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Next thing I know, I&039;m on the floor of my bedroom, my baby brother Art cradled toand clutching ently takes Art fro overwhere I&039;ve been, what happened, if I&039;ot two heads, only looking away to check on Art, his expression one of total bewilderht No h after the snake-hearted creature

I learn that I&039;ve been ht I&039;d been kidnapped, or wandered out and got lost The police have been searching for me They put my photo in newspapers and questioned all the people who knewshe thought I was dead, that she&039;d lost another of her babies I don&039;t like the way she refers to me as a baby, but this isn&039;t the time to correct her!

I can&039;t remember what happened Up to the ht - total recall After that - nothing

Mu or in shock They ply me with hot chocolate in our kitchen and quiz ently, sometimes harshly, neither of them in complete control of the uess hetoo, after I did

"Can I hold Art?" I ask, during a brief lull in the questioning

Mu us suspiciously, perhaps afraid we&039;ll go er sister once - Annabella She died when she was a baby I can&039;t remember et Mum and Dad&039;s tears, the misery, the loss I sensed in the air around me I wasn&039;tterrible had happened, and I could see how upset Muot over that It&039;s only natural that they&039;re more upset and worried now than most parents would be

I bounce Art up and down on &039;s OK "You&039;re my little brother I&039;ll look after you It&039;s fine" He doesn&039;t taketo catch the bad vibes

Mum and Dad stare at each other wordlessly then leave us alone for a while, going out into the corridor to discuss the situation They don&039;t shut the door behind the sure we&039;re still here

They letTheir faces are strained and red Mum tucks me in and lets Art sleep beside me She rubs his face tenderly as she pulls the blanket up around his her away, kissesht Mu I don&039;t knohat about Muive it a few days Watch Wait If nobody says anything, or looks for him" Dad shouts, "You&039;re crazy! We can&039;t! It&039;s wrong! What if the police?"

I drift back to sleep

Morning More questions Mu wildly every tiood job I&039;m not jealous of my little brother as she hardly notices I&039; at Mum and Art Throws more questions at me Tries to help ht I vanished, step by step I tell hi and that&039;s all I rehts or the ht tells et into o to bed?" Dad asks

"No"

"Did someone come into the room?"

"No"

"Was there somebody at the ?"

A pause while I think back "No"

"What about Art? Can you res at his hair with both hands Looks at Mu Art against her like a shield I don&039;t knohat her lookat me that way - her eyes are scary!