Papa and Mama had gone to the station to collect Cousin Paul, and Tiney wondered if it was because of Paul that no one spoke all afternoon. In 1914, Paul had been sent to Torrens Island, along with four hundred other German South Australians, and then to Holdsworthy in NSW where he and thousands of other detainees had spent the war years. The quiet in the house made Tiney’s ears ring. In other years, she’d stood with her sisters around the piano and sung Christmas carols. Minna would be at the keyboard, Nette singing loudest, Thea humming along and laughing at them. Then Nette would bring out a plate of fried sugar buns or gingerbread fresh-baked that afternoon, no matter how hot the day. There had been four Christmases celebrated in Larksrest without Louis, but Christmas 1918 would be the first without hope of him returning, and their cousin Paul was a poor replacement. Tiney pulled open her bedside drawer and stared down at the present she’d bought for Louis in late November, before the news had arrived.
