my rucksack over my shoulder. The second door led into the hall which had a fireplace and also a door to a small flat. Mum and the lodger Helen stood talking in the hallway. We had inherited Helen when we took over the house from Grandpa and Grandma. Aunt Audrey and Uncle Noah had moved into our house at Høvik at the same time. Mum smiled and winked at me in the middle of the conversation. – But you couldn’t have known, she said, sucking her little finger. – I ought to have realised, I ought to have taken that chance, Helen snuffled. She was secretary for a film company, about 30 years old, very ladylike, well dressed, curly hair, earrings, sort of proper. The two women resembled each other, though Mum was nearer 40. – Maybe, maybe not, Mum said rather offhand. I slipped by into the stairwell having noticed that I had grown as tall as them during the summer. There was a built-in bench at the bottom of the stairs, and brass hooks with padded clothes hangers on the wall. We children had our own cloakroom in the adjourning laundry room. I felt that I was actually too big for the wire netting shelves for drying wet mittens and socks and the three hooks fixed low on the wall. I hung my jacket there nevertheless. – You took a chance, Helen said. Mum laughed. – So true, I certainly did. – Your husband would not have taken no for an answer. 21
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