Bad Dreams: Part 3

By ANNE FINE, Illustrator SUSAN WINTER

"I like that necklace you're wearing. Is it gold?"

She nodded shyly.

"Real gold?"

"Yes," she said. "My granny gave it to my mother, and now it's been passed down to me."

I peered at it more closely. It had strange little scratchy markings, and looked fine and slinky enough to be spilled into a teaspoon.

"You're so lucky," I told her, still trying to be nice. "I'm sure no-one will ever pass anything special down to me."

As if I'd suddenly reminded her of something, she stopped in the middle of her unpacking and gave me a look. "Then maybe you're the lucky one," she told me.

I stared at her. "What do you mean?"

She wouldn't say. In fact, she hardly said anything at all after that, except things like, "Should I write this in the red book?" and "Do I use pen or pencil to do this?" and, "Can I borrow your ruler?"

I bet she didn't even realise that what she'd said stuck in my mind. But it was like the first clue in a book. It just stuck out. And it was strange.

Publisher: Random House, $16.95

Age group: 10-13 years