‘Really nice to meet you.’ I shook Bob’s hand. His grip was limp, like he was afraid of breaking my fingers.

I wanted to wipe my sweaty palm on my pants before shaking hands with Lillian, but it would have looked like I thought Bob’s skin had been unclean. I held my hand out for Lillian, and she took it.

‘Hello, Timothy,’ she said. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

She’s scared, I thought. She can tell there’s something wrong with me.

We all stood in awkward silence for a moment. I wondered what to say. What were the magic words that would make Bob and Lillian take me with them when they left?

‘What do you do, sir?’ I asked, not really caring. I knew people liked talking about themselves.

Mrs Radfield winced, and I knew I’d misstepped. Bob and Lillian would think I was choosy. Looking for a rich couple. But I wasn’t. I’d take anyone who would get me out of there.

‘I’m in landscape architecture,’ Bob said. ‘Do you know what that means?’

I nodded.

‘And I’m a dispatch operator,’ Lillian said. ‘We might have talked before. Have you ever called 911, Timothy?’

‘No.’

A beat.

‘Timothy solves puzzles,’ Mrs Radfield said finally. ‘Don’t you, Timothy?’

The couple looked at me expectantly.

‘I love puzzles,’ I said, which was an exaggeration. I was just good at them. ‘Want to see?’

‘Sure,’ Bob said. He followed me over to my bunk, and Lillian reluctantly fell into step behind.

I showed them one of the puzzles I had been working on—a loop of thick wire threaded through two holes in a piece of polished wood. I had found it among the donations. None of the other kids had been interested.

There were no instructions. I assumed the goal was to remove the piece of wood without breaking the wire. It was a hard puzzle—much harder than jigsaws, Rubik’s Cubes or riddles—and so I thought it would impress Bob and Lillian.

Except that I hadn’t solved it yet. Suddenly my cheeks flushed. What if the solution was obvious to Bob and Lillian? What if they thought I was stupid for not seeing it? They wouldn’t adopt a stupid child.

I jiggled the wood back and forth against the wire. The rattling echoed around the big, cold bedroom. I could feel them watching me as I struggled to figure out the puzzle. Tears stung the corners of my eyes.

‘It’s okay, Timothy,’ Bob said. ‘You don’t have to—’

‘No! I can do it.’