Page 217 - The Midnight Library
P. 217
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is was interesting. Nora had assumed that the only lives in which she
still got on with her brother were the lives in which she had never been in
e Labyrinths (unlike her decision to keep swimming, the coffee date with
Ash post-dated her experience in e Labyrinths). But this was throwing
that theor y. Nora couldn’t help but wonder if this lovely Molly herself was
the missing link. Maybe this little girl in front of her had healed the ri
between her and her brother.
‘Do you have grandparents?’
‘Only Grandma Sal.’
Nora wanted to ask more about her own parents’ deaths, but this probably
wasn’t the time.
‘Are you happy? I mean, when you aren’t thinking about bears?’
‘I think so.’
‘Are Mummy and Daddy happy?’
‘Yes,’ she said, slowly. ‘Sometimes. When you are not tired!’
‘And do we have lots of fun times?’
She rubbed her eyes. ‘Yes.’
‘And do we have any pets?’
‘Yes. Plato.’
‘And who is Plato?’
‘Our dog.’
‘And what type of dog is Plato?’
But she got no answer, because Molly was asleep. And Nora lay there, on
the carpet, and closed her eyes.
When she woke up, a tongue was licking her face.
A Labrador with smiling eyes and a wagg y tail seemed amused or excited
to see her.
‘Plato?’ she asked, sleepily.
at’s me, Plato seemed to wag.
It was morning. Light flooded through the curtains now. Cuddly toys –
including Panda, and the elephant Nora had identified earlier – littered the
floor. She looked at the bed and saw it was empty. Molly wasn’t in the room.
And there were feet – heavier feet than Molly’s – coming up the stairs.
She sat up and knew she must look terrible aer sleeping on the carpet in
a bagg y Cure T-shirt (which she recognised) and tartan pyjama bottoms
(which she didn’t). She felt her face and it was creased from where she had
