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much earlier than she had indicated she would, and without
advance notice of the change in itinerary. Auntie Dot was away
doing some shopping in preparation for your visit and I wasn’t
ready for your arrival.”
      “ But it was a nice time, wasn’t it?” Emily
persisted.
      “ Based on what I’ve
just said, I will leave you to form your own conclusion,” said
Uncle Raymond.
      “ I miss Gran as
well,” Emily said.
      Uncle Raymond stared
even harder at his computer screen.
      “ As well as what?”
he said, quietly.
      “ As well as you do,”
said Emily.
    Uncle Raymond said nothing. Nothing at all.
But he got up from his chair.
      He went to the
door.
    The door of Emily’s room.
      He closed
it.
      Firmly.
      Right in Emily’s
face.
     

Chapter Twelve
     
    “ He wasn’t angry this
time,” said Emily. “Or annoyed. He didn’t scream or yell or
anything. And I didn’t get angry with him. Because he was crying,”
she explained an hour or so later to Sibbie.
      “ How did you have
time to see that?” Sibbie asked. “I thought you said he slammed the
door on you.”
      “ He didn’t slam it,” said Emily. “He just closed it. One minute it was open
wide and I could see him crying, the next minute all I could see
was the door handle. He made me disappear. That’s twice,
now.”
      “ You upset him,”
said Sibbie.
      “ I didn’t mean to,”
said Emily. “I only did what Mum told me to do. I reminded him
about a nice time.”
      “ Except he didn’t
think it was nice,” said Sibbie. “Just because you thought it was
nice doesn’t mean he did.”
      “ He didn’t remember it properly ,” Emily insisted. “He said
he didn’t laugh when he splattered the caramel, but I know for sure
he did. And he
went on the see-saw.”
      “ Yes, that’s true,”
giggled Sibbie. “I remember that,
    too. We got on one end together and he got
on the other end. We went up into the air and he kept us there for
ages and ages. You were scared.”
      “ I
wasn’t!”
      “ Yes, you
were.”
      “ No, I
wasn’t.”
    “ I’m right, you’re wrong.
Then Dad came along and pulled our end down so that Uncle Raymond
was up in
    the air instead of us.”
      “ And then he was scared, wasn’t he?” said Emily.
      “ I think he was,
just a little bit,” said Sibbie.
      “ That was a nice
time,” said Emily. “Should I go and remind him about the
see-saw?”
      “ No,” said Sibbie.
“I don’t think so. Like I said, just because you think it’s nice
doesn’t mean he will.”
      “ Maybe you’re
right,” agreed Emily. “For once.”
    *
    Emily decided to go outside instead. She was
planning to climb the fence in case Bertie the fox terrier was
playing in next-door’s garden and maybe see if he could teach her
some more barking. Emily was trying to decide if the language of
barking had much grammar in it and, if it did, what exactly the
rules
    were.
      She almost walked
into Auntie Dot who was coming in.
    “ Whoa! Slow down,” said
Auntie Dot.
      Without really
thinking about it, Emily changed her
    plan. “Can I ask you something?” she said to
Auntie Dot.
      “ Fire away,” said
Auntie Dot.
      “ How did your fire
start?” Emily said.
    “ The fire?” Auntie Dot
looked badly flustered. She hardly ever looked flustered. She was
usually smiling, even in the face of disaster, as Dad often said.
“Don’t you know?” she asked.
      “ No,” said
Emily.
      “ I see,” said Auntie
Dot. “Well . . .” she began.
      “ Don’t you know
either?” said Emily.
      “ No, no, I just mean . . . well, I do . . . but . . .
what do I mean?”
Auntie Dot asked herself.
      “ I don’t know,” said
Emily. “Actually, there’s a lot of things we don’t know, aren’t
there?”
      “ Are there?” said
Auntie Dot.
      “ I don’t know how
old you are,” said Emily.
      “ That’s a much
easier question to answer,” said
    Auntie Dot, her fluster
turning