‘And don’t forget, children …’ announced Mrs Brody, darting up onto the stage and standing in front of them. ‘Tap, tap, and … step – ball – change. Shall we have a go again?’ She began tapping her foot in the tap-dancing shoes she’d worn just for the occasion. ‘Tap, tap, step – ball – change. Once more. Tap, tap, step – ball – change.’

‘Did you know Mrs Brody could tap-dance?’ Bella whispered to Nina and Johnny.

‘Nope,’ Nina replied. ‘And I’m not quite sure that’s what you call it.’

Johnny smirked. ‘She’s a woman of many talents.’

Bella chewed her lip. ‘I think she’s actually pretty good. She’s very … enthusiastic.’

‘She’s certainly moving her arms a lot. I just hope she doesn’t do her knee in again. She’s getting a bit frisky up there.’

Mrs Brody left the stage and began to play the piano. Bella recognised a strange interpretation of ‘Living on a Prayer’ and concentrated on the length of her fingernails to stop the smile that was more than a little eager to get out. She flicked through her script to find the song. How on earth Mrs Brody had been able to write something that fitted was beyond her. It seems the songwriting course as well as the scriptwriting one was coming in handy. You had to admire her dedication.

The three friends sat at the back of the hall while Mrs Brody carried on with rehearsals for the Christmas play. Bella was glad of the break. Amias had been a terror this morning and he was taking Richard and Umar along with him. She’d eventually had to separate them and had added to her list of jobs for tonight coming up with a new seating plan so she could divide and conquer. None of the children would like it but needs must. Evan would probably have said she should have done it already. He’d sometimes thought she gave the children too many chances, but he didn’t know them like she did. Thank God it was Friday.

‘I’ve got another stack of forms for the giving tree in my classroom,’ muttered Nina, speaking a bit louder under the cover of music. When Mrs Brody glowered at her, she enthusiastically sang the line ‘She’s gonna have a baby’, where you’d normally sing Bon Jovi’s famous chorus. Mrs Brody didn’t buy it.

‘Brilliant. I’ll grab them later.’

The song finished and Amias went up on stage to recite his line. With an air of disdain and in a tone of immense boredom he said, ‘But when Mary and Joseph got to Bethlehem, they couldn’t find anywhere to stay. There wasn’t even a Premier Inn.’

None of the children laughed, clearly not getting the joke, while Mrs Brody chuckled away to herself like a madwoman. Johnny emerged from his hunkered-down position as a turtle pokes its head out of its shell and joined the conversation.