"Not a bad idea," Bran muses, "though we could stop by a pet store and get the stuff for Back Monkey too, find out whether it's her for all of us or someone different. We could—"<br/><br/>He stops. They can't take it back to his place, because what if he doesn't have a place any more with Da gone? He swallows. What if Ma's gone too? What if he's alone?<br/><br/>He needs to know.<br/><br/>"Excuse me a moment," he says to the others, "I want to call my Ma and find out whether she still exists." His voice is shaking.