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?”

      The tip of Alice’s tongue came out and took up temporary residence at the corner of her lips. “Um … maybe.”

      Valkyrie switched on her aura-vision, reducing her sister to a dark outline, throbbing weakly with a dim, almost imperceptible orange. It was so spread out, so diffused, that it was barely there at all.

      She switched off the aura-vision before it made her sick with guilt, pulled Alice in and wrapped her up in a hug. “You know what love is, don’t you?”

      “Of course,” said Alice.

      “And you love me?”

      “With all my heart.”

      “And I love you, too, with all my heart.”

      They sat there, hugging.

      “Is it OK that I don’t get sad?” Alice asked softly.

      Valkyrie kissed her head. “I’m going to fix that. You don’t have anything to worry about. I’m going to find someone who can help you, and I’m going to fix everything.”

      Alice nodded and didn’t respond, and Valkyrie hugged her closer and tried not to cry.