Stop it!’ He pushed himself between them, putting a hand on Kate’s shoulder to distance her from Rebecca. ‘Kate! Stop! Stop.’Eventually Kate’s exhausted hands stopped hitting and fell to her sides as if she’d run out of batteries.‘Kate?’ he breathed.He saw her eyes focus on him and as they did, the realization of what had happened, of what she’d done, slowly grew. With his hand on his wife’s shoulder, Jon turned to Rebecca, who was hunched and shivering on the floor like a terrified animal. Her arms covered her face, a split lip just visible beneath the crook of an elbow. He reached out to touch her. She recoiled, and as she did the enormity of what had happened fell on him like a dead weight.He looked then at Angela Howe, who was doing her best to control the gathering crowd. He frantically scanned the faces until he found Lizzie, her bewilderment and terror a reflection of his own. He was torn between going to her and staying with Kate and Rebecca, but when Rebecca made a soft whimpering sound, he dropped to his knees and gathered her in his arms, held her head to his chest, stroked her hair, told her over and over that she was safe.
