“All right,” said Edie. “I promise.”
Then Greta came tearing into the stable yard.
“We’re ready! We’re ready,” she cried. “Come now!”
Edie’s birthday breakfast was well worth the wait. The eggs which Gus had been boiling had been painted bright colours as if it was Easter, and they had been laid in a nest of soft moss, decorated with petals and pretty speckled feathers from the hens.
“I collected all the feathers myself,” said Greta proudly. “I asked the chickens first.”
Edie laughed. “It’s wonderful,” she said.
There were flowers and sprigs of herbs spelling out her name across the table and little bunches of them in jam jars on every surface in the room.
Best of all, her chair had been made into a sort of a birthday throne, decorated with trailing ivy and white cow parsley flowers like lace.
“It’s far too pretty to sit on,” she cried. “I might ruin it!”
But they all insisted and, the moment she was sitting down, Aunt Roberta appeared from the larder carrying a Victoria sponge cake with real cream and strawberry jam. Twelve candles twinkled like stars. Everyone burst into a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday.
“Go on, then. Blow out the candles,” said Perky. “You have to make a wish.”
Edie’s very first thought was to wish for Fliss to visit. But, just as she was about to blow, she realized there was something far more important than that.
Keep Fliss safe, she silently begged the birthday gods. Keep us all safe – Uncle Peter, Aunt Roberta, Gus, Greta and Perky – everybody that I love.
But, as the candles flickered out, she worried she had been a little selfish. There was one flame left, so she gave another blow: Keep everybody safe, she added desperately. And make this horrid war end quickly.
“Three Chimbleys… I mean, three cheers for Edie,” whooped Greta.
They all laughed and Perky banged a wooden spoon on the table. “Three Chimneys for Edie, hip-hip hooray!” he roared. And everybody clapped and cheered.
“Hip-hip… ”
“Hooray!”
“Hip-hip… ”
“Hooray!”
“Can I give you your present now?” asked Greta, rattling an old shoebox under her nose as Aunt Roberta cut the cake and poured Edie a glass of home-made elderflower cordial.
“Of course!” Edie beamed, wondering how she could have ever thought they would all forget her special day.
“It’s a birthday crown,” said Greta before Edie could even open the box. “I made it myself. Mr Churchill wanted to help, but the glue was too sticky.”
“Thank you,” said Edie. The cardboard crown was decorated with old sweet wrappers, yet more chicken feathers and even a string of Christmas tinsel. Greta had coloured the outside of the cardboard in with wax crayons and carefully written HapY dirThbAy Ebie xxx around the rim.
“I shall wear it for every birthday from now on, even if I live to be a-hundred-and-one years old,” promised Edie, placing the crown on her head.
There was a little pile of gifts in front of her plate too. Wrapping paper was scarce with rationing on – even newspapers were allowed to print fewer pages than they used to – so there was no special birthday paper or fresh tissue but the gifts looked bright and cheerful all the same.
Aunt Roberta had given her a lovely copy of Heidi with pictures of snow-topped Swiss mountains on the cover. It was wrapped in old Christmas paper with holly berries on it and tied up with a bright red ribbon. All in all, it looked jolly festive.
“A very dear friend gave me that book when I was a little girl,” said Aunt Roberta. “I’m glad to have someone to pass it on to now.” Edie opened the cover and saw a faded inscription in blue ink:
To Bobbie,
The best nurse in all the world.
Love from Jim – Christmas 1905.
Edie was deeply touched. It was clear the book was very special. “Thank you.”
She was about to ask who Jim was, but Aunt Roberta went on. “He and I always planned to go to Switzerland together and visit the mountains. Sadly, that never happened. Poor Jim died in the last war, like so many of the young men we used to know.”
Uncle Peter stretched out and touched her arm. Aunt Roberta smiled. “I was lucky enough to travel to Switzerland by myself when I was a little older. I took a train right across the country, all along the side of the lakes and deep under the Alps in long, dark tunnels… ” Something about the faraway look in her eyes told Edie not to ask any more questions. She knew Aunt Roberta must be thinking of her childhood friend and how he never got to make the journey for himself.
“It’s a beautiful book. I will treasure it,” she whispered, thinking how much she’d love to travel through the mountains by train one day when she was older too.
“Now,” said Aunt Roberta. “What else have you got? I can see plenty of other gifts… ”
Gus hadn’t wrapped his present, but it was a pretty little tin of colouring pencils, which looked quite smart enough all on their own.
Perky’s present was extremely neatly wrapped in crisp brown parcel paper. He had tied it all up with a big string bow, which was very professional.
“I’m good at knots,” he said, his ears going a little pink. “You have to be if you’re going to work in the post office!”
Inside was a thick, green writing book with a leather cover. “For your stories and whatnot,” he blushed. It was much bigger and grander than the little notebook she’d had from him before. “There’s only a few pages that have been ripped out of the front,” Perky explained. “Aunty Patsy used
