Ursula put her finger to her lips to stop the others replying.

‘Where is everybody?’

They heard Ann’s footsteps as she came down the stairs, and then the dining-room door opened slowly.

‘Happy Birthday!’ Ursula allowed John to go first, and then Finlay, before she joined in.

‘Oh! This isn’t what usually happens.’ Ann stared, wide-eyed, at the large box which took up at least a third of the table, and the smaller packages which were beside it. ‘Is this all for me?’

‘It is indeed.’ John got to his feet and wrapped his arms around her. ‘Happy Birthday, little one.’

‘But shouldn’t we wait until later? I mean, presents are for the afternoon when visitors come, aren’t they? That’s what Mother always said.’

‘We thought you might like them a bit earlier this year,’ said Finlay. He tapped the top of the large box. ‘After all, you’ll be wanting to start using your encyclopaedias.’

Ann’s face fell. ‘I suppose so.’

Ursula took charge. ‘Isobel has made drop scones, and there is warm syrup to pour over them. We thought you might like to open your presents first, because syrup is sticky.’

‘You definitely don’t want the pages to get stuck together,’ Finlay added.

Ann realised that the only empty seat was the one Father used, at the head of the table. He pointed at it. ‘Today, you are the most important person in the house, so you take my chair.’

Two parcels were arranged in the space where the place setting should have been. Ann took her seat and lifted the first one off the top. It was covered in what looked like newspaper and was tied up with garden twine. Ursula hadn’t seen the wrapping until Finlay had added it to the collection last night. She approved of his creativity.

Ann read the label: ‘From Finlay’. She undid the knotted string and pulled the paper aside. ‘Seeds!’ She spread the packets out on the table. ‘This is so exciting! Snapdragons, and cosmos, and calendula and poppies and nasturtiums and marigolds, and ooooooh, sweet peas.’ She shook the wrapping paper. ‘And basil and chives and parsley as well.’

Ursula glanced at Finlay. She had provided the nasturtiums and the cosmos, but the rest were nothing to do with her. He was smiling to himself, unaware of exactly how much he had just shot up in her estimation.

Ann wanted to study all the seed packets in detail, one at a time, but she realised everyone was waiting for her to move on to the next gift. ‘I’ll need to learn all the Latin names. Maybe the encyclopaedias will help me with that.’ She arranged the envelopes carefully in alphabetical order, and then stopped for a moment to study the words on the wrapping. ‘This is from a seed catalogue.’ She looked at Finlay. ‘Where did you get it?’