soft-hearted and would let one or other of them come back onto the mat. Usually Carolyn. But there was once or twice when she and Carolyn were enemies, that Nick found himself the favoured one. And was it good being able to pick on someone else for a change instead of being the one always picked on! He made sure he made the best of it. They would usually have Carolyn in tears before they were finished with her, for Carolyn was a cry-baby. This, for some reason or other, only made Violet and Nick worse towards her and they went on teasing her all the more, until their mother came in to see what all the fuss was about. Or else they would both begin to feel sorry for her and make it up by offering her the whole mat to herself. And yet there were times still when fortunes would swing completely around in a circle: Nick and Violet would one moment be picking on Carolyn and the next minute, for no reason at all it seemed, except that Violet had a sudden whim, the boy would find himself the one being picked on. Violet would suddenly turn on him and encourage Carolyn to help her, until Nick once more found himself the one standing on the cold floor wondering what had happened. There was one final turn this odd game sometimes took. Violet, feeling in a chivalrous mood, would herself hop off the mat and let Nick and Carolyn share it between them and no entreaties from her brother and sister could get her to come back onto the mat while she stood undressing on the cold floor, shivering and making distressed noises.

CHILDREN The children sat on the hill above the house by the reservoir and made daisy-chains. Sometimes they flicked the heads of the papa grass at one another or picked different weeds and examined them, turning them over and over and wondering at them in amazement, as adults might wonder at the structure of some tall grand building. Carolyn broke off a buttercup head and said, ‘Keep still Vi.’ And she held the yellow flower under Violet's chin, and with a pretended cry of delight said, ‘Ooooohh! Vi likes butter.’ ‘Do I? Do I?’ cried Violet. ‘Yes, look you fullas,’ Carolyn said. ‘See it's yellow under Violet's chin.’ And it was too, where the flower reflected on the girl's skin. ‘See if I like butter,’ Nick asked. ‘Go on Caroleen.’ The girl held the flower under her brother's chin. There was a long pause as the girl studied the under-side of his chin, pushing the flower in closer to make out that it wasn't reflecting very clearly. ‘Do I?’ the boy asked, full of expectancy. ‘Yes. But only a little bit,’ the girl said. The boy felt a little disappointed but at least it was better than not liking butter at all. ‘What about me,’ Louise said, shifting down closer to the group. ‘Do I like butter too?’ They all wished to have the yellow reflect on the under-side of their chins as it was good to know you liked butter. Carolyn hesitated, deciding whether or not to let Louise play their game, and waiting to see what the others' reactions were, for they tried to leave their youngest sister out of as many of their games as possible, if only to revenge themselves a little on her. For they felt she got more than her fair share of attention from their parents, and especially from their father, whose pet she was. And what's more it had made her spoilt and selfish with it. ‘Shall I?’ Carolyn asked of the others. ‘Yes,’ Nick and Violet replied, for they felt the thrill of the game was too much fun to let a little thing like Louise getting petted sometimes, spoil it. So Carolyn held the flower under Louise's chin and although it reflected strongly, for she was a little fairer-skinned than the others and had a smooth round chin, Carolyn said, ‘No. Louise doesn't like butter. Look she doesn't, does she!' And she leaned away from the others to let them see. And although the others could see the yellow of the buttercup reflecting strongly