Anger rushed through Mary, and she moved to slap him. She stopped herself at the last moment, but he had started to scream. Desperately scared they would be overheard, she clapped her hand over his mouth to silence him. As they grappled with each other, Colin lost his balance and toppled forward out of his chair, pulling Mary down with him and knocking over one of the dummies on the way. It crashed into the one next to it, and they both fell over, spilling clothes everywhere.

Mary sat up in a daze, and for a moment thought she saw the hazy figures of her mother and Grace bending over Colin in concern. Mary gasped, and the ghosts vanished.

“Colin?” Mary’s voice was little more than a squeak. Colin was lying on the floor, very still, his face white, his eyes shut. She crawled over to him. “Colin, are you all right? Colin?”

His eyes opened. Relief overwhelmed her. For a second, she’d thought she had killed him! She knelt beside him and helped him sit up. “Where does it hurt? Where—” She broke off as she realized something. “Your back, Colin!” She looked closely. “You haven’t got a hump. Your back is just the same as mine.”

“Of course it’s not,” said Colin angrily.

“It is,” Mary insisted. She pulled his pajama top up and ran her hand over his back. “I swear on your mother’s life that I can’t see a hump there at all. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with your spine.”

He stared at her, his eyes disbelieving. “But my father said . . .” His voice trailed off. “No. My back is the reason why he makes me have my medicine, the medicine that burns and hurts,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense if I don’t have a hump.”

Mary stared at him wordlessly. He was right: it didn’t make any sense at all.

Turning it over in her mind, she began to silently help him back into his wheelchair. His back might appear normal, but his legs certainly didn’t seem able to take his weight. It was tricky to get him up.

“Be careful,” he said as she struggled to lift him.

“You’re telling me to be careful?” said Mary with a grin as she managed to maneuver him back into the seat.

Slightly breathless, they looked around the room and then back at each other. They shared a smile.

“I’m sorry,” Mary said, really meaning it. “I didn’t realize that bringing you here would upset you so much.”

“It’s hard,” Colin admitted. “Seeing all my mother’s belongings.”