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Thirteen years later.
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Manic screams erupted from the kitchen, quickly followed by a young boy.
Toby knew seconds before his feet reached the soft rug on the polished checkerboard tiles that he was moving too fast to survive the corner. Hitting the hallway at a sprint, he sunk his heels into the wool and threw out his arms. There was nothing to stop his momentum.
‘Whoa!’ he shouted, sailing past the foot of the stairs and crashing into a crumpled heap near the front door.
‘Quick!’ shouted his younger brother Charlie, tailing behind him. ‘Grab my hand.’ His eyes were full of blind panic, his chest rising and falling after their chaotic sprint across the garden. Toby accepted his brother’s hand and leapt to his feet, nursing an emerging lump on his head. Together, they gra
