“Not a word,” I said.

Mrs.

Higgins gathered the yellow papers into her briefcase and snapped the brass locks shut.

I walked back to Room 314 carrying my plastic bag of clothes.

The door was pushed halfway open.

I heard a zipper close, and then a heavy footstep on the linoleum.

Richard and Linda were standing next to my empty bed.

I stopped in the doorway and gripped the handle of my plastic bag.