Chapter 2
Tom still sat on the hay bales when the door creaked and Mother came in.
"You’re here, Tom?"
Tom said nothing, but she had already seen him. She climbed on a bale of hay next to him, shaking her head.
"Why did you have to be so nasty to Mr McGregor?"
"He wants to kill the egg." Tom clutched it tighter to his chest.
"I know it sounds horrible, but that may be for the best. He only wants to protect us from these strange things that are happening around us."
"Daddy would let me keep it."
Mother sighed. "Well, we can’t ask Daddy." Her voice wobbled, and Tom hoped she was going to mention Daddy and what she thought had happened to him, but she just let the silence stretch. Her eyes glittered.
Then Tom felt guilty, because Mother had spent far too much time crying already, but
