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Back Wintering Save as PDF
Chapters (49)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Notice
  4. Dedication
  5. 1. “Morning Song”
  6. 2. “The Couriers”
  7. 3. “The Rabbit Catcher”
  8. 4. “Thalidomide”
  9. 5. “The Applicant”
  10. 6. “Barren Woman”
  11. 7. “Lady Lazarus”
  12. 8. “Tulips”
  13. 9. “A Secret”
  14. 10. “The Jailor”
  15. 11. “Cut”
  16. 12. “Elm”
  17. 13. “The Night Dances”
  18. 14. “The Detective”
  19. 15. “Ariel”
  20. 16. “Death & Co.”
  21. 17. “Magi”
  22. 18. “Lesbos”
  23. 19. “The Other”
  24. 20. “Stopped Dead”
  25. 21. “Poppies in October”
  26. 22. “The Courage of Shutting-Up”
  27. 23. “Nick and the Candlestick”
  28. 24. “Berck-Plage”
  29. 25. “Gulliver”
  30. 26. “Getting There”
  31. 27. “Medusa”
  32. 28. “Purdah”
  33. 29. “The Moon and the Yew Tree”
  34. 30. “A Birthday Present”
  35. 31. “Letter in November”
  36. 32. “Amnesiac”
  37. 33. “The Rival”
  38. 34. “Daddy”
  39. 35. “You’re”
  40. 36. “Fever 103°”
  41. 37. “The Bee Meeting”
  42. 38. “The Arrival of the Bee Box”
  43. 39. “Stings”
  44. 40. “The Swarm”
  45. 41. “Wintering”
  46. Postscript
  47. Author’s Note
  48. Acknowledgments and Permissions
  49. Also by Kate Moses

On the garden path, under a few rash stars and bare trees, stood Ted and the bank manager’s sixteen year old, toeing the cobblestones and flushing, their faces lit like stunned deer in the sudden light of the open front door, caught in this backwater’s envisaged fertility rite.

“How do you know what, Nicola?” Sylvia interrupted, brandishing her baby. Thick-legged Nicola, her arms full of Ted’s record albums, back against the budding branches of the laburnum. Cuffed anklets and a polka-dot head scarf, a baby blue mac à la Brigitte Bardot by way of England’s dairyland. “How does he know that the secretary sleeps clenching her ‘buttocks tight,’ is that it?”

“Sylvia,” Ted pleaded.

She glared at Ted. “You’re very late. The workmen were here until supper. I needed help with our children.”

Nicola’s face was ghostly. She hugged the albums to her chest.

“You can let your mother know she needn’t send you to escort Mr. Hughes home, Nicola,” Sylvia said icily.

“Nicola was hoping to borrow some LPs during her Easter break, Sylvia. I offered,” Ted appealed, his voice cautious and measured.

“That’s fine,” Sylvia answered carefully, staring them both down. “Take them all. Keep them as long as you like. We’re expecting company, and we really can’t be bothered again. Mr. Hughes has a great deal of writing to do. We both have a great deal to do.”

Hesitantly, Nicola began to offer the albums she’d brought to return.

“Just keep them. Keep those, too,” Sylvia said, shielding the back of the baby’s head from the drafty doorway with his blanket.

“But these are the Beethoven records that Daddy borrowed,” Nicola protested, holding them out. “Mr. Hughes—”

“It’s fine,” Sylvia snapped. “Just take them back with you. I’m going to save Mr. Hughes from himself. Believe me, he’ll thank me later for the sacrifice.”

“It’s fine, Nicola,” Ted said quietly. “Why don’t I help you with the records. Sylvia needs to get Baby Nick out of this damp.”

“I’m going to my study,” Sylvia corrected him. “I’ve got work to do.”

27. “Medusa”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“Medusa”

DECEMBER 21, 1962

LONDON