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"Yes. Yes, thank you."

"It's a rough road, you'll have to hang on. You can come up front if you like."

She shook her head quickly and turned her eyes from his.

"Ta. Thanks.

I'm all right here. "

When he started up the cart they all fell together into a heap but, with the exception of Bella, none of them laughed as they would have done at any other time, and even Bella's laugh was smothered.

They had covered half the distance to Brockdale when he called over his shoulder, "How much flour are you wanting?"

Cissie heard him quite clearly but did not answer until William, giving her a small poke in the back, whispered, "Our Cissie, he's asking' how much flour you're wantin'."

A number of seconds elapsed before she could say, "A quarter stone,"

and then she knew that her voice would not carry to him. It was Jimmy who called, "Quarter stone."

Matthew made no comment on this and they had almost reached Brockdale when he said, "If you wouldn't mind a little longer ride I would take you to the mill, Watson's mill. I know him; you'd get more value for your money there."

Cissie twisted round and looked towards him. He had his head turned on his shoulder as if waiting for an answer and she said clearly now,

"Thanks, we wouldn't mind the ride." She'd drive another ten miles to get more value for her money.

He turned the horse from the main road on to a narrow track and at one point the going was so rough that it bounced Cissie off the end of the cart, but she dropped on to her feet and quickly signaled to the children not to call Mr. Turnbull's attention to her.

As she walked with her hand on the end of the cart she saw the mill before the others did, and for a moment she saw it as the house in her dream. Then the impression was gone because the mill house although whitewashed, was tall and higgeldypiggeldy.

She had heard of Watson's mill but this was the first time she had seen it for it must be all of five miles away from the hamlet, and inland, and her father had never taken them inland but always in the direction of the main river.

Matthew drew up the cart in the middle of a big paved yard and, getting down, he came to her and said, "Wait here a minute," then crossed the yard and went towards a round house, while the children, now scrambling down from the cart, looked about them in surprised excitement, saying,

"It's a flour mill, Cissie. Cissie, it's a flour mill."

Sarah was standing with her back against Cissie's hip as if afraid to move into this wonder world but the others edged quietly about the yard, their eyes darting here and there. Then William came scampering back to her, saying breathlessly, "The sails are 'round the corner.

Come on, have a look, Cissie. "

Her eyes on the round house, she said sternly, "Stop moving about.

Bring them here, and behave. "

When Matthew came into view again he was accompanied by a man who had a film of white over him. He was a big man of indeterminable age but the covering of flour made him appear very old, and he looked them over before he said, "Ah, well now, there you are. And so you're after flour, are you?"

Cissie's voice was small as she answered, "Yes, Sir."

"An' I hear you want all of a quarter stone." He was laughing at her, making game of her, and she didn't reply but her face became stiffer and she straightened her shoulders. This reaction wasn't lost on the miller and he laughed louder now, saying, "Never sold less than half a sack afore, never been asked for less, come to that, but now you want quarter stone. Well, well." He thrust out his great hand and punched Matthew on the arm. But the blow didn't shudder Matthew, not even to make him move a step, but he laughed with the miller, at the same time keeping his eye on Cissie.

"How much do you pay for a quarter stone in Brockdale?"

The miller was speaking again and she answered, "Ninepence for seconds."

"Ninepence for secondsl Do you hear that?" He again punched Matthew on the arm.

"Daylight robbery Seconds she said, mostly boxings. Well, well. But now we must see what we can do for you, eh? If Matthew says you want help, then help you'll have. Now, I'll give you seconds and good seconds, three parts white, and I'll give you a full stone for your nine pence What do you say to that?"

The stiffness slid from her face, her shoulders slumped, her lips moved into a gentle smile and she said, "I'd say thank you. Sir. Thank you very kindly."

"Civil spoken, girl, civil spoken." Before he had finished speaking he was again looking at Matthew;

and now he added, "I'll see to them, you go on 'round beyond, and if I'm not mistaken Rose'll be havin' a mug of tea at this minute. I'll take this squad and show them inside."

