Extract from "A Gower Story" by Deborah Fisher

Mrs Barnes thanked me profusely for coming to fetch Robert. I asked for a few details of what had happened, so that I could relay them to his mother when I tracked her down. It seemed he had started to complain of feeling sick during morning play, but had soldiered bravely on until just before lunch, when he was sick while standing in the dinner queue. My first thought was that it must have been very off-putting for the rest of the children who were about to enter the dining hall. Remembering my own childhood, I smiled to myself. No doubt the other boys were even now describing, in graphic detail, exactly what it had looked like.

Robert followed me obediently out to the van, and strapped himself into the passenger seat. He was still very pale, and I hoped he wouldn't repeat his earlier performance while we were on the way home. The van might be old and tatty, but I didn't fancy driving it with the smell of vomit hanging around, not to mention the job of sponging down the upholstery.

"How are you feeling now?" I asked anxiously.

"A bit better." He was putting a brave face on it.

I found it hard to relate to Robert. Caroline, being a girl, was easier. We had been all girls in my family, and my sister had three girls, so boys were alien to my experience. Rather than make forced conversation, I concentrated my attention on getting him home as quickly as possible.

There was still one question I felt obliged to ask. "Do you know where your mum and dad are, Rob?"

He said nothing, but shook his head, forcing me to take my eyes off the road for a second.

"I expect your dad's out visiting," I ventured, thinking that it was not at all likely that Tim's visiting round would coincide with lunch, and wondering if he had gone into Swansea to see his solicitor. "Did your mother say she was going anywhere today?"

He shook his head again.

What I really wanted to ask, of course, was how things were at school. I might not be much good with children, but I didn't want to think that this little boy was going through hell and had no one to stand up for him, or that he was making himself physically sick with the fear of what each day would bring.