Free Hannah in the Spotlight by Natasha Mac a'Bháird

you help me find my Jedi mask? Zach says he didn’t take it, but I know he did.’
    ‘Hannah’s going out,’ Mum said firmly. ‘I’ll talk to Zach.’She turned to me. ‘Go on, go quickly before something else happens!’
    I didn’t need to be told twice. I grabbed my hoodie and my Star Club notebook, and Meg and I hurried out the door.
    I closed the front door behind us. ‘Freedom!’ I tossed the notebook in the air and caught it again.
    Meg giggled. ‘Now we just need to get past my mum.’
    ‘Oh, you haven’t asked her?’ I said in surprise.
    ‘No, but it’ll be fine. Just don’t tell her why we’re going to Sadie’s, OK?’
    Meg hopped over the wall and put her key in the front door. I followed her in. Cordelia was at the kitchen table, tapping away at her laptop, a mug of coffee beside her on the table. She looked up and smiled when we came in.
    ‘Oh, darling, there you are,’ she said. ‘I’m just trying to figure out how to work this computer program. It’s really quite confusing. I don’t know why they have to make things so complicated these days.’
    ‘Won’t they give you training when you start next week?’ Meg asked her.
    Cordelia wrinkled up her nose. ‘I may have told them I knew how to use it already. In fact, there’s a chance I mentioned something about several years’ experience.’
    ‘Mum!’ exclaimed Meg. ‘You shouldn’t lie about stuff like that!’
    ‘Oh, it’s just a teeny little lie,’ Cordelia said. ‘I desperately wanted the job you see.’
    ‘What happens when they ask you to do something on Monday and you haven’t a clue how it works?’ Meg asked.
    ‘I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it,’ Cordelia said breezily. ‘I’m sure a quick crash course today will bring me right up to speed. What are you two up to today, anyway? No dramatics I hope?’ She laughed.
    ‘No, we’re just hanging out,’ Meg said quickly. ‘Actually, I said I’d go over to Sadie’s this morning, and Hannah’s going to come with me. Could you give us a lift?’
    ‘Sure. I need a break from this dreary old swotting anyway,’ Cordelia said.
    She stood up and drained the last of her coffee, then reached for her car keys and headed for the door.
    I couldn’t help thinking how different things were for Meg, being an only child. If I asked Mum for a lift somewhere, I’d get the third degree about why I needed to go, and then even if she did say she’d bring me we’d have to get all the others into the car too, and that would most likely involve feeding Emma first and changing her nappy and waiting for the bigger three to find all the toys and books they couldn’t possibly manage without for a short car trip. Meg just had to ask her mum, and a minute later we were getting into the car.
    I got into the back seat and Meg sat up front beside her mum.
    ‘I’ll probably spend most of the day on the computer, so why don’t you see if Sadie can keep you for lunch?’ Cordelia suggested as we pulled out of the drive.
    ‘OK, I will. And then maybe we can call over to Laura’s afterwards, she lives just across the road from Sadie.’
    Meg caught my eye in the rearview mirror and gave me a teeny smile. Clearly this had been her plan all along. I smiled back. Meg was a pretty good person to have on my team.

Chapter Ten
    Sadie’s attic was like something from a film. It was crammed full with all sorts of everything, but it wasn’t the normal sort of clutter and half-broken stuff most attics were filled with. A stunning Tiffany lamp, the kind with colourful stained glass, stood on top of a mahogany bookcase, whose shelves were filled with stacks of what looked like manuscripts. A gorgeous old-fashioned bike with a wicker basket leaned against one side, and beside it lay a big black telephone, the kind with a separate piece to speak into and a trumpet-shaped piece to hold to your ear. A pile of old curtains lay on top of a throne encrusted with jewels.
    ‘Oh my God. This is