Page 28 of The Christmas Book Hunt

June screwed up her face. ‘When Mr Sutherland died ... Oh, my dear, it was a terrible thing. Violet just cried and cried and cried. And I cried too, so much. It was like losing a second daddy. And then of course I lost Violet too. They had to leave their house.’

Her eyes misted over.

‘It was so common,’ she said, ‘but it was still just as awful. No babby should ever lose a parent in a war.’

‘No,’ said Mirren.

‘And then after that ... they moved. They just moved. I don’t even know where. Where is she now?’

‘London,’ Mirren said.

‘That’s a big place. I can’t ... Is she all right?’

Mirren shrugged. ‘Not really. That’s why I promised to bring the book for her.’

‘I don’t remember ever seeing it again after that summer,’ said June. ‘What does Violet think?’

‘She thinks her mother must have sold it. They didn’t have much money.’

‘No, nobody did,’ said June. ‘But she couldn’t have sold it – it was ours. Her mother would never have done that.’

‘So might she have given it back?’

‘She must have,’ said June. ‘But I’ve never ever seen it.’

‘Might it be in an attic somewhere?’

‘I don’t think so,’ said June. ‘After I was last in line to inherit, Hector and I moved here ...’

She showed Mirren a picture on the mantelpiece of a distinguished-looking man with a big 1970s moustache.

‘And we raised the girls here and they were huge readers. They went through everything.’

She ran her hands along the books on the shelves. ‘In fact, I even remember buying them an edition of that book with flowers on it because we’d lost ours. I looked everywhere.’

‘That’s the edition I had!’ said Mirren. ‘That’s the one Violet bought for me.’

‘Goodness, how funny,’ said June, her face dreamy.

Mirren looked around. ‘So ...’ She sighed. ‘Oh, June. I think you were my last hope. I can’t ... I have absolutely no idea where I would ...’

Just then, there came a loud knock on the door.

Chapter 27

June and Mirren looked at one another.

‘Are you expecting . . .’

June shook her head. ‘Goodness, no, I’ve had the entire family on the phone all morning, thinking I can’t deal with a bit of snow and ice.’

‘Can you?’

‘Not really,’ said June. ‘Don’t tell them that.’

Mirren followed her slow progression – this time, to the side door. Obviously someone who knew their way about.

June looked puzzled, and it took Mirren a moment before she recognised the woman with the steely hair from the bookshop standing at the door, next to the man with the drooping beard.

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