My father had no idea how I released Katkin from the bangle, and I was confused, too. I wasn’t even sure that I had released her. I knew I hadn’t done anything special. We all talked it through for a few more minutes, in between bites of sandwich, until only a few crumbs were left on the plate. I couldn’t come up with a satisfactory answer, no matter how much my father and Helen kept prodding for one. There’s no doubt where Helen got the lawyer-ly part of her brain from. They were both really good at pinning me down with just a few words.
‘You weren’t thinking about magic, you say?’ Dad asked.
‘Of course, I wasn’t.’ I tried to stay calm. I hated talking about magic with my father. I’d wished, so many times, that he would stop hoping for me to suddenly sprout magical whatevers.
‘You’re s
