The Secret of the Indian by Lynne Reid Banks

1

A Shocking Homecoming
WHEN OMRI’S PARENTS drove home from their party, his mother got
out in front of the house while his father drove around the side to put the car
away. The front-door key was on the same key ring with the car key, so his
mother came up the steps and rang the bell. She expected the baby-sitter to
answer.
There was a lengthy pause, and then the door opened, and there was
Omri, with Patrick just behind him. The light was behind him too, so she
didn’t see him clearly at first.
“Good heavens, are you boys still up? You should have been in bed hours
ag—”
Then she stopped. Her mouth fell open and her face drained of color.
“Omri! What—what—what’s happened to your face?”
She could hardly speak properly, and that was when Omri realized that he
wasn’t going to get away with it so easily this time. This time he was either
going to have to lie like mad or he was going to have to tell far more than
he had ever intended about the Indian, the key, the cupboard, and all the rest
of it.
He and Patrick had talked about it, frantically, before his parents
returned.
“How are you going to explain the burn on your head?” Patrick asked.
“I don’t know. That’s the one thing I can’t explain.”

Leonard Pokrovski - The Secret of the Indian by Lynne Reid Banks (bigmoney.vip)