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and then continue on to the front hallway and back around into the dining room and out into the kitchen again. There was a small fireplace with an ornate mirrored mantel above in the parlour and exactly the same one on the opposite side of the wall in the dining room. There were windows everywhere and doors panelled with etched glass that opened into the parlour, the hallway, and the dining room. The wood throughout the house was a deep reddish-brown shade that had an almost polished look after years of use.
    â€œBut this is the best part.” Annie pointed to the door to the left of the parlour’s fireplace. David opened it and let Lila go first. There were small, deep, curved steps all the way up to the top floor. You couldn’t see the room above until you walked up far enough past the first curve. And then it revealed the open upstairs. It was a sizable room that the stairway railing divided in half. There was a bedroom on each side, but you saw them both as one. The beds were large and so were the bureaus. There were a couple of rocking chairs and chests at the end of the beds for extra bedding. There was a large bookcase filled with books, chairs by the windows, a baby’s cradle, a spinning wheel, and a huge old radio.
    â€œWhat do you think?” Annie laughed. “Isn’t this great?”
    Lila looked around, speechless. She took in everything and then looked out one of the three windows, where a red maple was close enough to touch the glass.
    David went over to the radio and turned the station dial. “I wonder if this works.”
    â€œThis is the best room I’ve ever seen,” Lila finally said.
    They explored for a few more minutes, and then Eunie called up the stairwell to say that lunch was ready. The kids ran down the steep stairs holding on to the walls so they wouldn’t fall and were ushered into the dining room.
    A luncheon feast was served. The entire centre of the table disappeared under plates filled with dainty sandwiches, trays filled with cheese and cured ham, bowls of potato salad and marinated carrots and macaroni salad, and finally plates of queen’s lunch squares and chocolate brownies.
    Eunie served the children big glasses of milk and poured copious amounts of tea for the adults. The children were too busy eating to say much, and it wasn’t until the last crumb was gone that Eunie spoke to Lila.
    â€œHow do you like this house?” she said.
    Lila grinned. “I love it. It’s the nicest house I’ve ever seen…except for Annie’s house.”
    â€œMaybe when Annie and David come out for the summer, they can bring you along and you can come and visit.”
    â€œThat would be nice.”
    â€œWhat do you like to do, Lila?” Joe asked her.
    Annie knew that Lila wasn’t used to all this adult attention. She could see her starting to get nervous.
    â€œI like to play and I love to draw.”
    â€œDo you like dolls?” Eunie asked.
    Lila turned to Annie for help. “She doesn’t like dolls. Neither do I.”
    â€œDo you like to swim?”
    â€œI…I don’t know how.”
    Annie was surprised. “You don’t?”
    Lila looked worried, as if she’d said the wrong thing.
    â€œLots of people don’t know how to swim,” David said. “I’m not very good either.”
    Annie knew this was wrong. David swam like a duck. She was about to correct him when Mom placed her hand on Annie’s arm under the table, a signal to be quiet.
    After a very nice visit and fond goodbyes, the Macdonalds and Lila piled into the car to go home. Eunie came running out with a bag of molasses cookies. She gave them to Lila. “I hear they’re your favourite.”
    Lila took the bag, nodded, and smiled. “Thank you.”
    â€œYou’re very welcome, honey.”
    Annie thought Mrs. Johnson looked like she was going to cry. She and Mom held hands through the window before Dad