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Katy blushed as the older woman held out her hand, laughing. 'Yes, isn't she? Hello, Katy, I'm Claire Underwood. Take no notice of Toby, you'll soon get used to him. He always says exactly what he thinks.' She looked at Sean. 'Are you going to join us for tea, or are you in a hurry to get up to Raikeside Lodge?'

He looked at his watch. 'I think I'd better go,' he said. 'I told Kenzie I'd be there for tea and you know how she fusses if she doesn't get off in time for her husband coming home. I don't want to get into her bad books this early.'

He deposited Katy's case on the step and got back into the car. Suddenly she knew a moment of panic. He was going—leaving her with a houseful of strangers in lovely but alien surroundings. But she swallowed the feeling of desolation, lifting her arm to wave to him as he drove away.

'Bye—see you tomorrow!' he called. 'Don't forget that picnic, Toby. I'll ask Kenzie if she'll make us some of her famous treacle scones, shall I?' And a moment later the yellow car was lost to view among the trees.

Claire Underwood slipped an arm around Katy's shoulders. 'I expect you're feeling a bit strange,' she said perceptively. 'I'll show you to your room and you can unpack and have a wash, then we'll have tea and you can meet Jake, my husband.' She smiled reassuringly. 'We're very informal here—no need to stand on ceremony.'

Toby ran ahead of them up the stairs. 'Can I show Katy her room? It's next to mine,' he told her. 'Can you play cricket, Katy? Can you make up stories?'

'You must allow Katy to settle in before you begin bombarding her with your demands,' Claire admonished.

The inside of the house was as lovely as its exterior. The front door opened on to a large square hall which doubled as a dining-room. An open staircase went up to a gallery off which led two rooms one of which Claire told her was the main bedroom, whilst the other was Jake's study. Katy heard the staccato tapping of a typewriter as they passed and Claire said:

'He works better here than anywhere else we've been. We're so grateful to Sean for bringing this place to our notice. We used to come up to Raikeside Lodge to spend holidays with his grandfather and the peace and quiet is out of this world.' She looked anxiously at Katy. 'I do hope it won't be dull for you. There isn't much amusement except what we make for ourselves.'

Katy shook her head. 'I'm sure it could never be dull with Toby around. Anyway, I've never been to Yorkshire before and I'm looking forward to exploring.'

'Exploring! Exploring! We're going exploring!' Toby sang as he threw open a door at the end of the corridor. 'This is your room, Katy. Do you want me to help you unpack?'

'Indeed she doesn't, young man!' Claire said severely. 'She wants to have a little peace and quiet to collect herself. You can come up and tell her when tea is ready but right now you're coming downstairs with me!' She grinned at Katy. 'You'll find you have to be very firm with him. Don't let those huge innocent eyes fool you.' She pointed to a door on the far side of the room. 'That's your bathroom. I'm afraid you have to share it with Toby but I don't think you'll find that too much of a problem. His main aim in life seems to be to spend as little time in close contact with water as possible.' She laughed and ruffled Toby's dark hair. 'Come on, you grubby little beast. Let Katy have five minutes to herself, then she's all yours—God help her!'

When they had gone Katy stood looking round the pleasant room. A rose-pink carpet covered the floor and the white walls were plain except for two water-colour landscapes that hung above the bed. Curtains of rose-sprigged material hung at the window and the big brass bed was prettily flounced and covered by a pale pink duvet. She went to the window and opened it, leaning out to breathe the sparkling, peat-scented air. A panorama of rising moorland stretched as far as she could see. Rabbits played quite openly on the tussocky grass whilst the sheep and their new lambs grazed serenely. She sighed. It was all so idyllic. Surely she should be able to come to some decision about her future here. Toby seemed lively enough. Not at all true to the image she had formed of a pale, wan little invalid, but as vital and full of mischief as any other little boy.

She had just finished putting away the last of her clothes in the roomy wardrobe when there was a tap on the door and Toby's voice said, 'Tea's ready, Katy.'

She opened the door and he looked admiringly at the cool green cotton dress she had changed into.

'You look nice,' he said. 'Just like a—' He screwed up his face in concentration. 'What are those flowers called?'

'A marigold?' she asked wryly.

He grinned. 'That's it. How did you know?'

