‘Ben, I miss Maggie.’ Kitty was watching Ben scythe the grass on the front lawn, an art he had perfected and greatly enjoyed doing.

‘Do you, little ’un? Well, that’s understandable. You spent a lot o’ time together, even if she was a pain for most of it.’ He laid down the scythe and swiped his forearm across his sweating forehead. It had taken him a long time to persuade Tom to let him learn to scythe. Tom had felt he was too young to be trusted with such a dangerous tool but Ben had proved him wrong and was now almost as proficient as Tom was at the job.

If truth be told, Ben missed Maggie too. She’d been an annoying little chit for the majority of the time but she had possessed some saving graces. Her leaving had also brought home to him how vulnerable they all were. He regarded Treetops as his home, but when the Daweses had taken Maggie away it came to him that he and the rest of the youngsters there were merely being cared for by Tom and Sunday. They weren’t really his family, so who was to say that someone wouldn’t come along and offer to give him a home? Would he be allowed to refuse? He knew that now he was growing bigger and stronger he might be an asset to a farmer, and if truth be told he wasn’t averse to working on a farm. He loved being outdoors in the fresh air, yet the thought of leaving Sunday and Tom, who were the closest to a family he had ever had, filled him with dread. Of course, he would have to leave Treetops one day and make his own way in the world, but for now he preferred not to think of it.

‘Perhaps we could ask Sunday or Tom if they could arrange for you to visit Maggie? Or perhaps she could come here to see us?’ he suggested then, seeing Kitty’s dejected little face.

Because they were all aware that she was missing Maggie, they had spoiled her, and it was beginning to show a little in her attitude. Kitty had finally realised just how very pretty she was and was now extremely good at using her looks to get what she wanted. A little pout or the glimmer of a tear in her eye could have Sunday jumping to please her, a fact that worried Tom slightly, as Ben was aware. Only the day before, he had overheard Tom telling her, ‘You’re over-indulging that child, pet, and it’s not doing her a bit o’ good.’

Shame-faced, she had nodded. ‘I suppose I do spoil her a little,’ she’d admitted. ‘But now that you’ve pointed it out, I shall stop.’

Ben didn’t think there was much chance of that happening and now he lifted the scythe to resume his work, saying, ‘Off you go then. This is very sharp and I wouldn’t like you to get hurt.’