When they’d finished the omelette they had gooseberry pie and then finally cream crackers and cheese; a lovely soft goat’s-milk cheese which Ivy had made early that morning.

‘Now, to finish off, have a piece of cake,’ she said, and although Nab and Beth were full to bursting they were unable to resist the rich dark chocolate cake that Ivy pushed towards them.

‘Just a little slice,’ said Beth. ‘We’re really only being greedy.’ ‘No. You mustn’t say that. It may be a long time before you’re able to eat properly again. This will have to last you.’

‘Well, it was delicious,’said the girl, taking a bite of the cake. How she had enjoyed the evening! She wished with all her heart that they could stay here with these two warm and gentle old people in this beautiful little house. It had been like a dream from which she never wanted to wake. She looked at Nab sitting next to her with a smile all over his face and his big dark eyes twinkling with laughter in the candlelight and knew that he too would have liked to stay. Then Jim asked the question she had been afraid to ask herself all night.

‘When will you have to be leaving, Beth? You know that you’re welcome to stay for as long as you want but we don’t want to hold you or keep you.’

She turned and spoke to Nab.

‘How do you feel now?’ he said.

‘A lot better,’ she answered reluctantly.

‘Well, I think we should leave in the morning. We’ll get a good night’s sleep and then leave at first light. We don’t know how far away the Urkku are and anyway I have a feeling that time is running out.’ He reached out and put his hand over hers. ‘I want to stay as well,’ he said, ‘but you know we can’t.’ He smiled at her tenderly, wishing that he could promise her that some day they would have a little home like this. ‘Perhaps…’ he started to say, but then stopped.

Beth turned back to the old couple.

‘We’ll have to go in the morning,’ she said.

‘Well, if you’re sure you’re up to it. You know best. I’ll make you some sandwiches.’

Beth laughed. ‘You’re very kind,’ she said. ‘That would be lovely.’ Now suddenly, the wine, the food and the warmth hit the exhausted bodies of Nab and Beth all at once and a great wave of tiredness engulfed them. The animals were still fast asleep around the fire and it was all Nab could do not to join them then and there, although he was unable to stifle a huge yawn.

Jim saw it and smiled. ‘You’re worn out,’ he said. ‘You must get to sleep now. We’ll be in here for a bit washing up and so on so you two had better sleep in our room at the back, where you hid this morning. We won’t disturb the animals. If they wake up we’ll see what we can find for them to eat. Otherwise we’ll leave something out.’

Wearily Nab and Beth pushed back their chairs and got up from the table. Then Beth, moved by a sudden impulse of affection, went round the table to where Ivy was sitting and, putting her arms around her neck, kissed her on the forehead.

‘Goodnight,’ she said, ‘and thank you, for a lovely day.’

Ivy looked up and her eyes were misty with tears.

‘Goodnight, dear,’ she said. ‘Sleep well.’

Then Jim got up and led them through into the bedroom. To her delight Beth saw a washbasin and towel in one corner of the room.

‘Can I have a wash?’ she said. ‘It’s a long time since I’ve used soap. Oh, and talcum powder. Do you think I could borrow some?’

‘Of course,’ Jim replied, chuckling. ‘Have a good sleep and I’ll see you in the morning. You must have some breakfast with us before you go.’

He went out and shut the door, leaving a candle on the chest of drawers next to the bed.

‘Come on,’ Beth said. ‘I’m going to teach you how to use soap and water.’

It felt strange washing in a basin instead of a stream or a pond; turning on taps for water and getting the strange foamy lather from the white block of soap. For Nab it was a series of new and exciting experiences and for Beth a poignant reminder of all that she had left behind; the smell of the soap, the feel of the towel on her face, the gurgle of the water as she pulled the plug out of the basin and the scent of the talcum powder. When she had finished washing, she went over to Ivy’s dressing table and, bracing herself, sat down on the little stool and looked in the mirror. What she saw surprised her. She had expected to be shocked and a little dismayed but instead she was strangely fascinated. Her hair hung in a great shock of curls down to her shoulders and looked fairer than she remembered it because it had been bleached by all the sun that summer, and her face was brown and weatherbeaten. But it was her eyes that really surprised her. They seemed much bigger and rounder than before and she saw in them what she had seen in Nab’s that very first time they had met, so long ago, down by the stream. They were indescribably clear and deep and she had the uncanny feeling that when she looked at them in the mirror, she was looking straight down into her own soul. But she saw more than that. Her eyes were those of a wild animal; full of energy, constantly alert, and with an innocence and purity that made them shine back at her from the mirror with such intensity that she sat riveted for so long that eventually Nab came over to her and put his face next to hers so that, to his delight, it too was reflected. They looked at their reflections in the mirror and smiled at them and then Nab pulled a funny face and Beth stuck out her tongue and they began to laugh.

There was a wooden-handled hairbrush on the dressing table top and Beth began brushing out all the tangles and curls and tousles in her hair while Nab watched entranced. It felt lovely to be using a brush again and she spent a long time running it slowly down her head from the top of the crown right down to the very ends of her hair. When she had finished she got up from the little stool and told Nab to sit on it.

‘It’s about time you had a brush through yours, ’ she said, laughing. 'You look as if you’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards.’

Nab marvelled at the confident way she handled all these hundreds of different human instruments and at all their many uses, taps, knives, forks, plates, towels, brushes: the list went on for ever and he tried to go through them all in his head while Beth brushed his hair but he soon became muddled and confused. It was all very complicated, he thought with amusement.

Finally she finished and, going over to the bed, Beth pulled back the sheets. Ivy had put them clean on that day and they were white and crisp and smelt of lavender. Slowly she got between them until, at last, she lay full length on the big soft bed and savoured to the full that delicious first moment of utter relaxation when the whole weight of her body was supported by the bed and she was able to let go of it completely. She closed her eyes and sighed; a long blissful sigh of happiness and contentment. Nab stood looking down at her. It had been a long time since they were able to relax together and he was enjoying the sight of her golden hair spread out on the white pillow and the look of perfect peace on her face.

When she opened her eyes and saw him still standing, she patted the bed beside her. ‘Come on,’ she said, ‘get in; it’s lovely.’

Carefully he copied what Beth had done and pulling back the sheets, gingerly climbed into the bed. At first as he sank into it he felt terribly unsafe and insecure as if he were lying on a bed of air and he lay tense and stiff, but after a minute or two he began to relax and by the time Beth leant over to blow the candle out he was fast asleep. She smiled to herself and gently kissed him on both his closed eyelids.

‘Goodnight, Nab,’ she said softly. ‘Sleep well,’ and, snuggling up with her arms around him, was soon lost in a deep and peaceful sleep.