She laughed and ruffled his hair. 'I've heard it before somewhere,' she told him, closing the door. 'Come on now, or you'll get us both into trouble for being late.'

The Underwoods were having tea in the drawing-room which looked on to the garden. Long windows opened on to a sheltered patio formed by the 'L' angle of the house. Claire stood up and held out her hand.

'Katy—that's better, you look refreshed. Come and meet my husband. Jake, this is Katy Lang.'

He wasn't at all what she imagined a best-selling author to look like. Tall and thin, perhaps ten years older than his wife, Jake uncoiled himself from his chair and offered her his hand. He wore shabby jeans and a sweater and his brown hair and beard badly needed a trim.

'Hello, Katy.' Dark eyes like Toby's smiled down into hers as he shook her hand warmly. 'I hope you'll be happy here and that you don't find us too overwhelming. We're a pretty bizarre lot, I'm afraid.'

'I'm sure I shall love it,' she said, warming to him. 'May I say how much I enjoyed
Devil's Country
? I'm so looking forward to reading the sequel.'

He smiled. 'I shall see to it that you have a signed copy. It's the least I can do—after all it'll be largely due to you that it gets written at all.' Katy looked puzzled and he explained, 'My publisher has given me a terrifying deadline and this young fellow has to be entertained. I can't do it till I'm finished— so—' He spread his hands and Katy nodded, latching on immediately to his message that this was the story Toby had been told to explain her presence.

After tea Jake went back to his study to work until dinner and Claire and Toby took her on a tour of the garden.

'Jake would work until he dropped if I let him,' Claire confided as Toby ran on ahead. 'Once he's worked his way inside a novel nothing else exists for him. Did you see that terrible old sweater he was wearing? He puts on the first thing that comes to hand when he gets up in the morning and I practically have to tear it off him to get it washed and mended! Mind you—' she grimaced. 'It's quite a different story when things aren't going well. Then he haunts the house like a ghost—muttering to himself, all irritable and moody.'

Katy shook her head. 'It must make life difficult at times.'

Claire smiled. 'I wouldn't have him any other way. At least life is never dull.'

They were standing at the water's edge, under the willow trees. Suddenly Claire looked at her and asked, 'How long have you known Sean?'

The question was so unexpected that Katy found a tell-tale blush staining her cheeks. 'Oh—some time,' she said. 'He's been at St Anne's for about two years. I've been there for three.'

Claire nodded. 'I hope you don't mind, but he told me about your exam failure. I'm sorry, it was bad luck,' she said frankly. 'But it seems we have that failure to thank for your being here, so it's an ill wind. I hope you do decide to go back and try again—I know Sean does too.'

Katy shrugged. 'I don't see how it can matter to Sean what I do,' she said.

Claire looked surprised. 'Oh—but I'm sure it does. He thinks very highly of you. He wouldn't have asked you to come to us if he didn't. He and Jake have been friends for a long time.'

Katy bit her lip. 'Oh no—I didn't mean—' But Claire laid a hand on her arm.

'I think I understand, my dear. Sean cart be thoughtless at times, but there's a very sincere man and a dedicated doctor under that playboy image he shows to the world.'

Back in the house Claire sent Toby off to the kitchen with a message for the cook whilst she took Katy up to his room. Taking a key from a high shelf she opened a cupboard.

'This is where I put all the things that Sean supplied us with,' she said. 'They look so grim. I didn't want Toby to see them and be frightened. Once these attacks of his pass off he seems to forget all about them and I don't want him to have constant reminders staring him in the face.'

In the cupboard there was an oxygen cylinder and mask, the peak-flow meter and chart Sean had explained that he wanted her to use each day and a pile of extra pillows. Katy took the key from Claire and slipped it into her pocket.

'He may appear to have forgotten all about his asthma but I doubt very much if he has,' she said. 'And once he knows what these things are for they could make him feel more secure. Sean wants us to use the peak-flow meter every night and morning so Toby will have to get used to that anyway.'

Claire smiled. 'I never looked at it in that way. Now I come to think of it I suppose it could be a comfort to him to know that help is near if he needs it.' She sighed. 'Of course it has been reassuring to have negative results on all the tests that Sean has arranged so far but Jake and I would give anything to know the cause of these cruel attacks—and why Toby's asthma suddenly returned.'

