a hand over her mouth as Marc stepped up on to a large paving slab and grabbed a block of soap.

Marc cupped his hands and dipped them into the bucket, splashing water on himself before working the soap. The water was cold and even though the sun was hot he moved hurriedly. When he was lathered all over, he raised the bucket high into the air and drained the water over his head.

Soap burned his eyes as he reached out for a grotty towel wrapped over a wooden post.

‘You’ve got a big arse!’ Jae shouted, as she sprang out of the grass.

Marc urgently flicked the damp hair off his face and was stunned to see Jae’s brown eyes and sweet smile. He dropped the towel and lunged towards a pair of corduroy trousers.

‘Jesus,’ he choked, as the usually simple task of stepping into trousers became a frantic bout of hopping. ‘How long have you been there?’

‘Long enough.’ Jae grinned, pointing at a wooden screen lying flat on the pathway.