A light drizzle tapped at the windows of the school hall. With wet play this morning and rehearsals for the first part of the afternoon there’d been a lot of sitting around. From her seat at the back, she could see the children getting twitchy and conversations breaking out due to boredom. It was even worse on the stage. The chorus line had shuffled about so much one child had fallen offstage and one of the girls had started an argument with another who was stood in front of her, booting her off the bench she was sitting on. Mrs Brody had not taken kindly to it.

‘No, No, No!’ she shouted with mounting fury, then as if by magic her placid demeanour returned. ‘Come on, children, this is supposed to be fun. You’re doing brilliantly with your lines, everyone. Now, Virginia, can you try really hard to remember yours – it’s only two words and you say it right after Tom.’ Virginia thought hard, but nothing dawned. ‘Only two words, sweetie. Any luck? No? It’s “Let’s go!” Ready, say it with me: let’s go.’ Virginia mumbled something along those lines and Mrs Brody hid her disappointment well before moving on. ‘Let’s try the song one more time, okay? And then it’ll be breaktime.’

As they broke into their rendition of ‘Poker Face’ with revised lyrics, Johnny groaned. ‘I really can’t take this. My lot have been a nightmare today. They made a record with the Mr Fuckers today. Twenty-four attempts. I’m going to go and set out the hoops and bits in the playground. I’ll be back in a minute to get my class.’

The song finished and Mrs Brody led the children off the stage and back into their seated lines on the floor. Johnny crashed back through the doors just in time to lead his class away. Nina and Bella went to the ends of their lines and one by one, they asked the children to stand and led them in a decent interpretation of orderliness back to the classrooms.

‘Thank God that drizzle has stopped,’ said Nina as they took their places on the playground. ‘I’m not sure I could have coped with them all indoors again. What’s the matter with you today?’

‘Nothing,’ Johnny grumbled. ‘I think I’m getting a cold.’

‘Poor lamb.’

Bella giggled. ‘Right, it’s your turn to patrol the playground, Johnny. Off you go. It’ll take your mind off things.’

Johnny sloped off and Nina and Bella shuffled about in silence for a moment, until Freddie came running towards her, his dirty, wet blazer hanging off one shoulder, his tie loose, shirt and jumper skewed and fat tears falling down his face. He was crying so hard his breath came in short, sharp gulps.

Bella’s heart rocketed upwards and ricocheted back down. She leapt towards him. ‘Freddie, what’s happened?’