someone?” her mum asked.
Valkyrie nodded.
“And? When are we going to meet him?”
It was on the tip of her tongue. It’s not a him. So easy. Such an easy sentence to say. All she had to do was open her mouth and say it.
But she took too long, and now her dad was nudging her mother’s shoulder. “It’s your fault,” he said. “She won’t bring him home to meet us because she’s afraid you’ll embarrass her. This is always a problem when you have one really cool parent and one lame parent.”
Melissa shook her head. “I preferred you when you were grumpy.”
“I wasn’t grumpy, I was dark.”
“I’m going to say hi to Alice,” Valkyrie said, turning on her heel.
“We’re not finished with this boyfriend stuff!” her mum called out after her.
Valkyrie retreated, away from the possibility of disappointing her parents. Even though she knew they’d understand. They were liberal, progressive people, after all. They’d handled the truth about magic without unduly freaking out – she was sure they’d have no problem with the whole girlfriend situation.
But, even so, it made her tummy flip as she climbed the stairs.
Her sister’s door was open. Alice sat in the corner of the room, peering into the hamster cage.
“Hey, you,” Valkyrie said.
“Stephanie!” Alice cried, scrambling up and launching herself forward.
Valkyrie laughed and caught her and hugged her. “Hey, gorgeous girl.”
“Are you staying for dinner?” Alice asked, face buried in Valkyrie’s hip.
“I can’t,” Valkyrie said, prising her off. “I’ve got to go to work.”
“With Skulduggery?”
“Yep. But I couldn’t pass without calling in to say hi to the best little sister in the world.”
“Do you want to see me dancing?”
“I’d love to, but I don’t really have time. Did you learn any more moves?”
“Yeah, a few,” Alice said. “Do you want to see them?”
“Tomorrow or the next day,” said Valkyrie. “And bad dreams?”
Alice laughed. “You always ask me that!”
“I know I do. I’m interested.”
“I never have bad dreams.”
“Not even about the horrible man?”
“Ew,” said Alice, making a face. “No. I don’t think about him. He was smelly. I still haven’t told Mum or Dad about him. It’s still our little secret.”
Valkyrie forced a smile. “Thank you,” she said, feeling the guilt start to weigh down on her. She quickly walked over to the hamster cage, eager for a change of subject. “So how’s SpongeBob?”
Alice laughed. “That’s not his name.”
“Is it not? Are you sure?”
“It’s Starlight.”
“Starlight the hamster … yes, I think I remember something about that. Where is he? Is he hiding?”
“There he is,” said Alice, pointing at a lump of fur in the corner of the cage.
“Hello, you,” Valkyrie said, hunkering down. She poked a finger through the cage and petted little Starlight. He was cold.
“He’s dead,” said Alice.
Valkyrie stopped petting him. She withdrew her finger and said, “Oh.”
“He died during the night sometime,” Alice continued. “Last night I fed him – well, Dad fed him – and I cleaned out his cage and I put new hay in and new newspaper because he likes playing in newspaper and he rips it all up sometimes, and then he died, I think.”
Valkyrie let herself sit, her back against the wall. “And when did you find out that he’d died?”
“A few minutes ago,” Alice said. “Like, ten. Or five. I can show you my dancing, if you like.”
“Let’s just wait a moment, sweetie. How are you feeling?”
Alice shrugged. “I’m fine.”
“Did you love Starlight?”
Alice nodded.
“Did you love him a lot?”
“Like, loads,” said Alice. “I used to close my bedroom door and let him out so he could run around and then he’d come over to me and climb on to my lap and I’d pet him. Like, I didn’t love him as much as I love Mum and Dad and you, but I still loved him.”
“Will you miss him?”
“Um, yes.”
“Are you sad?”
“Yes,” Alice said, and nodded again.
Valkyrie held out her hands, and when Alice took them she pulled her gently down. “Come here,” she said. “Sit.” When Alice was seated, Valkyrie gave her a soft smile. “When you say you’re sad, do you actually mean you’re sad, or are you saying it because you think I’m expecting you to say it?”
Alice didn’t answer.
“It’s OK,” whispered Valkyrie. “You’re not in trouble. I’m just interested.”
“Um,” Alice said, “I’m not really sad.”
Valkyrie nodded, and kept nodding, waiting for the panic in her chest to settle down. “OK,” she said. “OK, thank you for telling me. Will you miss him?”
“Yes,” Alice said with absolute certainty. “I’m going to miss him loads.”
“And do you know what missing him means? Have you ever missed anyone before?”
A shy smile broke out. “Not really,” Alice said.
“Missing someone is when you get sad that somebody isn’t there any more. Do you think you’ll get sad now that Starlight isn’t alive and you can’t pet him and cuddle him?”
