Later, when the soup was bubbling away and they’d had a cup of tea, they heard the front door. Archie erupted into volleys of barking.

‘You go,’ Sybil said. ‘You’ll get there more quickly – get them in out of the wet. And for goodness’ sake, grab Archie – she may not like dogs.’

Katie ran and pushed a protesting Archie into the cold front room. She opened up to find Marek outside, holding his coat over the heads of himself and his sister while he carried her case in the other hand.

‘Quickly!’ Katie said. ‘Come in.’ She had an impression of someone very thin and wiry, with large eyes, at Marek’s side.

Piotr came bounding downstairs to greet them and there were hugs and a lot of excited chatter in Polish, and outraged barking from the other side of the front-room door. Katie was glad to have a few seconds to stand aside and take in the sight of this new person in all their lives. She could see that Agnieska was strikingly like Marek, with similar pronounced cheekbones and big blue eyes, with dark lashes, contrasting with her pale hair, which was tied back. Her face was very pale and she looked delicate, but her full lips were parted in a smile.

‘Agnieska,’ Marek guided her, a hand behind her shoulders. ‘This is Katie.’ He added a comment in Polish.

Agnieska came towards her with an open, enquiring expression and Katie saw a sweet smile. She liked the girl already, felt drawn to her waiflike looks. She said something that sounded like ‘Chaisch . . .’ Then, ‘Hello . . .’ And held out her hand. When Katie took it, it felt bony, but there was a wiry strength to her, even though she looked younger than her twenty years.

‘Hello,’ Katie said, shyly. ‘Nice to meet you.’

‘Nice to meet you,’ Agnieska said back, then put her hand over her mouth and gave a little laugh at herself, which Katie found infectious. Then she saw Michael. ‘Your boy?’ she asked Katie, who nodded. ‘Ah – hello!’

‘And this is Miss Routh,’ Marek went on. Sybil had come limping through from the back, and the greetings were repeated.

‘Welcome to Birmingham,’ Sybil said. ‘We hope you will be comfortable here. Has your brother explained that your room is next door?’

Agnieska, at a loss, looked to Marek and he translated.

‘Oh!’ She lit up. ‘Yes – thank you!’

‘Maybe,’ Marek said, ‘we go round there now, to meet them.’

‘Oh, have a cup of tea first,’ Sybil said, turning towards the kitchen again. ‘You must both be frozen, and there’s no hurry, is there? Now do tell me: does she mind dogs?’

‘Dog?’ Agnieska wrinkled her nose.

‘Ah,’ Sybil said. ‘Well, not to worry. Once Archie’s been introduced, he’ll just ignore you.’

The Arbuckles were delighted to have Agnieska in their house. Marek said she had a nice little room looking out over the garden, with a cheerful pair of butter-yellow curtains. Agnieska found the mother and daughter a bit confusing at first, because she couldn’t understand a word they were saying. They tried talking louder to compensate, but it didn’t help. Marek and Piotr went round quite frequently that week to translate, which made the Arbuckles even happier.