Let’s play.’

‘Play what?’

‘There’s a boat,’ said Ada excitedly, ‘a boat caught in a storm. Can you hear it? The wind is blowing. The waves are crashing.’

‘Yes! And we’re pirates,’ shouted Ben, jumping up and down on the floor of the trunk, making it creak and groan like the hull of a ship in distress. ‘Ship ahoy! Raise the jib, the topsail and the flag! I see land! Land! Land!’

They were happy now. The cold draught that fell against their shoulders was the frosty breath of an iceberg they’d only just missed in the darkness; the creak of the boards, the rags, even the hunger that gnawed at them, all that was no longer reality, but a story, an adventure, a dream. Outside, the screams, the cries for help, the din, the storm sweeping through the old street, they all became the crashing of waves, the roar of the wind, and delighted, they strained to hear the mournful sound of the bells, fragments of prayers that rose towards them as if from some faraway shore.

They reached the height of joy when Ben found in his pocket a box of matches and a piece of a candle, along with a ball of thick string, some bits of bread, a whistle and two nuts he’d forgotten about.

They shared the nuts; they came from the Christmas tree. They were painted gold on the outside, but inside they were dry and bitter. They lit their candle and set it on the edge of the trunk; the tiny little flame that fluttered in the cold air made the attic seem even more like a fantastical world, dark and mysterious, half vision, half game. And so the night passed. Outside, the noise seemed to quieten down, at last. The children, overcome from shouting, from hunger, from the strangeness of it all, suddenly dropped down into the trunk and fell fast asleep.

8

Very early the next morning, the door was opened by Aunt Raissa. At first, she couldn’t see the children; she looked anxiously around for them, letting out a cry when they suddenly emerged from the trunk, their clothes all crumpled and dirty, their hair grey with dust. She took hold of their arms and pulled them out of their hiding place.

‘You’re going to stay with some friends of Lilla,’ she said. ‘There’s no one in the streets now. It’s safe to go. You’ll sleep there, for one or two nights, maybe.’

The children, half asleep, followed her downstairs. Their hands and feet were frozen. Their bodies felt heavy and painful. They rubbed their little dirt-streaked faces and tried, without success, to force open their eyes: their heavy, burning eyelids shut again almost immediately.

It wasn’t until they’d gone past the kitchen that they woke up.

‘Can’t we have something to eat?’

‘You’ll eat when you get to Lilla’s.’

‘But why?’

‘We didn’t light the fire this morning.’

‘Why not?’

Aunt Raissa didn’t reply, but while they were getting dressed, she gave them a bit of black bread she’d brought for them. She took it out of a package that also had some clothes in it.

‘There’s a shirt and a pair of socks for each of you, just in case . . . it goes on for longer . . .’

‘Longer than what?’

‘Be quiet, Ada! Longer than we think.’

‘What do they want to do to us?’

‘Nothing. Be quiet.’

‘Well, why do we have to go then?’

‘Will you shut up, you idiot?’ hissed Aunt Raissa, shaking her son by the shoulder.

She cautiously opened the front door. Nastasia was waiting outside.

‘Go now, quickly!’

She walked a little way with them. Never had they seen her go out like this, with no hat or coat; it was bitterly cold. Her face was deathly pale and the corners of her mouth were turning blue. For the first time in his life, Ben took his mother’s hand and looked at her lovingly.

‘Come with us, Mama.’

‘I can’t. I have to help look after Ada’s grandfather.’

‘What did they do to him?’ asked Ben, as Ada turned pale and looked down at the ground. She didn’t know why, but she was afraid to hear the answer.

‘Nothing,’ replied Aunt Raissa, ‘but they threw all his work into the fire. He’s beside himself now.’

‘But why? How silly,’ said Ben, laughing. ‘If they’d thrown him in the fire, I’d understand, but some old papers!’

‘Shut up!’ Ada suddenly shouted, tears streaming down her face.