"They're my parents. I couldn't have left them." She looked up again, ready to continue now. "And I had help. I had the cat and the ghosts and the stone with a hole in it, that Miss Spink and Miss Forcible gave me. Because the first time they read my future the tealeaves said I was in danger but not what sort of danger, and Miss Spink told me the stone would be 'good for bad things'. And - I didn't really believe her then, but she was right. When I looked through it it let me see where the souls were."

She decided to skip over most of the details, now. The story was long enough as it was. "So, I found everyone, and I tricked the other mother into opening the door again, because she wasn't going to let me go, even after I won. We all escaped and shut the door behind us, and I locked it, and I thought it was over then. The other father said there was only one door and one key, and I had the key on my side, so she couldn't get out. Only - this is what I was saying about the hand. The other mother swore on her right hand that she'd let me go if I won, but she lied. And when we pulled the door closed, it closed on her arm. Her hand was still on my side, following me, to get the key back."