‘I liked it,’ she said, still whispering.
‘We’ll take it,’ said the well-heeled-looking mother. ‘That’s a beautiful edition, in wonderful nick too. Children’s books today are so terribly anodyne, don’t you think? Love yourself love yourself be kind blah blah love yourself. I think we can get a little beyond that, don’t you, Leone?’
And tiny Leone smiled and took the book after Carmen carefully wrapped it up in paper and held it tight to her breast, as if she both loved it and was slightly scared of it, which were not, after all, the worst emotions to feel about a book.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered.
‘You know,’ said the mother, as she turned around, Leone ahead so she could peel round the corner and gaze at the train set with those huge eyes of hers. ‘That’s the first time she’s spoken in public since she started school. Thank you.’
And the bell tinged, and Carmen watched them leave, just as the very lanky studenty man came in. He frowned at Sofia’s tear-stained children.
‘There are also a lot of crying children in the street,’ he said, looking bemused.
‘It was a sad Christmas story.’
He looked puzzled.
‘I thought Christmas stories were happy.’
‘So did I,’ said Sofia quietly, trying to haul the children away, even though Jack would have happily sat for several hours watching the train set.
‘The Little Match Girl,’ said Carmen. He shook his head. ‘You don’t know it?’
He smiled.
‘I don’t … I don’t really know any Christmas stories.’
‘What, at all?’
She frowned at him.
‘I don’t celebrate Christmas.’
‘Oh! Sorry,’ said Carmen.
‘No need,’ he said. ‘From where I’m standing, it looks like a full-time job.’
Phoebe had stopped sobbing, her head whipping around.
‘You don’t celebrate CHRISTMAS?’ she said loudly. Sofia grabbed her hand.
‘Lots of people don’t celebrate Christmas, darling, don’t you remember? You learned it at school. Which haslotsof people from different backgrounds. So there’s Eid and Hanukkah … ’
But Phoebe wasn’t listening. She marched up to Oke.
‘My friend has Hanukkah AND Christmas,’ she said. ‘I don’t think that’s fair AT ALL.’
Oke smiled.
‘Well, I don’t celebrate Hanukkah either, so don’t worry.’
Her face screwed up.
‘Well, what do you celebrate?’
‘We don’t.’
At this all the children’s mouths fell open.
