‘She had been very tired recently,’ Sofia whispered. ‘Then this evening after dinner she cried out, a horrible groaning noise. When I went over to her she was unconscious. Then after I came back from telephoning you she had gone. I left poor Paco alone with her.’ She kissed the boy’s head. ‘I should not have; I should have been here.’

‘You did all you could.’

‘It is better this way,’ she said again, dully. ‘Sometimes she used to wet the bed. It upset her terribly, she would cry.’ She shook her head. ‘You should have known Mama before she was ill, she was so strong, she took care of us all. Papa did not want me to go to university but Mama always supported me.’ She looked over at the photograph, her mother in her wedding dress, standing between her husband and her brother the priest, all of them smiling into the camera.

Harry held her tightly. ‘Poor Sofia. I don’t know how you’ve endured it all.’ She held him tightly. At length there were footsteps on the stairs. ‘Here’s Barbara,’ Harry said. ‘She’ll have sorted something out.’

She looked at him. ‘You know her well?’

He kissed her forehead. ‘For a long time. But only as a friend.’

Barbara came in, her face red from the cold. ‘I got through to the hospital. They’re sending an ambulance, but it may be some time.’ She produced a paper bag from her coat. ‘I stopped at a bodega, got us some brandy. I thought we could all do with some.’

‘Oh, well done,’ Harry said.

Sofia fetched some tumblers and Barbara poured them each a stiff measure. Paco, curious, asked for some, and they gave him a little mixed with water. He screwed up his face. ‘Ugh,’ he said. ‘¡Es horroroso!’ It broke the tension and they all laughed, a little hysterically.

‘It is not respectful we should laugh,’ Sofia said guiltily.

‘Sometimes you just have to,’ Barbara said. She looked round the flat, taking in the damp-stained walls and the broken-down furniture, then lowering her eyes guiltily as she saw Sofia studying her.

‘You are a nurse, senõra?’ Sofia added. ‘Do you work as a nurse here?’

‘No, not now. I’m – I’m married to a British businessman. He went to school with Harry.’

‘Barbara did some voluntary work at one of the church orphanages,’ Harry said. ‘She couldn’t stand it.’

‘No, it was an awful place.’ Barbara smiled at Sofia. ‘Harry said you trained as a medical student.’

‘Yes, until the Civil War came. Do you have women doctors in England?’

‘Some. Not many.’

‘There were three of us in my year at university. Sometimes the teachers did not know what to make of us. You could see they were embarrassed at the things they had to show us.’

Barbara smiled. ‘Not ladylike?’

‘Yes. Though in the war everyone saw such things.’

‘I know. I was in Madrid for a while, working for the Red Cross.’ She turned to Paco. ‘How old are you, ninõ?’

‘Ten.’

‘Do you go to school?’

He shook his head.

‘He couldn’t cope,’ Sofia said. ‘Besides, the new schools are useless, full of Nationalist veterans without teaching experience. I try to teach him at home.’

There were footsteps on the stairs, heavy male footsteps. Sofia drew her breath in sharply. ‘That will be Enrique.’ She got up. ‘Let me speak to him alone. Would you take Paco into the kitchen, please.’

‘Come on, young man.’ Barbara took the boy’s hand and Harry followed her. He lit the stove; Barbara pointed to a book on the table to distract Paco as a murmur of voices came from outside. The book had a green cover, a picture of a boy and girl walking together to school.

‘What is that book?’

Paco bit his lip, listening to the voices outside. Harry heard Enrique’s voice, a sudden anguished cry.

‘What is it?’ Barbara went on, trying to distract him.

‘My old schoolbook. From when I went to school before Mama and Papa were taken. I liked it.’

Barbara opened it and pushed it towards him. They could hear crying outside, a man crying. Paco looked at the door again. ‘Show me,’ Barbara said gently. ‘Just for a few minutes. It is good to leave Sofia and Enrique together for a little.’

‘I remember that book,’ she added. ‘The Meras showed it to me once. Carmel had a copy.’ Her eyes filled with tears. Harry realized that behind the forced brightness she was at the end of her tether. She turned to Paco. ‘Look at all the sections. History, geography, arithmetic.’

‘I used to like geography,’ Paco said. ‘Look at the pictures, all the countries in the world.’

It was quiet again outside. Harry got up. ‘I’ll see how they are. Stay with Paco.’ He squeezed Barbara’s shoulder and went back into the main room. Enrique was sitting on the bed with Sofia. He looked up at Harry, a bitter expression Harry had never seen before on his pale tear-stained face, making it ugly.

‘You see all our family dramas, inglés.’

‘I’m sorry, Enrique.’

‘It’s not Harry’s fault,’ Sofia said.

‘If only he could see us with some dignity. We had dignity once, senõr, you know that?’

There was a knock at the door. Sofia sighed. ‘That must be the ambulance.’ But as she approached the door it opened and Senõra Avila’s thin face peered in. She wore a black shawl round her head, the ends held tightly in her hand.

‘Pardon me, but I heard crying, is something wrong – oh.’ She saw the body on the bed and crossed herself. ‘Oh, poor Senõra Roque. Poor lady. But she is at peace now, with God.’ She looked curiously at Harry.

Sofia stood up. ‘Senõra Avila, we would rather be alone, please. We are waiting for them to take our mother away.’

The beata looked round the room. ‘Where is Paco? The pobrecito.’

‘In the kitchen. With another friend.’

‘You should have a priest at this time,’ the old woman said wheedlingly. ‘Let me fetch Padre Fernando.’

Something seemed to snap inside Sofia. Harry felt it almost physically, as though a crack had sounded in the room. She stood up and marched up to Senõra Avila. The older woman was taller but she flinched back.

‘Listen to me, you old vulture, we do not want Padre Fernando here!’ Sofia’s voice rose to a shout. ‘However long you try to sneak him into our house, however long you try to get hold of Paco, you will never succeed! You are not welcome here, do you understand? Now go!’

Senõra Avila drew herself up to her full height, her pale face reddening.

‘This is how you greet a neighbour who comes to help you, this is how you greet Christian charity? Padre Fernando is right, you are enemies of the church—’

Enrique got up from the bed. He crossed to Senõra Avila, his hands clenched into fists. The beata backed away.

‘Go and denounce us to the priest then, you dried-up old bitch! You who got a whole flat to yourself because your priest is friends with the block leader!’

‘My father was killed by the Communists,’ the beata replied shakily. ‘I had nowhere.’

‘I spit on your father! Get out!’ Enrique raised a fist. Senõra Avila gave a cry and ran out of the flat, slamming the door. Enrique sat down on the foot of the bed, breathing in great gasps. Sofia sat wearily next to him. Barbara came out and stood in the kitchen doorway.

‘I’m sorry,’ Enrique said. ‘I shouldn’t have shouted at her.’

‘It doesn’t matter. If she reports us we can say you were overcome with grief.’

Enrique bowed his head, clasping his bony hands together on his knees. From somewhere outside Harry heard a faint howling sound. It grew louder, seeming to come from a dozen places at once.

‘What on earth is that?’ Barbara asked, her voice shaky.

Sofia looked up. ‘The dogs. The wild dogs. At this time of year they sometimes howl with cold. It is a sign winter is truly here.’