I got under my covers so the others couldn’t see me. It was better in the darkness. My hand was hurting more and more, but I could close my eyes and block out my brother and sister and think carefully about my escape plan.

I heard Dad come home, and although I couldn’t hear the words, it was clear Mum was shouting about me so I decided to stay put. When Mum called us for dinner, I decided to pretend I was asleep. After a while the door opened quietly and I was pretty sure it was Dad, but I stayed perfectly still, and he went away. I could cry and cry in peace until Ruthy came to bed. And then it occurred to me this would be the perfect time to look for Ruthy’s moneybox, and I crept out from under the covers. It was dark in the room, but I could see enough to realise my hand was quite swollen now, and hurt more if I put it down, so I used the other one to hold it up. I quietly opened the wardrobe to look on Ruthy’s side, but I couldn’t find the moneybox anywhere. I heard the chairs scraping in the kitchen and scurried back to bed to play dead.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew it was morning. It was very early according to the paleness of the light through our window, and I could hear early-morning birds rather than the breakfast-time ones. I moved and made a little yowly noise because the potato-masher hand was very sore. I held it up to the window. My thumb was about twice the usual size, and every movement hurt. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I thought it might be best to hide it and go to school so Mum wouldn’t be cross again. Besides, given I hadn’t been able to find Ruthy’s moneybox, I thought I’d asked Maynard if I could borrow some money from him. If his mother gave him lunch money that might be enough for the bus into town, even if I had to walk home afterwards.

I got ready for school but it wasn’t easy because my hand was so painful, and I kept almost crying out, which might have made Mum get out of bed, and I definitely didn’t want that to happen. I was hoping it was one of her head days, so she would leave us to get ourselves to school. I quietly put out all the breakfast things as well as I could. I looked in the drive – Dad hadn’t gone to work yet, so I would have to be careful to hide my hand until he left. He usually only spent a few minutes in the kitchen in the morning because Mr Bednarski liked him to be at work very early. He normally made two pieces of toast with marmalade and a cup of International Roast Instant Coffee, thanked Caleb for his shiny shoes, gave everyone a cheery goodbye and headed for his car.