‘No time. Sooner or later, he’s coming back.’

‘But what were you trying to do? That’s really dangerous. What if you’d been electrocuted?’

Meggy dusted herself off and stood up, rejecting the offered help.

‘I’d rather get electrocuted than wait here for him, wouldn’t you?’

Elspeth looked at the floor. ‘I just want to survive. I need to make sure I see my children again. I don’t want to make him angry.’

‘If he comes in, we’ll say I did this when you were asleep,’ Meggy said. ‘Then he won’t get mad at you.’

‘He’s not logical like other adults. You can’t take this on yourself. We have to be careful.’

‘We have to be fast,’ Meggy corrected, staring at the chair. ‘If you stand there and hold me, I’m less likely to slip.’

‘One last try,’ Elspeth conceded. ‘Then we should put the chair back where he had it, or he’ll know we were up to something.’

‘We’ll hear his footsteps on the stairs first though, won’t we? I mean, we’ll have a bit of time.’

‘Sometimes. Other times he creeps up here, then shouts at me to stand at the end of the hallway, as if he thinks he’ll catch me doing something I shouldn’t. I don’t know what.’ She shrugged and looked vacant.

Meggy didn’t like that look She’d seen it at school from a few kids who got bullied all the time. They knew reporting the bullies only made it worse. Their parents either couldn’t or wouldn’t step in. It was … there was a good word for it. She screwed her face up in concentration.

‘Resignation,’ she said.

Elspeth’s face didn’t register the semi-insult. Meggy climbed up again.

‘Right, hold my leg and my back.’

Elspeth stood to the rear of her. Balancing was much easier just with someone else’s touch to give her some boundaries. Making sure she was properly steady before fully extending her body upwards, this time Meggy could see the base plate clearly. One corner of it wasn’t fitted flush against the ceiling. She reached, slid a fingernail under it and tugged, putting her weight through her hand and yanking hard on the plastic fitting above the light bulb.

Plaster exploded into the air, dust and debris raining down onto them both as the lamp gave way. Meggy wheeled her arms in the air, landing on top of Elspeth, who managed to stay upright by pushing Meggy forward to land in the armchair. The lamp swung dramatically, holding on by its bare wires like a loose tooth on a thread of gum.