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Chapters (84)
  1. All the Days of Our Lives
  2. 1945
  3. 1931-1944
  4. I
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-One
  26. Twenty-Two
  27. 1946
  28. II
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. III
  34. Twenty-Seven
  35. Twenty-Eight
  36. Twenty-Nine
  37. IV
  38. Thirty
  39. Thirty-One
  40. Thirty-Two
  41. V
  42. Thirty-Three
  43. Thirty-Four
  44. Thirty-Five
  45. VI
  46. Thirty-Six
  47. Thirty-Seven
  48. 1948-1949
  49. VII
  50. Thirty-Eight
  51. Thirty-Nine
  52. Forty
  53. VIII
  54. Forty-One
  55. Forty-Two
  56. Forty-Three
  57. IX
  58. Forty-Four
  59. Forty-Five
  60. Forty-Six
  61. X
  62. Forty-Seven
  63. Forty-Eight
  64. Forty-Nine
  65. Fifty
  66. Fifty-One
  67. Fifty-Two
  68. Fifty-Three
  69. Fifty-Four
  70. XI
  71. Fifty-Five
  72. Fifty-Six
  73. XII
  74. Fifty-Seven
  75. Fifty-Eight
  76. XIII
  77. Fifty-Nine
  78. XIV
  79. Sixty
  80. XV
  81. Sixty-One
  82. Sixty-Two
  83. 1953
  84. All the Days of Our Lives

The evening passed happily round the fire, talking, drinking and eating Christmas cake. Everyone took it in turns to play with Michael. Katie had given him half a dozen Dinky cars, which he found endless fun in roaring around the floor with. Marek played the piano and after a while called to Agnieska and Piotr to dance, so they got up and showed the others some Polish dance steps. Katie was struck by the seriousness with which they danced. She was sure if it had been her she would have collapsed into giggles. Edna and Susan clapped their hands to the music, loving it all, and when Katie’s eyes met Sybil’s – she had passed round a bottle of port and was still nursing her thimbleful– Sybil gave her a wink. Her lips were turned up, and Katie could see she was relishing it all. Katie watched Marek as he played the jaunty dance tune on the piano. She longed to go and kiss the back of his neck. She was so enjoying this evening too, but at the same time how she longed to be alone with him, so that they could look deep into each other’s eyes and talk and talk.

Fifty-Eight

By ten o’clock everyone was flagging. Katie had carried an overtired Michael up to bed, and now the Arbuckles said they would be off. Agnieska immediately said she would go too.

‘You don’t have to,’ Edna said.

‘No – we don’t want to break it up!’ said Susan. ‘You stay with your brother, if you want to.’

‘I like to go to sleep,’ Agnieska told them, and she did indeed look exhausted. ‘Goodnight – and thank you so much!’

Katie was touched by the fact that Agnieska leaned down and kissed her cheek after hugging her brother and Piotr.

‘Oh – goodnight. I hope you sleep well,’ Katie said. ‘And happy Christmas!’ She was already very fond of Agnieska.

‘Time for me to hit the hay as well, I think,’ Sybil said, after all the thank-yous and departures. ‘You can stay down here, if you like – put another log on the fire. But I’m all in.’ Sybil was sagging. For the first time, almost, Katie took in that she was quite elderly. Even with her rheumatism she seemed to get so much done normally.

‘Thank you for a lovely day, ‘Katie said, kissing her cheek. ‘This is the nicest Christmas I’ve ever had.’

‘Oh . . .’ Sybil brushed off the thanks. ‘Well, I’m glad. Pleasure. Right – goodnight all. Happy Christmas to you again.’

‘Thank you, Miss Routh – Happy Christmas!’ Marek and Piotr called to her. ‘Thank you!’

It went quiet suddenly, as if all the energy had gone. Marek reached for a log and threw it into the flames, where it crackled, sparks whirling up the chimney.

Piotr sat back and stretched, arms above his head, giving a huge yawn. ‘I go to bed. I’m sleeping already.’