Well, a good four years had past since then, and now, despite her best efforts, Matilda had grown to be almost eleven years old. And more than that had changed - her good-at-growing-up sibling were all married, every single one! And with children! Oh, Robert had a baby, and Cecilia was pregnant for the first time, and Georgia had married a tall man called John, with green eyes, who was very nice to children, which was lucky as his wife already had nearly two nephews.

One of the best things about John, in dear Matilda's opinion, is that he knew exactly what to do at a market-place. They'd gone to one that sold plenty of bits and bobs, which had reopened for the first time after the war, and here John, Georgia and Mother were looking at a stall that sold all sorts of things made from glass.

'Oh, look, Matilda! A peppermint-box.'

'Mother, isn't this crystal butterfly a treasure?'

'It's only glass, Georgia.'

'But it would suit our new living room...'

But Matilda, once she'd looked at everything, found a magnifying glass just in the corner, not far from Georgia's glass butterfly. It was definitely from before the War, or even from the war before the War. You could tell it was old because it had a slightly rusty, bronze handle, and had something faintly scratched on it... DAR (followed by something indistinct and rusty) NG. DARNG. Dar-something-ng.

How queer.

'Look, John!' said Matilda.

'Ah,' John said wisely. 'It appears you've found a magnifying glass. A Darling Magnifying Glass. These were very popular about fifty years ago. They were made by a bloke called Michael Darling. He made a fortune, but they've lost their popularity now. Not worth a penny.'

'I want it,' Matilda said definitely.

'Now, Matilda, there's no need.' Georgia warned. She had looked at the price tag, and it rather alarmed her.

'I can get it cheaper for her, if you like,' whispered John. Then he turned to the shop-seller and said:

'This isn't worth so much. It's rusty and bent, you know. Not a soul in their right mind would buy it. I'll give you fifty shillings.'

The man was satisfied, so John paid and Matilda was the proud owner of her new magnifying glass, by Michael Darling.

The magnifying glass wouldn't help her a jot for another month, though, and this is what happened then:

It was the first day of Winter, and that marked the day on which Bryony Sainsbury had fallen asleep. On the first day of Winter, the entire family would hobble along, dressed in warm clothes, armed with a white lily each to plant over Bryony's resting-place, and when they came back, Mother would be very quiet and go to bed very early.

And so, Mother was in her bed, Father was downstairs chatting with Georgia and John was reading the paper in a mournful way. Matilda was making a paper lantern to send out, in case Bryony wanted to come back.

She never seemed to, because the lantern would always go ignored.

And this evening, she finished making the lantern and was sending it off when —

'I don't understand why you're always sending those out the window,' a cheerful voice called out. 'I never need them anyway. I know the sky off by heart.'

But where did it come from?

'I'm sending it incase she wants to come back,' explained Matilda. 'Bryony, I mean, my sister.'

And suddenly, in he flew!

A boy clad in a tunic of spring leaves,

his smile wide

and he had big blonde curls,

and big gay eyes!