"I'll do that." Matthew was about to turn away when, through a door in the far wall, a woman appeared. Cissie thought at first it was the miller's wife, then when the woman came nearer she didn't think she'd be old enough, though she wasn't all that young, over twenty she thought. The woman was big, her head on a level with the wheelwright's, her body as broad as his, but it was the face of the woman that Cissie looked at. It was plain, she had never seen such a plain woman. She was plain to ugliness. Her nose was broad, her eyes small, very like the eyes of the miller with deep glints in them, and her skin was thick like that you'd see on some man, and she had a big mole on her chin. Then she smiled at Matthew, and Cissie's eyes became concentrated on her mouth showing now a set of beautiful white teeth.

The smile made her look different and her voice was pleasant as she said, "Why, Matthew," and there was pleasure in the sound of it and Cissie thought. She likes him, she likes him very much. When the woman looked inquiringly at her and the children, Matthew said softly,

"They're the Brodies from Heatherbrook; they've just buried their parents."

"Aw, poor things." Her glance swept over them and came to rest on Cissie, and after a second she turned away, saying, "They'll be for the house I suppose?" And Matthew turned with her, but Cissie could not hear what he answered.

The miller now beckoned them all towards him, saying, "Come on along with you and I'll show you something I bet you've never seen afore."

Clustered together, they went through the brick piers that supported the mill itself, past the cart that was standing near the central post, having sacks let down to it from the floor above, then, leading the way to a ladder set almost vertically against a post, he said, "Think you can climb that? No need to be afraid, stones aren't workin', runner's being dressed. The top mill stone" -he patted Jimmy on the head-"the one that does all the work."

When, after scrambling and slipping, they all reached the first floor they stood, still close together, looking about them in amazement, and they stared in wonder at a man who grinned at them while smearing a long flat piece of wood with soot, after which he began rubbing it over the surface of a great stone.

"Ah! that surprises you, doesn't it? Soot in a flour mill, eh?" The miller was shouting now.

"But nothing like soot for sorting out the dents. Picks up a flaw as small as a pin head, it does. An' do you know something? Mill stones are like women, did you know that?" He was addressing Cissie again.

"They are, 'cos they have eyes and eyebrows, and chests, and finally a skirt. Aye, the mill stones are very like women. You put the corn in by the eye, the chest breathes it in, and the skirt wafts it out." He looked at them all now, laughing heartily, then said, "You all lost your tongues? Don't want to ask any questions?"

When none of them made to answer he laughed his loud laugh again, and shaking his big head he said, "Quietest hairns ever been in here. But then, suppose it's understandable." His face sober now, he led the way back down the ladder; then going into a barnI he Dwelling fl ace ^y like structure beyond the piers, he dipped a big metal scoop into a bin and poured the rough flour into a hessian bag and took it to a tall scale on which he weighed it, saying, "I'm a good guesser as a rule, but I'm out the day. Pound over a stone there is there. But we'll call it straight, eh? All for nine pence Once in a lifetime you'll get a bargain like that, me girl, and I'm tellin' you."

When he handed her the sack she handed him the shilling, and he said,

"Ah! change you want. Well now, 'tis Rose that sees to the money side.

Leave the sack there and come away over. Go on," he said when he saw her hesitating to put the sack down, " nobody's goin' to steal it. "

He was laughing again.

Like sheep they followed him from the mill across the yard, through a door, and into another yard, a smaller yard, private, with boxes along one wall that held flowers and in the same wall a window that opened outwards and on which were hanging white lace curtains.

The miller was shouting through a doorway now, "Have you got a shive for them?" And his daughter came into the yard, saying, "Of course.

Of course." She had a mug in her hand from which the steam was rising, and behind her stood Matthew. He too had a mug in his hand, and the sight of the mugs brought the saliva rising into Cissie's mouth. They were drinking tea. It was over a month since she'd had a sup of tea and then it had been the cheap stuff at tuppence farthing an ounce.

She had made that ounce last a week, just a teaspoonful a day, but stew it as she might, after the first brew it had come out like water, whereas if they had been able to afford the pekoe it would still have had color in it at the end of the day. But then the time was far behind them when they could afford to pay fourpence an ounce for tea.

