superimposed on a circle and the letters QSA. Muko looked down at himself and registered that even the turn-ups on the hems of his shorts were identical to everyone else's.
The front-runners in the crowd were through the doorway and could see what was beyond. Muko watched them from behind in trepidation but was relieved to see that their shoulders relaxed, which suggested at least that nothing terrible awaited them.
The room beyond was a bathroom. It had multiple wash basins, each with a little container holding a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste, alongside a separate tooth mug. It was exactly what Muko would have anticipated if he'd trusted this new experience instead of envisaging wordless horrors.
Each of the children claimed a basin. There were exactly the right number: none too many and none too few. They splashed water on their faces and necks, then dried themselves with the towel which they found on a little rail underneath the basin. Raising their heads they looked around, wondering if the other children felt as lost as they did. They concluded that most of them did.
Once all the children were inside the bathroom and were