‘It’s just a dream,’ Maggie whispered, her smile frozen. But her words felt like the most dreadful lie. ‘Go back to sleep.’ She could barely remember tucking Elliott in before leaving his room. But when the door clicked closed, she’d sprinted down the hall to grab her phone. Her hands shaking, she muttered beneath her breath as she dialled her sister’s number. ‘It’s ridiculous. It’s just a nightmare. It’s …’

Maggie blinked away a tear as she recalled the day her sister took her own life. It took her an hour to drive to her house, to find the police outside her door. But they wouldn’t allow her inside. Why? Because they’d had to wait for the inspector before they could cut her body free from the noose. The ‘plait’ Elliott had referred to had been a thick brown rope. As they took her sister away in a body bag, Maggie had turned away from the scene. And now, she was creeping down the corridor to her son’s room, scared of what she might find.

Oh, Elliott. Her spirits sank as she saw him at his bedroom window, his face pressed so close against it that his breath was fogging the pane. She opened her mouth to speak, her hand hovering mid-air. She should tell him that he was dreaming, but she was rooted to the floor. Because when the night terrors came, the words which left Elliott’s mouth were not those of a seven-year-old child.

Maybe he’s sleepwalking, she thought, taking another slow step towards her son.

Despite the floorboard creaking, he didn’t move an inch. Rigid and unblinking, he was lost in the night world. Fear tempered Maggie’s movements as she forced herself to approach. She could barely describe the sense that woke her when Elliott was like this. An invisible thread, powerful enough to pull her from sleep. Not that she welcomed it. That was a hard fact to admit. She checked her watch. It was just gone half one. Taking a deep breath, she approached him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

‘Elliott?’ she said. ‘It’s Mummy …’ But her words were cut short as his scream tore through the air.

‘Get off me!’ he raged, kicking, scratching, tearing at her skin. Her jaw set tight, Maggie locked her arms around him in a bear hug, squeezing her eyes shut as she took the blows. Elliott may have been small for his age, but he was getting strong. Too strong for her to do this without getting hurt. She wished her husband was here. He would know what to do. Being an army wife brought its own set of challenges, but since Lewis was admitted to hospital last year, she’d felt totally isolated and alone.