(12/20) No Holly for Miss Quinn by Miss Read Page B

and get ready for church," she said instead. "And no more nonsense!"
    They went out quietly, but before they had reached the stairs Miriam heard them giggling together, all conflict over.
    An ominous pattering noise attracted her attention. Robin was inspecting a growing puddle on the kitchen floor.
    "Good boy!" he said approvingly. "Good boy, Robin."
    Sighing, Miriam went in search of a bucket and floor cloth.
    ***
    An hour later, she and her charges sat decorously in church awaiting Lovell's entrance.
    The building was plain, with only a few mural tab lets bearing testimony to the virtues of the deceased and the grief of those mourning them. A threadbare banner hung from one wall, a reminder of the gallantry of an East Anglian regiment and
Old unhappy far-off things
And battles long ago.
    The church was half-full, which Miriam rightly construed as a good congregation. She had attended a service here on one occasion with only three other worshipers.
    The organ swelled into a recognizable tune, and the congregation rose as the choir entered, followed by Lovell.
    "That's my Daddy!" cried Robin joyously, much to the delight of nearby worshipers. Jenny and Hazel shook their heads with disapproval, but were obviously secretly proud of their brother's intelligence.
    The service began, but its measured beauty failed to hold Miriam's attention, distracted as she was by having to find the place for the two little girls and by restraining Robin, who was busy licking the varnished pew shelf as though it were made of butterscotch, which it somewhat resembled.
    This activity was accompanied by loud smacking noises and an appreciative growling, such as puppies make when enjoying a bone. Miriam's effort to divert him were met with vociferous resistance and a renewed attack upon the woodwork. A particularly solemn silence, at the end of one of the prayers, was broken by a crunching sound. Robin, raising his head to admire his toothwork, turned, dribbling heavily, to Miriam, and patted the wet shelf encouragingly.
    "Auntie bite!" he demanded. "Auntie bite too!"
    "No!" hissed Miriam fiercely. Really, to think that a two-year-old could cause so much embarrassment! She was conscious of considerable merriment in the pews behind her. Should she take the child out, she wondered?
    Luckily, at this juncture they all stood for the hymn preceding the sermon.
    "Do we put our money in now?" enquired Hazel loudly. "Because I've lost mine."
    Jenny, with sisterly concern, fell to the floor and began searching busily along a very dusty heating pipe.
    "P'raps it's rolled under the seat," she suggested, pointing with a black hand. Hazel bent down, as though about to join her in the depths.
    "Leave it," begged Miriam helplessly. "I will give you some more."
    "But we can't just leave it!" protested Jenny. By now her face was striped with grime. She looked like a very cross tiger cub.
    "It's not now anyway," responded Hazel. "It's the next hymn we put the money in. Daddy does his talking, and then we put it in, don't we, Aunt Miriam?"
    "Well, we won't be here then," argued Jenny, "so what shall we do with our money? Aunt Miriam, we don't want any collection money, so can we keep it?"
    Powerless to check this flow of conversation, Miriam saw, with infinite relief, that Lovell was ascending the stairs to the pulpit. This was her cue to remove his lively offspring.
    She began to usher the children into the aisle. Fortunately, she had purposely taken a pew near to the door. Robin resisted strongly, and appealed to the distant figure in the pulpit.
    "Dadda!" he screamed lustily. "Dadda do! Dadda do!"
    The two little girls contented themselves with waving cheerfully as they made for the door, but Robin sat suddenly in the aisle and refused to budge.
    An elderly usher, seeing Miriam's dilemma, advanced and picked up the boy, who made himself as stiff as a board, whilst keeping up a barrage of ear-splitting yells.
    He was borne towards the door, Miriam following. She