military enforced the curfew. Viña del Mar was carefree enough but a suburb was no place to bring up children. The countryside will do them the world of good,’ she added, taking joy from the idea of them playing on the beaches and running through the fields with their new friends. Federica was still a child although she seemed like a young woman in a child’s body. Polly thought it was high time she was allowed to enjoy her childhood, or at least the few years she had left.
When Federica was tucked up in her new bed she lay on her side and stared at the butterfly box that sat on her bedside table. It was so dark that she had asked her mother to keep the door open onto the landing so that the light could flood in and dilute the night that seemed all consuming in this unfamiliar country. She looked at her box and took courage from it, a little piece of home in a strange land, a little bit of her father to cling onto until he arrived to love her properly.
Flelena had allowed Hal to share her bed for the first night. She didn’t realize at the time but she needed him as much as he needed her and he would consequently share her bed for the next six months, until Polly finally intervened and tactfully suggested that perhaps it wasn’t healthy for a young boy to be so dependent on his mother. But that first night had been important for both of them. Helena clung to his warm body hoping to reassure him and assuage her guilt at having torn him away from his father and home. She knew her children were young enough to cope with the trauma of uprooting, she knew they’d make friends and one day almost forget they had ever lived in Chile. Certainly for Hal, Chile would pale into a murky memory whereas for Federica it would be harder. She thought of Molly and Hester Appleby and her hope rested with them. She resolved to introduce them as soon as possible. Federica hadn’t had many friends in Chile, she was by nature more of a loner, probably due to having had three years as an only child. She closed her heavy eyes and let sleep wash over her, drowning all the unpleasantness of the past and leaving her to dream about the wonderful new life that was opening up to them. But every now and then Ramon’s imposing will would invade her thoughts and claim her once again while she was powerless to fight him.
‘Poor Helena,’ Polly sighed, pulling the covers above her matronly breasts. ‘She’s done the right thing though. I hated thinking of her out there in Chile without anyone to watch out for her. Now she has us, we’ll take care of her.’
‘Don’t let her get you running around for her, Polly. You know what she’s like,’ said Jake, climbing into bed.
‘Helena needs us.’
‘Yes she does. But go easy or you’ll end up her slave just like the old days,’ he said, rolling over and turning off the light.
‘She’s different now. She’s been through a hard time and she needs our support,’ she insisted.
‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you,’ he mumbled before sighing heavily, indicating that he was too tired to talk any more.
Molly and Hester Appleby were intrigued by the thin, trembling girl who stood shyly before them. Their mother had invited her mother to tea telling them that Fede, pronounced Fayday, had just arrived in England and had no friends. They were to make her feel welcome. In typical Ingrid style she threw the children together and told them to run off and play while she caught up with the girl’s mother.
‘Fede’s a funny name,’ said Molly, narrowing her green eyes suspiciously.
‘It’s short for Federica,’ Federica replied hoarsely.
‘That’s funny too,’ said Molly.
‘My father’s from Chile,’ she said, then noticed the two girls’ faces staring blankly back at her. ‘That’s in South America,’ she explained. They both understood South America from the map which their nanny had painted on the nursery wall and nodded.
‘Is your Daddy black?’ Hester asked.
‘No,’ Federica replied, shocked. ‘He’s got black hair though,’ she added and smiled as she thought of him.
‘Our Daddy has black moods,’ said Molly and laughed. ‘We’ll show you around if you like.’
Federica nodded.
Federica borrowed a pair of Wellington boots and a coat that was much too big for her and followed them out into the winter garden. Their house was a large white manor with tall sash windows and a wide terrace, descending onto the lawn by way of an imperial set of large stone steps. The ground was hard and glittered with crisp white frost that Federica had never seen before. She had seen snow, because her father had taken them skiing a few times in the Andes resort of La Parva, but she had never seen frost. They wandered down