"Come in. Come in." Rose Watson moved backwards and waved them towards her, and they stepped over the threshold and into what Cissie thought was her first glimpse of heaven.

The room was a great stone-floored kitchen, low- ceilinged with black beams crisscrossing it, the plaster showing as white as flour between them. The walls, also beamed here and there, were whitewashed, and around an open fire with an enormous bread oven at each side hung an array of shining copper pans, and on the broad rough oak mantel-shelf a graded line of brass candlesticks. The dresser, laden with crockery, was against one wall, a black settle against another, and in the middle of the room stood a long white wooden table, and on it a wooden platter on which lay a big loaf with a knob on the top, and beside it a piece of cheese that must have weighed all of three pounds.

Without exception, they all had their eyes fixed on the table. Cissie had at first looked about the room, but now, like the children, her gaze was concentrated on the food, and the big woman, beginning to cut thick slices off the loaf, said, "You like cheese?"

They were so dumbfounded they couldn't answer, not even Cissie, and the miller, roaring again, cried, "They've lost their tongues. Of course they like cheese. Just you try 'em."

Rose cut hunk after hunk of cheese and placed one on each slice of bread, then handed them round. Serving Cissie last, she asked, "Would they like milk or tea?" And without hesitation, Cissie said, "Tea, please."

The miller's laugh again filled the kitchen.

"They're not daft.

They're not daft. Tea please, she said. How often do you have tea? "

He poked his head towards Cissie, and she answered quietly, " Not very often. Sir. " And he repeated, " Not very often. An' that's the truth you're speakin', I'll bet. "

Cissie had never tasted tea like it. It as hot, strong, and sweet, and with each swallow it seemed to bring new life into her. She couldn't help but empty her mug quickly, and when Rose asked, "Would you like another?" she bit on her lip and moved her head in two small jerks, and although she couldn't see anything funny about it, this action of hers sent the miller into a choking fit of laughter; and all the while Matthew stood by smiling.

When the last of them Iiad finished their bread and cheese and drunk their tea, Matthew buttoned his coat and said, "Well now, I'll have to be getting along, I'm a workin' man." This caused the miller to guffaw again, and his daughter said, "We'll be seeing you on Saturday then, Matthew?"

He nodded at her and replied, "Saturday, Rose, Saturday." And on this she smiled, showing all her teeth again. Then she turned to the table and with an abrupt movement swept up the remainder of the big loaf and the cheese and, taking a piece of linen from the delft rack, she bundled them up in it and thrust them at Cissie, saying, "There, they'll be hungry when they get home."

Cissie clutched the bread and cheese to her breast and stared into the broad plain face, and the tears that she had suppressed over the last trying days threatened to engulf her, and her voice broke as she said,

"Thank you. Oh thank you. Miss." Then, her glance took in the miller and Matthew, who was unsmiling now, and she muttered thickly, "You're all so kind." And on this she turned and hurried to the door, and the children followed her.

When they were all settled in the cart she was able to lift her head and look at the woman and say calmly, "And thank you for the tea an'

all. It was lovely, beautiful tea."

"You're welcome."

"Bye-bye." They were all waving to the woman and the miller, and as the cart rumbled out of the yard Matthew turned and raised his whip and when Rose Watson called, "Good-bye, Matthew," he called back,

"Good-bye, Rose. And thanks, thanks for everything."

As the cart joggled on its way the children began talking about all they had seen and she let them go on until she heard Bella say, "That bread, it was lovely. And we'll have another shive when we get in."

"You'll not, you know." Her eyes were slanted across her shoulder and her voice was sharp as she looked at Bella.

"You've had your share for the day;

there's the others. " She was sorry she had to say this but Bella had to be kept down; Bella could only think of her stomach. But wasn't that all there was to think about when you were hungry?

William, his fair head resting against the back of her arm, said, as if to himself, "That woman, she was kind, wasn't she?" and as Mary answered, "Yes, there aren't many like her about," it occurred to Cissie that it wasn't really the woman, or the miller, they had to thank for the kindness they had received today, but him driving, Mr.