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was filled with
enormous, glistening centipedes. The room was so quiet, Amelia could hear the sound
of their hundreds of legs as they crawled over one another.
    She turned away, trying not to gag. ‘Just find the bag. Is it still here?’
    Charlie didn’t answer. He was pacing towards the enormous canopy bed at the far end
of the room, a funny look on his face.
    ‘Do you feel that?’ he murmured.
    ‘Feel what?’ said Amelia, moving to join him. Then she paused, a strange sensation
washing over her as she approached the bed, like a gust of warm spring air. She glanced
over at the window, but it was shut tight.
    ‘It’s coming from here,’ said Charlie, crouching at the foot of the bed. He dragged
out Miss Ardman’s little case. ‘Wow – it’s warm. Touch it!’
    Amelia knelt beside him and put a hand on the case. It was definitely warm. Whatever
was inside it was hot – or being heated. They hauled the case onto the bed and Amelia
felt her head spinning slightly, that strange warmth drifting over her again. Quickly,
she unzipped the case and threw back the top of it. A cloud of sweet, perfumed air
rose to the ceiling as they stared at what was inside.
    ‘Jewels!’ said Charlie breathlessly.
    There were twenty or perhaps thirty shining globes, about the size of mandarins,
but perfectly round and golden. At first Amelia thought they were reflecting the
light that fell on them, but as she leant closer she realised that the jewels themselves
were shimmering – light was glowing from them.

    She was too mesmerised to check Charlie’s face, but she heard him sigh. ‘Wow.’
    Amelia leant even closer, so close the jewels warmed her cheeks.
    She smiled with happiness just to see them. As she breathed in their delicious fragrance,
she was filled with a wonderful knowledge: that if she could touch one of those jewels,
just hold it in her hand for one moment, she would never feel sad, or lonely, or
worried, or angry again.
    As she gently reached out her hand, the jewels seemed to reach back to her. They wanted to be with her. They wanted her to have them!
    Amelia heard Charlie laugh with joy beside her. And then, as her fingers tingled
with anticipation, she suddenly felt a massive, vice-like hand seize her by the shoulder
and jerk her back from the jewels. It was so fast and rough that Amelia lost her
balance and fell to the ground in shock, blinking. Charlie stumbled and fell beside
her.
    A voice, raw with anger and danger, roared over them, ‘ How dare you? ’

Once, Amelia had done a handstand in her grandparents’ living room and lost her balance.
As her feet came down, so did a very beautiful glass vase her granny had been given
for her sixteenth birthday. When Granny saw the smashed pieces all over the floor,
her face had gone white with shock and Amelia had felt so bad she wanted to die.
    But that moment – with all the terrible sadness, guilt and shame that Amelia had
felt – was nothing compared to how bad this moment was. In fact, ‘moment’ didn’t
cover it. This nightmare seemed to go on forever.
    First there was the utter shock of being sprung by Miss Ardman. Then that had turned
to a steady, throbbing terror as Miss Ardman started shrieking and wailing so hysterically
that Amelia was sure she’d gone mad.
    But then, when Mum and Mary burst in to see what was happening, Miss Ardman had collapsed
into a sobbing mess on the floor, and Mary had taken over the shouting instead. Mostly
at Charlie, but Amelia knew she was included. Mary dragged Amelia and Charlie out
by the collars of their shirts, berating them all the way to Amelia’s room.
    Amelia felt so remorseful, so humiliated and so, so angry – angry at Charlie for
talking her into it, and even angrier at herself for letting him.
    Mary left them there, and went back to help Mum calm down Miss Ardman. It had taken
ages before the awful crying stopped. At last, Amelia’s door opened again and three
severe and disappointed parents came into the