It was getting dark outside and they’d be turning in soon, locking the doors of the minerals gallery. He had to go now and be quick about it. And who was he going to go with? The bigger boys had left before he could ask one of them. Maeve was busy looking after Robbie. Samira had gone off to the labs.

So that left Ella.

Jibber-jabber wasn’t sure how much use Ella would be in a fight. She was smaller than him, and younger, and would probably be even more scared than he was. She was better than nothing, though. He asked her quietly if she’d go with him and she looked doubtful for a moment.

‘Come on,’ he said. ‘You don’t have to come in and watch or anything, just stand guard outside the door.’

‘But what would I do if a grown-up attacked?’ she asked, and Jibber-jabber stopped himself from saying that that was exactly what he’d just been thinking.

‘They won’t attack, will they?’ he said, trying to sound casual. ‘There aren’t any in the museum.’

‘So what do you need me for?’

‘I just need someone to, you know, like, keep me company. Come on, Ella, I’d do it for you.’

‘All right then.’

They told Maeve where they were going and left the sick-bay.

‘You won’t take ages, will you?’ Ella asked as they walked along the primates gallery that ran above the main hall down one side. ‘Some boys spend hours on the loo.’

‘Of course I’ll be quick,’ Jibber-jabber protested. ‘I don’t want to hang around down there any longer than I have to, do I? It’s dark and it’s smelly and you always think something’s going to be hiding in the shadows.’

‘You said there weren’t any grown-ups around.’

‘There isn’t anyone around,’ said Jibber-jabber. He’d been hoping they might bump into someone else on the way. It didn’t look like that was going to happen, though.

As they passed the stuffed monkeys in their glass cases, Jibber-jabber almost felt they were laughing at him.

‘So what are you scared of then?’ asked Ella.

‘Well, just because you know there aren’t any sickos around, it doesn’t stop you from thinking about them, does it? I think of all sorts of scary things, dinosaur skeletons coming to life, although they’re not really skeletons, they’re fossils, made of rock, so they never were alive, but that doesn’t stop me thinking about them … Rats. I often think about rats, eating me while I’m asleep, I’ve seen six rats since we’ve been here, and apparently there were loads of them down in the lower level, then there’s …’

‘JJ!’ Ella interrupted him. ‘You’re not helping one bit. Will you shut up about scary things?’

‘Yeah, sorry.’