Amelia stood in the middle of her bedroom, staring at the shiny orange fragments scattered across the glitter-speckled floor.
‘Amelia?’ asked Grimaldi, touching her arm gently.
‘I can’t believe it,’ Amelia said quietly, picking up a piece. ‘This wasn’t just any old ornament. It was special.’
‘MAYBE WE COULD TRY FIXIN’ IT FOR YOU?’ suggested Florence.
‘I’m quite good at fixing things,’ said Grimaldi. ‘I’ve had to glue my scythe together enough times!’
‘I don’t know,’ said Amelia sadly. ‘It looks pretty broken to me.’
Gerrard, Butler and Mo sniffed and whimpered.
‘I DON’T KNOW WHY YOU’RE SNIFFLIN’. THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!’ said Florence with a frown.
Gerrard started to cry.
‘It’s okay, Florence,’ said Amelia.
‘BUT THEY WERE BEING REALLY NAUGHTY,’ said Florence. ‘AND NOW THEY’VE RUINED ONE OF YOUR SUPER SPECIAL FINGS!’
‘Florence does have a point,’ Grimaldi agreed.
‘I know,’ said Amelia.
Tangine shuffled awkwardly in the bedroom doorway. He was twiddling his thumbs. ‘I think that we should all go downstairs and calm down a bit.’
Florence furrowed her eyebrows and reluctantly nodded. ‘FINE,’ she said.
Amelia and Grimaldi ushered the caticorns downstairs to the unliving room, where the friends sat on the sofa feeling worn out and hopeless.
‘’ERE,’ said Florence, tossing Unicornelius Pine in the direction of the caticorns. ‘PLAY WIV YOUR EXPENSIVE TOYS AND FINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’VE DONE.’
‘I think perhaps . . .’ Tangine began, then hesitated.
‘WHAT?’ said Florence.
Tangine made a face. Amelia noticed he looked kind of sad. ‘Never mind,’ he said, quietly fiddling with his sleeve.
‘I’m going to pop to the kitchen to make us some warm sour milk,’ said Amelia. ‘It might help everyone to relax.’
‘Need a hand?’ asked Grimaldi.
‘No thank you,’ said Amelia quietly. ‘I won’t be long.’ She managed a small smile.
In the kitchen, Wooo was well on his way to being fully defrosted. His top half was in normal transparent ghost form, but his bottom half still resembled a gooey, ghostly puddle. He’d also managed to slide his way out of the jar.
‘Hi, Wooo,’ said Amelia, pulling out a chair and sitting down.
‘You seem glum,’ said the ghost butler.
Amelia let out a long sigh. She could feel a lump rising in her throat. ‘The caticorns ran riot and ended up smashing my favourite pumpkin ornament,’ she said. ‘I lost my temper, and now they’re really upset.’
‘Little ones can be a challenge sometimes,’ said Wooo. ‘But you’re doing your very best.’
‘Wooo, I don’t think I’m ready to be a big sister yet,’ Amelia said suddenly. ‘What if the caticorns are being naughty because they don’t like me? What if my own baby brother or sister doesn’t like me?’
‘Well, that’s a preposterous thought,’ said Wooo kindly.
Amelia found the words tumbling out of her mouth. ‘I wanted to prove that I could be a responsible big sister so that Mum and Dad would be proud of me,’ she said in a wobbly voice. ‘But the house is a complete mess and the caticorns probably hate me for shouting at them. I didn’t mean to. I just . . . I just . . .’ Amelia’s voice broke and she began to cry.
‘Oh, Amelia,’ said Wooo. ‘Please don’t be upset. There will be tricky times as your new baby brother or sister grows up, and some nights will be harder than others. But that’s all part of being a big sister. You’ll figure it out, I promise.’
It was at times like this that Amelia really wished you could hug a ghost. She also wished Wooo wasn’t still half-puddle.
‘Thank you, Wooo,’ she said, feeling a bit better. ‘I should probably warm up the sour milk and get back to the unliving room, before the caticorns embark on another smashing adventure!’
‘Oh, hoo hoo!’ Wooo chortled. ‘I see what you did there.’
