Last time their going had been nothing to her. Today she could hardly
bear it. She wondered why.

She turned and found little Anne standing beside her. They moved
suddenly apart. Each had seen the other's tears.


xiii

Outside Colin's window the tree rocked in the wind. A branch brushed
backwards and forwards, it tapped on the pane. Its black shadow shook on
the grey, moonlit wall.

Jerrold's empty bed showed white and dreadful in the moonlight, covered
with a sheet. Colin was frightened.

A narrow passage divided his room from Anne's. The doors stood open. He
called "Anne! Anne!"

A light thud on the floor of Anne's room, then the soft padding of naked
feet, and Anne stood beside him in her white nightgown. Her hair rose in
a black ruff round her head, her eyes were very black in the sharp
whiteness of her face.

"Are you frightened, Colin?"

"No. I'm not exactly frightened, but I think there's something there."

"It's nothing. Only the tree."