Mrs W put Miles in the bedroom next to Rosie, which was just across the landing from her own room, but after dinner, instead of letting them stay up late as she had done with Rosie the previous night, she insisted they go to bed early.

Rosie had been so disappointed and argued a little, but Mrs W was firm in her decision.

It wasn’t until she looked back through adult eyes that she realised how different things had been that second night. Mrs W had still been friendly, but there had been shared glances with Bill, like they were keeping a secret, and she kept reminding Rosie and Miles to respect her rules.

What rules? There had been no warnings the previous night and Mrs W was far too cool for rules.

After telling them to go straight to sleep, she had pulled Rosie to one side.

‘You know, part of the fun of a sleepover, is trying to sneak around without getting caught by the adults. But you’re not going to do that, are you, Rosie?’ She had winked then, her face breaking into a grin, and Rosie realised she was joking. Mrs W was encouraging them to have fun.

That’s what she told Miles when she snuck into his room ten minutes after the lights were turned out. She had Mrs W’s music box with her, having been allowed to sleep with it in her room.

Miles sat up in bed, reaching for his glasses. ‘Are you sure she won’t mind? She told us to go to sleep. And she has been good to us.’

‘Of course she won’t. I promise, she wants us to have fun.’

‘Well, if you’re sure.’ Miles didn’t sound particularly sure, but he was much less confident than Rosie.

‘I’m sure. I promise.’

Miles’s eyes went bug wide the moment before Rosie heard the voice.

‘What are you both doing?’

She spun around, caught off guard, having not heard the door open.

‘Mrs W. I was just showing Miles the music box.’

‘What did I tell you about going straight to sleep?’

It was a joke, right?

Rosie hesitated. Mrs W sounded angry and her face was stern. All red and scrunched up, like Mr Frost the maths teacher at school, when he caught someone talking in his class.

‘GET BACK TO BED, NOW!’

Rosie was so shocked at the yelling, the music box slipped out of her hand, crashing to the floor.

For the longest moment, no one reacted. Miles frozen still, while Rosie and Mrs W stared at each other, Rosie trying to process what was happening. Was this part of a game?

Except Mrs W looked really, really cross. Like really mad cross, and for the first time since she had been coming to the farm, Rosie was scared.

Her chin wobbled and big fat tears spilled from her eyes. ‘I’m sorry. It was an accident.’