Chapter Two (Traveller series 3)(5)

And there was something strange about the memory—what was it— Thinking absorbedly about the small feeling of strangeness about the memory, Cecy stood there like a stick driven hard into the ground, not moving even one inch.
So when something hard hit her on her head, Cecy was very confused indeed. The scene of the sister and toy duck had not entirely faded out of her mind before the pain came, somewhat muted. Not at all like the feeling of one who has just been clubbed over her head. 

‘Really?’ She could hear the voice sigh, ‘You really thought it was a duck I was telling you about? Ang—’
The somewhat arrogant tone, mixed with just the right amount of annoyance, endearance, sadness and regret, hit Cecy’s rebellious streak harder than what hit her head a moment before. Gritting her teeth and not pausing for a second to gather her wits and consider why she was so angry, she was preparing to shout back something as sharp—