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mother living there, readily establishing new friendships. But then she noticed a card in the post office window on which a woman in her sixties pleaded for companionship, and wondered about the drawbacks. Northleach was no Blockley, with its legions of clubs and outings and talks and exhibitions. It was calm and quiet and forgotten, entirely beautiful, and probably perfect for a week’s holiday. Further than that, she couldn’t say. But she enjoyed her visits, which she made by car, despite it being scarcely half a mile from Lucy’s Barn to the market square. One day, she promised herself, she’d make the trip on foot, discovering the hidden nooks along the way.
    She set up the lacemaking cushion, but found it much more complicated than expected. Putting it back in the bag, she regretfully decided to abandon it until she could find someone to teach her.
    Almost she could accuse herself of complacency. None of the dramas that had taken place during previous commissions were going to happen here. How could they, in this tiny place, with the low grey skies and almost total lack of activity?
    But there was one small unexpected drama on the Wednesday; the kind of drama nobody could object to.
    She had gone out to feed the rabbits as usual that afternoon. They were in no hurry to partake of the food Thea gave them, and only three emerged from the bedroom area in the cage containing the four does. Carefully, Thea unlatched the door into that section, and peered in. A pretty blue-grey ball of fluff was crouched in the corner, nose twitching, eyes wide and bulging. Thea identified Jemima, the one she had cuddled under Lucy’s scrutiny. In another corner was a nest, apparently made of hay, but with some wisps of hair protruding from it. ‘Uh-oh,’ said Thea, capturing a distant memory of rabbits owned by her younger sister, twenty-five years previously. ‘What have we here, then?’
    With the gentlest probing fingers, she investigated, and found a toasty warm huddle of babies buried under layers of fur and hay. ‘And how did this happen, hmm?’ she demanded of the wild-eyed mother. ‘Oh well, you seem to know what to do. I’d better give you some extra rations.’
    It was a greatly consoling thing to find. New life, the hairless helpless scraps so perfectly protected in the midst of a grey January – it suggested a whole range of happy hopeful feelings. But it also added to Thea’s responsibilities. The other rabbits probably ought to be removed, especially if one of themwas an undiagnosed male. Males were unreliable around babies, and should not be permitted to cause trouble.
    But where to put them? The second cage, containing Snoopy, was quite large. Perhaps the three exiles could go in there, and the buck be found some smaller temporary shelter. Meanwhile, everything appeared peaceful in the new family, and she was reluctant to interfere for the time being. Jemima was big enough to defend her offspring against the other three, if it came to it. She would see how things stood in the morning.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Thursday 11 th January arrived, and Thea woke early with a sense of something having changed. Curtains were closed across the small window, and everything was silent. It was half past seven – a time when it was still almost dark in January. Instead, there was a flat eerie light coming through the curtains, which Thea took some minutes to understand.
    ‘Snow!’ she exclaimed, when she finally went to look out. ‘Masses of it.’ Her initial reaction was a childish excitement, combined with awe at the absolute beauty of the scene. The yard between the house and outbuildings was a pristine expanse of glittering white, the shedsrising starkly to present vertical planes of muted colour, before more white obliterated their roofs. There was no flicker of life – no bird or fox or stoat seemed to have left any footprints in the snow.
    ‘Gosh!’ Thea muttered to Hepzie, a few minutes later. ‘This could give us some