We looked for him in all the usual places: the tree house, the skinny bit between the shed and Mr Driver’s house, Mr Driver’s backyard and the laundry, but he’d obviously gone a bit farther afield this time. I wasn’t personally too worried about him. Caleb had a habit of finding a spot to sit in when he was unhappy, and we usually found him within a few hours. He would curl up in a ball with his forehead on his knees and talk quietly to himself, making up stories and acting them out in whispers until he felt better. If I’d been the one to go wandering, I’d have had the strap when they found me, but Caleb was treated as the treasure he was, and just got hugs and kisses and cuddles when they finally dragged him out of whatever cupboard or neighbour’s shed they found him in.

I asked for permission to go and look for him, and Mum said okay, as long as I didn’t go near the Johnsons’, which is of course exactly where I headed straight away. I was desperate to see Sixpence again. I started to skip down the drive toward their house when I thought about seeing Mr J, and it took the skip right out from under me. And in any case, I realised Mum was looking out the window and that it would be a good idea to walk slowly with my head down as though I was really worried about Caleb until I had crossed the road and couldn’t be seen from the lounge room window anymore.

I felt so happy at the thought of cuddling my little friend again that I could feel my heart beating quite fast, and it seemed to me that spring smelled more springy than usual, and that the flowers in the Johnsons’ front garden were larger and brighter than I remembered them.

I pushed my way past the thickets of native shrubs to the path down the side of the house. And was then stopped in my tracks. In front of me was a tall gate I had never seen before. And when I gave it a little push, it was clearly locked. I walked back a few steps, thinking that perhaps this wasn’t the right house, although I knew it was. It didn’t make sense that this gate had suddenly appeared. I felt I would have known about this kind of change somehow. After a minute I looked around it to see if there was a way to open it or even to climb over it, but it was a big, solid gate that was making sure I couldn’t get to my friend.

I slowly walked back to the front door and knocked. It took a long time for Mrs Johnson to answer, and she didn’t have her usual friendly face on. I asked why she had a gate now, and if I could visit Sixpence. She just looked at me, uncomfortably I felt. She wrapped her stained pink cardigan around her even though it wasn’t cold. She told me Sixpence wasn’t living with them at the moment. Mr Johnson had taken her to work in a cage for the children who visited the museum to look at, and she wasn’t sure when she would be coming home again.