By the time Paula squeezed the pain out of her eyes and stood up, Wigney was reaching for Jye. Ruby launched her small wiry body at her stepfather, yanking at his neck and screeching at him with a piercing animal sound.

He was much bigger and stronger, but the girl was so fierce that Wigney had to put effort into prising her off his neck, dropping the rifle on the floor in the process.

While Ruby struggled with him, Paula thought about the syringe of morphine on the high shelf, but even if she could manage to stab the needle into him, it wouldn’t work fast enough to help them now. And there was no way she could reach the gun.

Instead, she shuffled backwards to unsnib the back door that led to the toilets and the rear courtyard. Then she grabbed the weighing scales from the floor and slammed the corner as hard as she could into the back of Wigney’s head. She felt the blow connect, felt the sharp metal edge penetrate the skin, squelch through flesh and hit the bone of the skull. She hoped it might be enough to knock him out.

Wigney just grunted in pain and spun around to glare at her, blood seeping down his forehead. But he staggered sideways a few steps—enough to open up a pathway for the children to slip past him.

Paula flung open the back door and yelled to the kids, ‘Run! Now! Run!’ Then she rushed at Wigney and jammed her fingernails into the injury site she had stitched on his forehead. She prised the stitches apart, felt the moist flesh as the wound split open, and blood began to ooze out.

Wigney hissed with pain and grabbed her arm. Even if she couldn’t pull her arm free of his grip, he was still forced to fend her off, distracting him long enough for the two kids to escape through the door. Once Ruby had managed to hustle Jye out of the room, Paula kicked the door shut and slammed her body against it.

There was no way she would let this man past her, not until the kids had time to run far enough away, find help and be safe.

Wigney cursed and slammed his boot into Paula’s belly until she crumpled to the floor. She landed across the doorway, which meant his access to that exit was still blocked. Pain sliced through Paula’s face and abdomen like a knife, but there was still space to have the terrified thought: Wigney could easily pick up the rifle and go out the way he came in, through the car park door, then run around the building and catch up with the kids. Paula would not have the strength to stop him.