The House on Hoarder Hill by Kelly Ngai

Author:Kelly Ngai
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicken House
Published: 2020-03-10T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

ELSEWHERE IS HERE

Grandpa John didn’t tell them where he had been, but whatever he had bought had put him in a good mood. From the way his hand kept checking his pocket, it was small.

Spencer was silent most of the way back, and Hedy figured it was because he didn’t want to talk to Grandpa John. ‘Maybe Nobody’s already found the Kaleidos,’ she whispered as the car finally wound through Marberry’s Rest.

Spencer squinted through the window at Hoarder Hill, which looked especially quiet and lonely after their visit with Uncle Peter and their cousins. ‘I hope so.’ He glanced at her crossly. ‘I wish we’d stayed at Uncle Peter’s.’

Grandpa John shifted his shoulders in a way that made Hedy wonder if he had heard. Despite everything, it felt wrong to hurt his feelings.

When they walked into the house, Hedy half hoped that they’d find their grandmother miraculously returned, pacing the hall or perhaps sitting at the large kitchen table. But all was still and silent inside. No Rose awaited them, and while Grandpa John was bustling around, they couldn’t exactly go hunting for Nobody either.

Neither Hedy nor Spencer felt very talkative that afternoon. They picked at their dinner listlessly, and then Hedy lied that they weren’t feeling very well and wanted to head to bed early. The trouble Grandpa John took to tuck them in and prepare for a night of two unwell children was touching. He put a bucket beside each of their beds in case they suddenly needed to throw up, and made sure Spencer had his asthma puffer nearby. After reading some very detailed instructions that Olivia had written out and placed in the medicine kit she had left, he set up children’s paracetamol and crackers on a plate on the shelf, in case he needed to administer them during the night.

‘Call me if you need me,’ he said, hovering worriedly in the doorway.

‘Thanks, Grandpa. I think we just need to sleep,’ said Hedy. She scrunched herself under her duvet and forced herself to remember that he might have caused his own wife’s disappearance.

As the sound of Grandpa John’s footsteps receded, both children sat up in bed. Hedy studied the ceiling. ‘Mr Nobody?’

‘Is he here?’ Spencer asked, hugging his pillow.

Hedy waited a moment. ‘I don’t think so. I was only checking.’ She hopped out of bed, and beckoned Spencer. ‘Let’s see if we can find him.’

‘Where?’

‘I guess we should start with his room first.’

They sidled down the hallway to the stairs. Fortunately, there was no movement below; Grandpa John must have gone into his study. When they reached the third floor, Hedy dared to switch on her torch, and they darted along to Nobody’s room.

‘I’ll open the door and you shine the torch inside,’ Spencer said. ‘That’s how the police do it on TV.’

‘We’re not the police, Spence,’ Hedy said, ‘and this isn’t a gun.’ But she agreed to do it his way, which would have been all right except that, in his anxiety, Spencer pushed the blue door a bit too hard and it swung back so forcefully it knocked the wall.

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