'It's often very difficult to pin down,' Katy told her. 'But I'm sure that if anyone can do it, Sean can—and of course I'll help all I can.'

After Claire had gone Katy opened the communicating door between her room and Toby's, so that he could wander in if he wanted to, then she began to arrange her belongings around the room. She was just sitting Arnold in his customary place on the pillow when she looked up to see Toby standing hesitantly in the doorway.

'You can come in if you like,' she told him.

He came in, looking round eagerly at her collection of china animals, then he turned to the bed.

'You've still got a teddy!'

'Of course,' she said. 'I couldn't go anywhere without him. He's as old as I am and his name is Arnold. Do you like him?'

He nodded thoughtfully. 'I thought that people over the age of six weren't allowed teddies. I had one once but when I went away to school I wasn't allowed to take him. When I came home he'd gone.'

'Oh—what a shame.' Privately Katy wondered what unimaginative person had done that. Aloud she said: 'Well, I wouldn't like to be without mine. I'm glad he didn't go away.' She sat down on the bed and Toby joined her, his thin little legs sticking straight out in front of him. She picked up Arnold and gave him to the little boy.

'Shall I tell you a secret that I've never told anyone else?' she whispered.

He looked up eagerly. 'Yes please.'

'Well, when I was your age I couldn't say my prayers without hugging Arnold. I used to think he was like a sort of telephone to God and that he could help all my dreams to come true.'

'And do you still think that?' He stared solemnly at her.

She shook her head. 'No. I know now that if you want something very badly and you keep trying hard there's a good chance that you'll get it in the end. But it does help sometimes to have someone like Arnold to hang on to.' She looked at Toby as he sat there wistfully stroking the almost threadbare teddy. 'Poor Arnold. I've loved almost all his fur off over the years. Tell you what—would you like him to live in your room while I'm here?'

He looked up at her in amazement. 'Could he really? Don't you mind?'

She laughed. 'Not at all. I can tell he likes you.'

Dinner was a relaxed meal at which Toby joined them, dressed in his dressing-gown, ready for bed. As soon as it was over Claire insisted that he went up and Katy accompanied him, tucking Arnold in beside him and promising that they'd be up bright and early next morning ready for the picnic with Sean.

Downstairs in the dining-room Claire was playing the grand piano that stood in the corner by the large open fireplace. She played well, her fingers rippling over the keys in melodies from recent hit musicals. Katy sat down quietly in a corner to listen. Jake sat by the window, scribbling in a notebook, and suddenly he looked up and suggested some Chopin. Immediately Claire began to play the Minute Waltz and Katy was riveted by her skill.

As the last notes died away she was about to make a congratulatory remark when another sound caught her attention, making her look up. At the top of the stairs a small figure in a dressing-gown stood looking down at them, white faced and shaking with the paroxysms of coughing he was unable to control. As he fought for breath Toby clutched at the banister rails. Katy took the stairs two at a time, Jake and Claire following.

'He has an inhaler,' Claire said as they reached the landing. 'It's in the drawer of his bedside table.'

Katy scooped the little boy up in her arms and carried him to his room. She found the inhaler and helped him to use it, propping extra pillows behind him on the bed. Holding his hand tightly she reassured him smilingly.

'That's right, Toby. Try to breathe deeply and relax. It'll be all right in a minute.'

'Do you need the oxygen?' Jake asked anxiously, but Katy shook her head.

'I don't think so—not this time.'

Slowly Toby's spasm left him. The anxiety in the dark eyes lessened and Katy noticed the muscles around his neck relax. She motioned to Jake and Claire who were hovering nervously in the doorway that the crisis was over, then she went to the cupboard and fetched the peak-flow meter and chart. This seemed as good a moment as any to explain its use to Toby.

'This is a kind of game your Uncle Sean wants us to play each night and morning,' she said. 'It's a good game because it tells us when one of your nasty turns is likely to occur so that he can do something to help stop them.' She showed him the meter with its circular dial and mouthpiece. 'See— you blow in here and the dial shows us just how hard you are able to push the air out, then we have to write it down on this chart.' She smiled at him. 'Shall we have a go with it now?'