A few seconds later he jumps up and waves his arm, seeming to spot someone along the path. ‘Ah, just the man! Could you take this gentleman to the staffroom, please?’

Tom pushes his way through the crowd and my heart drops a notch. He’s the last person I want to see right now. I brace myself for his look of glee and inevitable ridicule, but he takes in the scene with a worried frown.

‘You OK, Ivy? What happened?’

I shake my head. I don’t know how to explain any of this – to my boss, Tom, or even myself.

Mr Neeson snaps, ‘Come along, Tom,’ but he doesn’t. He looks at me as if I’m the only person in the world. ‘Someone said you’d been attacked?’

‘I’m fine. He went for me, but I threw him.’

‘You threw him?’

‘I do karate. I’m OK, really. I just …’ I glance at the dozens of people watching me and suddenly I want to get away. ‘It’s not me who needs to be answering questions. It’s him.’

Tom follows my gaze and his brow wrinkles in surprise. But before he can say anything, my boss puts a protective arm around Anorak Man, evidently deciding to take him to the staffroom himself. ‘Come on, I’ll make us a nice cup of tea and we can sort this out.’

As he’s steered away, Anorak Man throws me a look over his shoulder. ‘I’m within my rights to press charges, you know,’ he grumbles.

Mr Neeson chokes back a cough, his eyes watering like a toad that’s swallowed a larger-than-expected fly. ‘Everything’s under control,’ he calls to the spectators. ‘Please enjoy your day out.’ Lowering his voice, he glares at me. ‘You – stay here, understand?’

‘Yes, Mr Neeson.’

I understand perfectly well. But am I going to stay put while the grown-ups talk? No, I am not. Once he’s gone, I hug Dot and thank her and the others for their concern, then make my way to the staffroom. There has to be a reason why the man went for me. Maybe he’s had episodes like this before; he might have some kind of condition. The woman’s words – my mother’s words – ring in my head, but I can’t believe something made him try to hurt me.

As I walk to the staffroom, a trio of death’s head hawkmoths flit around me. They’re flying normally now, yet their movements were so strange earlier. No one seemed to notice, just like they didn’t see the man attack me.

Tom catches me up. ‘So, Karate Kid, you kept that quiet.’ He walks by my side, mock-karate-chopping the air, and I roll my eyes. For a moment I thought he was actually concerned for me, but I should have known better. ‘Hey, don’t worry,’ he whispers. ‘You don’t have to explain. I know exactly what happened back there and I don’t blame you.’

I search his face, confusion and hope swirling inside me, and he grins. ‘You can only keep up the fake smiles and customer service bullshit for so long. You had to snap one day.’