"No!" shouted Andy. He knew he was shouting and he knew he was red and he knew everyone was staring but he still wasn't going to do it.

"Read the passage Andy." said Mr. Wolf crossly.

"No I won't." he cried

"Now you are staying here, you must read like everyone else."

"I'm not staying here."

"Read."

"The sooner you read the passage," said Claudia in her nice voice, "the sooner the lesson will be over."

"Be quiet Claudia. This is Andy's decision." barked Mr. Wolf.

It was difficult to speak, he was crying so hard. He wanted his mom but she was gone. He could never go home anymore. Why were they making him do lessons?

He was too upset to read the stupid book;

"It's stupid." he said.

"We can't treat you differently, despite what happened today. This is your last chance; will you apologize to your brothers and sisters for your behavior and read the passage?"

"I won't"

"Then you will go to the naughty rooms."

Mr. Wolf grabbed his arm. Andy was scared. He'd never been naughty before.

There was a knock at the door.

"What is it?" growled Mr. Wolf.

"There's someone here to see you Mr. Wolf. It's important." said Mr. DeSalvo behind the door.

Mr. Wolf let go of his arm and whispered to Fat Pat behind the door.

"The lesson is over children, I have an important visitor to speak to. Please put all the reading material away carefully. I don't want to see anything lying around. You know what to do with the chairs.

Once the reading room is tidy you may go to bed. Andrew Morgan, don't think that I have forgotten about you."

Andy hated his full name. Mr. Wolf left with the Fat Pig and the children started to move chairs and pick up books.

"Wait! Stop!" whispered Claudia, "This is our chance. We can escape."

"If we don't tidy up we'll all be in trouble" said Vincent, "And if we get caught trying to leave without permission - "

"We won't get caught." she interrupted, "This is our chance…I've seen it. They'll be too busy talking with the police woman. That's who has come. If we go now we can make it."

"Don't listen to her everyone." he said nastily, "Just because she doesn't believe in God doesn't mean we have to get in to trouble."

The other kids ignored the argument and kept on tidying up. Andy watched nervously.

"Please stop what you're doing – we don't have much time. I have seen this…in my dream."

"How silly, you still think you can see into the future. If that's really true you can tell us what's going to happen next, witch."

Everyone laughed, except Claudia. She looked real angry for a minute, then took a deep breath and said;

"I predict…you're going to get a fat lip!"

She punched him right in the face, busting his lip. Spots of blood splashed on to the kids next to him. As she was pinning him down they dropped the chairs and textbooks and held her back. They struggled before dumping Claudia on her bottom and going back to work. Vincent stayed on his back grizzling and holding his bloody mouth.

Andy expected her to be furious but she was crying. He offered his hand.

"Come on." he said gently, "Let's go."

"But I wanted to save everyone." she whimpered.

"Not this time." he replied.

Claudia allowed herself to be helped up. After taking a few deep breaths and wiping her good eye with her sleeve, she cautiously opened the reading room door. Peeking out behind her, Andy could see that the dining room was clear. They crept across taking care to avoid the boards that creaked.

The door to the kitchen was opening slowly, forcing them to hurry. Claudia yanked open the front door without looking back, but Andy could see who was coming.

The cold air made him shiver. Neither of them was really dressed for the cold.

"Hey! What the hell are you two doing?" yelled Fat Pat, moving as fast as he could between the tables.

"Run!" shouted Claudia.

Andy's legs felt like jello but they managed to carry him, just behind his friend, to the gate. Already halfway up, she didn't notice him struggling at the bottom. The Fat Pig was outside and Andy could see Mr. Wolf behind him. His tummy turned over. Then he saw the policewoman. The nice one who was friends with Thomas. Claudia was telling the truth, she could tell the future!

"Andy. Give me your hand!" she called from the top of the gate.

Standing on tiptoes, he managed to grab her fingers. With a leap and a pull he scrambled up and caught hold of the top. He smiled at Claudia in triumph. She didn't smile back. Instead she was looking behind him. Andy turned in time to see Fat Pat grab his leg. He cried out. He was really scared.

Claudia grabbed both his arms but the fat man was pulling him hard with his fat hands. He was slipping. His leg was getting sore and his arms were getting tired. Claudia screamed and cried like she was having a tantrum. Andy was crying too. Mr. DeSalvo was really hurting him.

Suddenly Claudia flew from the top of the gate on to Fat Pat. Caught by surprise, he was knocked to the ground, just like a wrestling move!

Andy struggled to the top of the gate then dropped, stumbled and landed on his butt. On the other side of the gate the lady was holding Mr. DeSalvo and Claudia was fighting her dad.

She was on top of the fence. She could have been running away from here. She should be free. But she saved me…

"Claudia…"

Mr. DeSalvo ran back in the house. Mr. Wolf was shouting something about a key. The police lady was climbing the gate.

"Run Andy!" screeched Claudia, "RUN!"

Where could he run to? He couldn't go home anymore. The idea of escaping without Claudia was frightening.

"RUN!"

He wouldn't go back. He wouldn't give up. Not after Claudia helped him like that. He ran hard away from the path, through the trees, through the mud and the cold. Running and running till he couldn't run anymore.

A flashlight was looking for him in the dark. He had to keep moving, stay in the shadows. He was good at hiding. The lady was calling his name. He didn't answer.

The light went out. Andy sat on a tree root and curled himself into a ball and cried. Cried really hard. He was shaking and snot dribbled on to his lip. Claudia was in danger and there wasn't anything he could do. His mom was dead. There was nobody else to care. And it was so cold.

"Andy. There you are."

The voice made him jump. It was the police lady. It was hard to see but it was definitely her, he recognized the way she sounded. She sounded kind. He wiped the snot with his sleeve.

"Why did you turn your torch off?" he sniffed.

"I figured you didn't want to be found. Aren't you cold?"

A hand gently touched his shivering shoulder in the dark.

"You're shaking like a leaf kid. Come back to the house with me. You're going to freeze to death out here."

Andy got up from his root and stumbled backwards…"No."

"Whatever the problem is…we can work it out…just come with me, please."

"You can't bring back my mom can you?" he wailed.

"Oh Andy, honey I'm sorry."

He was really blubbing now. The lady knelt beside him and put her leather jacket round his shoulders. She held him tight. She was warm. He cried on her shoulder for a minute.

"Why don't you want to go back?" asked the lady softly.

"I don't want Claudia to get in trouble."

"No one is going to get in trouble. If you come with me maybe we can fix it."

Maybe she could fix it. She was a cop. They could go back to the house and rescue everybody.

'It won't work.' whispered a little voice into his ear. He looked behind him, couldn't see anything except the darkness. The lady didn't seem to notice anybody. She held out her hand. Andy reached out to take it but the ground was crumbling beneath his feet. It opened like a big mouth and gulped him down in one.