Al, Leanne and Daisy are sitting together at the table on the right-hand side of the room. Isis, Cera and Jacob are opposite them. Raj and Sally are seated with Johan at the large table to their left, with half a dozen women. On the far left of the room is a table occupied solely by men. For the longest time, no one says a word, and then I hear it, a muttered “bitch”. It came from the table of men, all of whom are staring at me with looks of undisguised disgust on their faces. Daisy shakes her head, Al looks down at her bowl and the smallest of smirks crosses Leanne lips before she bursts suddenly, and unexpectedly, into tears. Daisy wraps an arm around her and pulls her into her chest.

“Lying bitch.”

This time I catch who said it. It’s a dark-haired man, I don’t know his name; he works with the animals and keeps himself to himself.

“Yeah, you heard me. People like you shouldn’t be allowed here.”

A cold chill runs through me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No?” He raises his eyebrows. “Maybe we should ask Frank.”

“What’s going on?” I look at Jacob, who shakes his head. “Isis? Cera? What’s going on?”

They return my gaze, their faces expressionless, their eyes wide and blank. Neither of them says a word.

My hands start to shake. The sensation travels up my arms and then engulfs me. Every part of me quivers with fear. Why will no one talk to me? Why are they all staring at me like I just killed someone? “Daisy? Al? Please. Someone. Someone tell me what’s going on. I don’t understand. I—”

The silence is broken by the sound of a chair being pushed back, and Al stands up. She doesn’t say a word as she crosses the dining room. She raises a hand as she approaches me and, for one terrible second, I think she’s going to hit me. Instead, she grabs me by the wrist and pulls me out of the room.

She doesn’t say a word to me until we’re halfway down the garden, then she releases my wrist and turns sharply so we’re facing each other.

“I need you to tell me the truth, Emma.” Her cheeks are red and there’s a sheen of sweat in her hairline.

“Of course.”

“Did you lie about Frank attacking you?”

“What?” I instinctively glance towards the patch of riverbank where it happened. “No! Of course I didn’t.”

“Are you sure? Because someone’s pretty certain you did.”

“Who said that?”

“Someone who saw what happened. They said they saw you and Frank walking hand in hand along the riverbank. You kissed – apparently you were all over him – then you both lay down and you were about to shag when you saw Isaac coming and cried rape.”