My name is Ruby. I live with Barbara and Mick. Theyre not my real parents, but they tell me what to do, and what to say. Im supposed to say that the bruises on my arms and the black eye came from falling down the stairs. But there are things I wont say. I wont tell them Im going to hunt for my real parents. I dont say a word about Shadow, who sits on the stairs, or the Wasp Lady I saw on the way to bed.