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Chapters (59)
  1. Cover
  2. ABOUT THE BOOK
  3. Dedication
  4. PREFACE
  5. CHAPTER ONE
  6. CHAPTER TWO
  7. CHAPTER THREE
  8. CHAPTER FOUR
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT
  13. CHAPTER NINE
  14. CHAPTER TEN
  15. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  16. CHAPTER TWELVE
  17. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  21. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  22. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  23. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  44. CHAPTER FORTY
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  54. CHAPTER FIFTY
  55. ENDING
  56. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  57. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  58. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  59. Also by Val Wood

The children raced to the door and Filip took Thomas from her as she fumbled for her key. ‘Come in. Come in,’ she said as she opened the door to the room and the children tumbled in, heading towards the fire.

‘We’ve gathered up some twigs,’ she said, ‘but not many. I think everybody else has already been out collecting kindling before us.’

Filip took the sack from her. ‘I will get some now,’ he said, ‘and bring them back. Then I see about new room; is that all right?’

‘Of course.’ Ellen bent to put the kettle over the flame and adjusted the fire guard to make it safe. ‘Do whatever you must.’ She was mentally preparing. She would make the children cocoa. There was no milk, but the Bosco children didn’t drink milk, so that was all right, and she’d put a spot of sugar in it to make it sweeter. That would warm them up, for they all had red runny noses.

She made the cocoa and gave a cup each to Sarah, Zophia and Jakub, who sat on the rug in front of the fire whilst she sat on one of the beds with Thomas and Aron on either side of her, giving them sips from their cups alternately.

Filip came back with a sack full of wood and twigs and smiled when he saw all the children sitting contentedly, their mouths rimmed with cocoa. He put more wood on the fire, and turning to Ellen asked, ‘Did you mean it? Your offer?’

‘Of course. Now go and tell Anna she is to come straight here when the bakery closes, and then collect your things.’

He nodded. ‘I am so sorry.’ His voice was choked.

‘No need to be,’ she said softly. ‘It’s onny a room. What kind of life would it be if we couldn’t share a room with our friends?’

He gave a harsh laugh. ‘I could tell you what it would be like, Ellen, but I won’t. We have, I hope, put that kind of life behind us.’

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

When Ellen opened her eyes the next morning, her first thought was that she must be dreaming. She was squashed into her bed with Sarah and Thomas either side of her and at the bottom of the bed was Zophia. In the other bed lay Anna with Aron beside her and Jakub at the bottom, and on the floor beneath them on a thin mattress covered by a blanket was Filip.