‘Yes, why not?’

Milly gave her half-sister a wobbly smile. ‘Thank you. Oh, thank you.’

The pair of them struggled outside with Milly’s suitcase and painting things until they came to Seebold’s lorry parked in the drive. What a good job Lena had arranged for him to come and collect her. He dashed out of the cab and took the case. ‘What happened?’ he said, horrified.

‘We’ll tell you in a minute,’ said Lena. ‘Can you take us both to the cottage?’

Once the fire in the hearth was lit, it didn’t take long to transform the cold, empty cottage into a warm and friendly bolthole. Lena made up the beds and Seebold brought in more logs. Milly unpacked some of her things and looked in the kitchen. There was no food apart from the basics like tea leaves, a little sugar and a few biscuits. The shops would be closed now.

‘I’ll go and get some fish and chips for now,’ Seebold said.

‘And I’m sure Nan would let you have a couple of slices of bread and stuff,’ said Lena.

Milly struggled not to give way to her ever-persistent tears. After her mother’s nastiness, their kindness was almost too hard to bear and, being in the cottage with Lena, her feelings about her betrayal so long ago were only exacerbated. With Seebold gone, she knew she ought to pluck up the courage to tell her sister about the curse, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Lena threw herself onto the sofa and put her feet up. ‘I can’t believe Pa gave me all this.’

‘You may have to wait a long time before you can safely call it your own, Lena,’ said Milly. ‘Like I said, my mother is going to fight us all the way.’

Lena shrugged nonchalantly.

‘I’ll go and see Mr May first thing on Monday morning and see what he says,’ said Milly. She frowned. ‘I just don’t understand why she hates me so. What have I ever done to her?’

‘Nothing,’ said Lena. ‘Look, I know she’s your mother, Milly, but she’s an absolute bitch. Whatever happened in the past between my mother and Pa, you didn’t deserve to be treated like that. It’s not your fault, so please don’t let her pull your down.’

‘I’ll try not to.’ She sat in the easy chair. ‘By the way, what was it you wanted to tell me?’

‘I’ve bought some land,’ said Lena and, while her sister sat with an open mouth and raised eyebrows, she told her all about the old nurseries.

‘I couldn’t have done it without Pa’s help,’ Lena went on. ‘There’s still some more drainage to fix, but the agent told me this morning that he has a client who is very interested in renting.’

‘That’s incredible,’ Milly gasped. She felt immensely proud of her half-sister. Imagine being a landowner at her age. It was amazing!

They heard Seebold’s lorry pulling up outside. ‘Not a word to Seebold,’ Lena cautioned. ‘I don’t want him to get any more romantic ideas.’

‘Especially now that you are a woman of means,’ Milly added with a grin.

The fish and chips were wonderful. When they’d finished, the three of them relaxed in front of the fire with a cup of tea and talked a lot about Charles. After a while, the conversation drifted towards their personal hopes and dreams for the future; it seemed that all three had reached a crossroads in their lives. For Milly it was clear that her mother wasn’t going to bother with her coming out, which was a great relief. ‘I had thought that I would be able to continue with my studies at Worthing School of Art and Science,’ she said, ‘but it transpired that Father died before he’d paid the fees for next term.’

‘Heavens above,’ cried Lena. ‘So what will you do?’

Milly shrugged. ‘I suppose I’d better write to Aunt Betsy,’ she said and, glancing up at Lena, added, ‘Actually, she must be your Aunt Betsy too. She’s lovely. I’ll take you to see her sometime. Of all my relatives, she’s the nicest. She may be willing to help. I guess my future rather depends on what she says.’

‘What about Lena?’ Seebold asked. ‘Would she help her too?’

Milly looked a tad uncomfortable. Aunt Betsy was a sweetie but Uncle Neville was rather Victorian in outlook. In fact, she wasn’t even sure if they knew of Lena’s existence.

‘I don’t need anybody’s help,’ Lena said quickly.

‘So you won’t be marrying me then?’ said Seebold.

‘No, I won’t,’ Lena retorted.

Seebold appeared to be shocked.

‘And you needn’t bother looking at me like that,’ said Lena. ‘You don’t want to marry me anyway.’

Seebold grinned. ‘They do say that a man with a wife and children finds it hard to get on,’ he admitted. ‘But keep me in mind if you feels desperate.’

‘And I would have to be desperate,’ Lena chuntered. Milly jabbed her with her elbow, making her sister look up with an innocent expression. ‘What?’

Milly changed the subject. ‘I hope it doesn’t sound rude,’ she began, ‘but I’ve always thought your name is very unusual. How did you come by it?’

‘I found it on the road,’ he quipped.

Lena giggled. Milly blinked.

‘Na,’ he went on, ‘that’s down to my old mum.’ He took a deep breath. ‘When she was a youngster, she was very taken with roller skating. There used to be a ring in the Dome. ’Course back then it was called the Kursaal, and the chap running it was called—’

‘Seebold,’ Milly interrupted. She frowned. ‘So where did he get the name from?’

Actually he was called Carl,’ said Seebold. ‘Carl Seebold.’

They laughed. ‘What about you now, Seebold?’ Milly asked. ‘Are you happy and settled with Rainbow George?’

‘Seebold doesn’t just work for Rainbow George,’ Lena corrected. ‘All the fairground folk like his work. He’s in great demand.’

‘But I think it’s time I branched out on my own,’ said Seebold. ‘I’m planning to create a permanent kiddies’ playground. I’ve been over to Bognor to take a look at the Centre of Happiness.’

Milly and Lena gave each other a quizzical look.

‘It’s run by a chap called Butlin,’ Seebold went on. ‘He’s created a funfair that goes on all year round. They’ve got swing boats, dodgem cars, ghost train, you name it.’

‘But surely it would take a huge amount of finance to get something like that going,’ said Milly. ‘You’d need backers, wouldn’t you?’

‘I’ve got one,’ said Seebold. ‘Me. I’ve been saving like mad. I wouldn’t be able to do what Butlin’s done, but once I get it going, I intend to build it up year on year.’

‘So how would you start?’ asked Milly.

‘I found a plot of land to rent,’ Seebold said. ‘It’s well drained and it’s near the sea in East Worthing.’

Fortunately for Milly and Lena, he was looking at a hole in the toe of his sock and rearranging it so that it didn’t show, which meant he didn’t notice the look of surprise, then the grin the girls shared between them.

‘The agent seems to think he could persuade the owner to let me have it at a reasonable rent,’ he went on.

‘The agent?’ asked Milly.

‘Cooper and Docket,’ said Seebold. ‘They have an office in Broadwater.’

‘Sounds good,’ said Lena.