Jennifer Honey watched her daughter's face as she read the letter that had come in the post. She knew Matilda extremely well following the great months she'd just been Matilda Wormwood before she'd used her strange telekinetic abilities to rid the school of Agatha Trunchball, the woman who'd haunted Jennifer when she'd been a child.

Usually, Matilda was a bubbly, perky little girl who loved her books and her friends. But there were times when Jennifer had witnessed a darker, slyer side to Matilda's nature. When Jennifer had adopted Matilda, she had read a few books relating to child abuse; after witnessing first-hand the way the Wormwoods had treated the young girl during that ill-advised night visit to discuss with the Wormwoods Matilda's education only to leave in disappointment at how nonchalant and uncaring they were, Jennifer had formed some speculations about how Matilda was treated.

Matilda had lost herself to the written word primarily because of her desire to learn, but also to escape from the effects of the neglect. The Wormwoods had never actually hit or sexually abused Matilda, for which Jennifer was grateful; when she had become a teacher, Jennifer had trained herself to look for the effects of child abuse. She still suffered from the nightmares caused by Aunt Trunchball, even as an adult, and she had worked long and hard to try to move forward, using the pain from her past to look to the future. But the effects of her Aunt's evil influence had remained.

To this day Jennifer would never work out why her aunt even applied to become Principal of a school when she had made it clear she hated children. But while Jennifer had been abused for years even before her father's death when Aunt Trunchball was finally able to get away with it for real, she had refused to let another child suffer at home the way she had. And while Matilda was a happy girl who loved her books, there were some signs of neglect as she grew closer to her.

"Are you okay, Matilda?" Jennifer asked at last when the silence got to her.

Matilda looked up and shook her head finally. Her expression was grave. "No," she said shortly.

"Oh, okay, why not?" Jennifer asked slowly, unsure of what to do, or what to say. She had never seen Matilda like this.

Matilda closed her eyes and sighed. "The Wormwoods have been arrested," she replied.

"When?" Jennifer replied. She wasn't surprised by the news. It had gotten out extremely quickly that Harry Wormwood's used car business had been involved in illegal activities for years. Stolen car parts. Conning customers into giving away a lot of money for badly repaired cars which should have been stripped down and repaired despite the costs. Filling them with sawdust. Using Super-Super glue to repair bumpers, hubcaps, and god knew what else. She was pleased to see them get their just deserts, but she was worried at Matilda's attitude.

"A few days ago. But the letter doesn't go into detail about it."

Okay, now she was confused. "Matilda, you're not making sense," Jennifer said.

"I'm not their daughter."

"What?" Jennifer gasped. Whatever she'd expected it was not that.

Matilda sighed. "A few weeks ago, a couple took their little girl to a hospital for a kidney transplant. But she didn't match anyone in her family. And none of them had anything like it in their family history, so it was a mystery. Anyway, they saw a picture of…the Wormwoods in a newspaper. Their crimes made them front-page news, even now. And they were shocked because their daughter shares a lot of their physical traits and not theirs, something they had noticed before but ignored. They took their observations to the police, and they got permission to have a DNA test. That girl is the Wormwoods' daughter, not theirs. When the Wormwoods were questioned, they told the police about me, and where I was. They were stunned."

Jennifer Honey was an experienced teacher, now Principal. She loved the kids at her school and it was reciprocated as she was regarded as a kind, fair teacher who was unafraid of being lenient and harsh, as opposed to the mindless vicious cunning Aunt Trunchball had used to punish the students. She had seen the best and the worst of humanity. She had witnessed telekinetic powers. She had discovered more proof of how her father was murdered. But she was trying to wrap her brain around what she was hearing.

Matilda was not related to the Wormwoods.

She wasn't.

Jennifer had often asked herself how the Wormwoods could have had a child like her, a prodigy who'd been able to take care of herself and could read difficult books at an extremely young age, while their other child was just like them.

"I always knew I was different from them, Mum," Matilda's voice cut through her thoughts, and Jennifer focused on her daughter. Matilda looked like she had just been given the knowledge of the universe and was trying to work out what to do next. "I mean, I was able to read and write and take care of myself before my 10th birthday. I didn't share any of their so-called interests. I wasn't interested in looks or bingo. I didn't care about cars, TV or anything like that. And they were never interested in me. They never listened to me, even when I tried to warn them the cops were staking out their house. They still believed they were power boat salesmen when they had to run to Guam."

Jennifer didn't say a word. She knew the story already. To be honest she was still laughing at the last bit. If nothing showed her just how stupid the Wormwoods were, nothing else would. But what was worrying her the most was how…detached Matilda was sounding, and how she spoke about the Wormwoods as if they were strangers. She had never really spoken like this in the past.

"And your biological parents, they want to get in touch with you?" Jennifer said.

Matilda nodded. "They know you adopted me. They want to meet you as well."

Jennifer nodded back, wondering inwardly how Matilda's real parents would feel about her. "How do you feel about this?" She asked, terrified her daughter would want to leave. But she rationally knew it was not going to happen. Matilda wasn't the type of girl who would suddenly drop everything and move in with strangers. She had left the Wormwoods of her own free will after spending time with Jennifer. In any case, it was more likely Matilda would want to know her real family, but she wouldn't go with them. She wasn't that cruel.

"But how did this happen? How did two babies end up with the wrong families?" Jennifer asked.

Matilda shook her head. "I don't know. The hospital is investigating it right now, but so far it looks like it was just a case of mistaken identity." Jennifer had known Matilda long enough to know when she wasn't easily convinced, and that there was not that much information for her real parents to go on just yet.

"When do you want to meet them?" Jennifer asked hollowly.

Matilda looked up, realising what was happening. She smiled. "Mum, I love you. You're more my mother than my real one. I'm not going to walk away from you." To emphasise her point, Matilda got up and hugged her. "But we can meet them at any point."

Jennifer felt much better.