Ayesha was on the train bound for Preston, with Maria’s bag. Maria watched the carriages slide by and she had the insane impulse to chase after them, screaming. She might have tried it, if her legs would only move. She managed to turn at last, but there was nobody to help her: everyone was pushing past. As for the Reverend Paul, he had left the train back at Oxenholme, and was on his way to Windermere, feeling sad.

10

The Herne School is an academy in Crewe looking after more than a thousand boys and girls.

Aaron was twelve years old, and as term had started in the first week of September he was seventeen days into his second year. He was on his way home, having changed into training shoes, which was against the rules. His coat was in his bag, and he had pulled his shirt out of his trousers. That was forbidden too, and three uniform strikes meant you received a detention – but the walk to the railway station was unlikely to take him past anyone on duty. He was with Ollie Jamner, whom he thought of as a friend – and another boy called Khari Aboudi. They were all in the same year, but whilst Ollie was in Aaron’s tutor group, Khari was more of an unknown, and most of their encounters had been in the playground or lunch hall. Aaron found Khari exciting and dangerous. He found that he wanted to impress him, and he felt lucky to be in the boy’s company because he seemed so fearless. Right now, he was ‘on report’, which meant he had to carry a folded card with him all day and present it to every teacher who taught him. The teacher would grade his behaviour.

He’d shown Aaron the card. It was meant to be kept neat and clean, but Khari was scrunching it up on purpose, so it was already creased and torn. He’d intimated that he was going to do something unmentionable over it, every night, and the three boys had found themselves howling with laughter.

‘Will you tell them?’ said Ollie. ‘When they open it? “Why’s this card so sticky, Khari?”’

‘I couldn’t help myself, miss.’