Chapter NineteenI stared at Patrick, and swallowed an urge to laugh.
He let go of Goldie and came toward me. ‘What is it? What’s wrong? Where’s Matilda?’
‘She’s inside in her … wing,’ I said. ‘Mr Newry locked me in the attic.’
‘But why?’ said Fei Fei.
Then I really laughed. ‘That’s where young women go when they misbehave, of course. Matilda clearly spent plenty of time there—although not, I confess, as much time as her parents thought she did. Ah!’
‘What?’ said Patrick. ‘You had an idea.’
‘This is a big enough house for an only child to move around without either of her parents knowing she’s shirking her punishment,’ I said. ‘We can hide here too—without the Newrys knowing we’re still in their house.’
‘What about the servants?’ said Fei Fei. ‘What about food, and our belongings?’
