Jimmy sighed deeply, tucked his hand beneath his pillow, and, at long last, fell asleep.

Chapter 10

WHEN GLENYS AWOKE a wintry sun was shining, and for some reason she felt optimistic, sure that in this pleasant little town they would run the Trewins’ family to earth. She rolled over in bed and found that her companion had abandoned her; plainly the sunshine had given Mo her confidence back. The smell of bacon which came floating through the half-open door made Glenys’s nostrils twitch.

She swung her legs out of bed, washed rather shrinkingly in the cold water contained in the ewer, and went downstairs. She hesitated in the hallway, trying to remember which door led to the kitchen and which to the parlour, but then she heard muffled voices from the door on her right and feeling rather foolish, for she had promised to be up betimes, she tapped lightly on the door and went in.

The first sight which met her eyes was Jimmy and Mo seated at the table with bowls of what looked like porridge or cereal before them. Also at the table were a couple, probably in their mid-twenties, who turned as the door opened and smiled at the teacher, chorusing ‘Good morning’ as she came fully into the room. Mrs Buttermilk was at the stove, manoeuvring a mighty frying pan as she dished out crisp bacon and golden-yolked eggs on to half a dozen plates.

‘I’m sorry I’m late,’ Glenys began, but the landlady shook her head.

‘You’re just in nice time you are, my dear,’ she assured her guest. ‘There’s porridge to start, unless you’d rather have cereal, a good hot cup of tea to go with it and piles of toast with butter and marmalade to fill the chinks. As my hubby always says, “An empty sack won’t stand up”, so just you tuck in, my dear, and don’t worry about time.’ She began to hand around plates of bacon, egg and sausage, saying as she did so: ‘But I must introduce you to my other guests. Them’s Mr and Mrs Horner, what’s just here for a couple of days’ hillwalking.’ She turned to the young couple and gave them a roguish look. ‘Last time they come they was Miss Clark and Mr Horner. I tease them that they only got wed to save the price of two single rooms.’

Glenys smiled at the young couple, who were both blushing furiously. ‘Nice to meet you,’ she said. ‘I’m Glenys Trent, the children’s aunt. We’ve come here to try to contact the children’s relatives on their mother’s side. Their name is Griffiths, but it turns out that Wales is full of Griffiths, so we’ve had no luck so far.’

Having handed round all the plates Mrs Buttermilk took her place at the head of the table and picked up her knife and fork, nodding to the others to follow suit. ‘I’m a Griffiths myself,’ she said conversationally. ‘The reason they call me Mrs Buttermilk is to avoid confusion, ’cos there’s at least half a dozen Griffiths families livin’ in the town, and more on the outskirts of course.’ She raised a plump hand and began to tell off her neighbours on her fingers. ‘One, there’s Mrs Icecream because she makes her own in the summer; two, there’s Mr and Mrs River because their land runs down to the river; three . . .’