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answered, so I tried to talk through the keyhole.
    â€œPlease, come out,” I said. “Please?”
    I imagined that Grandmother was standing on the other side of the door, and I closed my eyes and pictured her kindly face and happy smile. I talked through the keyhole for a long time, then sank to my knees and curled up on the floor. After a while, my mother came up to find me.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” she asked.
    â€œI’m talking to Grandmother.” I sobbed. “I want her to come out.”
    â€œYou want her to come out of this room here?” my mother asked. “She’s not here, little one. She lives in Prague. Did Mrs. Nedbal tell you that she lives in this room?”
    â€œI think so,” I sniffed.
    â€œOh, Trumpet,” my mother sighed. “This is your grandmother’s room, but she doesn’t live here. She just keeps her furniture in it. My parents live in a big apartment in Prague. This used to be their summer house until they were forced to give it up.”
    â€œDid Daddy make her go away?”
    â€œNo. My parents owned too many houses and the housing committee made them give some of them up. They gave this one to me so that we could keep it in the family, and then we had an argument. My mother and my sister are trying to get it back.”
    â€œCan’t they just come and live here?” I asked.
    â€œI don’t think they want to,” my mother said sadly. “It’s very hard to explain, but your father and I aren’t friends with my parents anymore. We think they did a bad thing, and they don’t like us because we tried to stop them.”
    â€œYou killed Mr. Carp!” I said accusingly.
    â€œAh, so that’s why you’re crying,” she smiled. “We killed him so that we could have a traditional Christmas. If you kill a carp and dry some of his scales and put them in your purse, it means you’ll have lots of money next year. Besides, if we didn’t kill him, he would have died anyway. Once you take a fish out of its pond, it doesn’t last very long.”
    â€œBut I liked him.”
    â€œWell, we’ll be having him for dinner,” my mother explained. “And he’ll taste very nice, because he was fresh. Fresh fish always tastes better than the fish you can buy at the market.” (The only fish you could buy at the market was the kind that came in cans.)
    My mother pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and made me blow my nose. She ruffled my hair and talked to me until I cheered up, and then she took me into the living room where my sister was sitting with her book.
    â€œWhy don’t you take Dominika for a walk?” my mother asked her. “You could go to the river and feed the swans.”
    â€œNow?” my sister frowned. “Isn’t it early? What time is the Baby Jesus supposed to come?”
    â€œI think he might be a little early this year,” my mother said. “Dominika’s a bit restless and a walk might do her good.”
    â€œCan we take Barry?” I asked.
    â€œYes, take Barry with you,” my mother agreed. “He’s alone in the garden, looking miserable.”
    I glanced out of the living-room window and saw Barry’s huge head sticking out of his kennel. His face was sad and the bags around his eyes seemed even bigger than usual.
    â€œ Ahoj, Barry!” I called out.
    Barry immediately cheered up. He emerged from his kennel, wagging his tail.
    â€œWe’re going to feed the swans!” I told him.
    Klara let out a deep sigh and went to put on her jacket and a scarf. She was thirteen now, and the novelty of having a little sister had worn off. She had become quiet, because I did enough talking for both of us and the older I got the harder it was for her to get a word in edgewise.
    â€œWhat time do you want us to come back?” she asked.
    â€œLet’s see.” My mother checked her watch. “It’s