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to replace them. In fact, I like these new ones so much I will take them with me to Susie’s house and wear them all afternoon.’

      ‘Good,’ Sally said with a large grin on her face. ‘But hadn’t we better be making our way to Mass now, or we’ll be late.’

      ‘Oh, yes,’ Kate said. ‘You’re right, and it might be hard to hurry because I think it’s quite icy out there.’

      It was. The cold was the sort that almost burnt the back of the throat and the frost sparkled and crunched underfoot, and they linked arms for greater warmth. The streets were quiet and the only ones out were people like themselves making their way to a church of some kind. Many of them greeted the two girls as they walked past.

      When they had gone a little way, Sally, her voice slightly muffled because of the scarf wrapped around her mouth, said to Kate, ‘So, who were the flowers from?’

      ‘Tell you later; too cold now,’ Kate said, puffs of white spilling from her mouth as she spoke.

      ‘That’s not fair,’ Sally protested. ‘When I got in last night, they were sitting there in the vase and there was no sign of you. And when you did come in you said you were too tired to discuss it. Then this morning when I asked again you said we haven’t time. So, what’s the big mystery?’

      Kate looked down at her younger sister and decided she might as well know. It wasn’t as if she was doing anything wrong. ‘They were from a friend,’ she said.

      ‘I guessed that much,’ Sally said with a grin. ‘Not many enemies would give you a bunch of flowers.’ And then she put her head on one side and asked in mock innocence, ‘Was he male, this friend?’ Then she exclaimed, ‘Oh, Kate, he must have been because you’ve gone all red.’

      ‘No, I haven’t,’ Kate protested. ‘That’s just the cold reddening my cheeks, and, yes, Sally, a male friend gave me the flowers. His name is David Burton, and last night he took me to the pantomime.’

      ‘Thank heaven for that,’ Sally said. ‘I thought you were turning into a right old maid.’

      ‘Whatever gave you that idea?’

      ‘Well,’ said Sally, ‘in your letters home you told us of all the things you and Susie got up to and all the places you went to. Never once did you mention any men you might have met, never mind go out with. And since I have been here it’s been the same.’

      ‘Maybe I’m choosy,’ Kate said. ‘And don’t go out with the first man who asks me.’

      ‘Is that a jibe at me and Phil?’

      ‘Not especially, no.’

      ‘Because I do like him, you know,’ Sally said. ‘I didn’t just go out with him because he asked me. Anyway, what’s this David like?’

      Kate shrugged, ‘He’s just ordinary, I suppose.’

      ‘Oh, Kate,’ Sally cried in exasperation. ‘Talking to you is like pulling teeth. Is he short or tall? Fat or thin? And what colour are his eyes, his hair? Go on,’ she demanded. ‘Describe him to me.’

      ‘Don’t see why I should,’ Kate said with a smile, ‘or why you are so interested; but I suppose he is quite tall, certainly a head taller than me and on the lean side. His hair is sort of, almost light brown, though he said that it was pure blond when he was a boy and it has darkened since he grew up.’

      ‘And his eyes?’

      ‘Oh, they are really deep brown.’

      ‘And is he a good kisser?’ Sally asked. ‘What are his lips like?’

      ‘Sally, what a question to ask!’ Kate said, clearly shocked.

      ‘Why?’ Sally asked. ‘You did kiss him I suppose?’

      Kate wondered if the chaste peck on the cheek that she allowed David counted and thought not, and so her answer to Sally was, ‘That is none of your business and something we shouldn’t be talking about on our way to Mass on Christmas morning.’

      Sally smiled to herself, but said nothing more. She didn’t want to risk Kate being in a bad mood, because after they’d eaten dinner with Susie and her family she had agreed to meet Phil. And then, after spending the afternoon together, she was having tea at his mother’s house. She wasn’t at all sure how Kate would react to the news.

      Kate wasn’t at all impressed with Sally’s plans and told her so as they walked to Susie’s later. ‘I don’t see what’s the matter with it.’ Sally said, genuinely puzzled. ‘Or why you should be in such a tizzy.’

      ‘I think it is most incredibly rude and I don’t understand why you can’t see that for yourself.’

      ‘Well, I can’t,’ Sally said. ‘And I don’t think Susie will. Or her parents, if they are anything like her. It’s all right for you and Susie. You will have two more days to spend with your boyfriends if you want to. Both Phillip and I are back at work tomorrow.’

      Kate knew that Sally had a point. Because Christmas Eve and Christmas Day had fallen on a Saturday and Sunday, and as they were days they wouldn’t have been at work anyway, they had Monday and Tuesday off in lieu. However, the cinemas were opening again the following day, so Sally was only off work on Christmas Day itself. Ignoring the reference to David being her boyfriend, Kate said, ‘All right, I see that you have a point there. But do you think it sensible to go to Phillip’s for tea and meet his parents and everything? I mean, you don’t know him that well and isn’t it quite a formal thing to do, as if you had some sort of understanding.’

      ‘Phillip wants me to meet his mother,’ Sally said. ‘They only live in Bleak Hill and that leads off Marsh Hill, so it’s no distance from the Masons’.’

      ‘What about Phil’s father?’ Kate snapped. ‘Doesn’t he want to meet you too?’

      ‘Well, he might,’ Sally said with a slight shrug, ‘but that would be difficult because he died when Phillip was only small. Apparently, he had two brothers and a sister and they all died of TB as children – and then his father died of the same thing. It was only Phil, the baby, who survived.’

      ‘Sorry, Sally,’ Kate said. ‘Phil’s mother must have suffered greatly.’

      ‘I’m sure she did,’ Sally said. ‘And Phil is very protective of her because it has been just the two of them for years and he doesn’t want to leave his mother alone all Christmas Day. He has told her all about me and she says she’d like to meet me, so he thought Christmas afternoon might be a good time.’

      ‘Yes, I see all that,’ Kate said. ‘And it is a nice thought, but in a way it does put things on a more formal footing. Surely you can see that? You are really too young for that kind of commitment.’

      Sally shook her head. ‘I don’t think either of them sees any more significance in it than me just going for tea on Christmas Day,’ she said. ‘Maybe it’s different in Birmingham. I mean, Dulcie, who is only a year older than me, is dating a boy from the next street, and the families have known each other for ever. She was in and out of the house all the time anyway as she was best friends with the daughter long before she was of an age to date her older brother.’

      ‘Yes, but it isn’t the same for you, is it?’ Kate said. ‘And his mother could well be possessive with Phillip being her only son and that.’

      Sally nodded. ‘I worked that out too and in a way it’s understandable,’ she said. ‘And it will still be nice to meet her because Phillip talks about her a lot. Anyway, I’ve told Phil I would go and so I am going, Kate, whether you approve or not, and regardless too of how Susie feels about it.’ She hesitated for a moment and then added, ‘I bet she won’t mind, though, but to tell you the truth I am a bit nervous of having dinner with the Masons because I don’t know any of them except Susie. I know she has two brothers, but I’ve never seen them – not that I know of, anyway.’

      ‘Yes,

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