The Sun Sister (The Seven Sisters #6) - Lucinda Riley Page 0,245

here when she’s better?’

‘We’ll see. Now, do you want to try reading me a story tonight?’ she said, indicating the old book and sitting down on the bed.

Lankenua was definitely better the following morning. Her fever had abated, and even though the cough still sounded vicious, Cecily was pleased that she was able to sip a little water.

‘Sorry, Missus Cecily, I big trouble,’ Lankenua sighed.

‘Not at all,’ Cecily comforted her. ‘Now, I’ll be back to give you your next injection this afternoon. Meantime, I’m taking Stella off shopping.’

‘I good,’ Lankenua nodded. ‘You go.’

‘Rest now,’ said Cecily, putting some more coal on the fire. ‘And we’ll be back to tell you all about it later.’

Cecily and Stella’s first port of call was the children’s clothes department at Bloomingdale’s. Stella’s eyes widened at the racks of dresses and pinafores that she could choose from. An assistant – who’d given them a strange look when Cecily had approached her – was following them closely along the aisles as the two of them picked out things for Stella to try on.

‘Don’t you look a picture,’ Cecily smiled as Stella twirled in front of the mirror, wearing a pale orange dress, the skirt made up of layers of net and tulle. ‘It’s perfect for Christmas Day and sets off your colouring to perfection!’ Cecily clapped her hands together, not caring about the shop assistant’s disdainful expression. ‘Now, let’s choose some sensible warm clothes, shall we?’

Having arranged for the two large bags of new clothes to be sent down to Archer and the car, Cecily and Stella – now dressed in a red Harris Tweed coat with a velvet collar and shiny brass buttons, complete with a matching beret – left the clothes department to head for the toys. The queue to see Santa was a long one; it seemed every parent in Manhattan had had the same idea.

‘Look, Mama,’ said the little boy standing in front of them. ‘She’s black like a pickaninny!’ The boy pointed at Stella.

‘Jeremy! Please, hush now,’ the mother reprimanded her son, but nonetheless turned to stare at Cecily and Stella.

‘And you are white like Kuyia,’ Stella said, pointing back at him, not in the least perturbed. A few seconds later, mother and son had left the queue. Cecily held her breath, waiting for any more comments, while Stella amused herself by pointing out the dolls on the shelves and the life-sized bear that sat against a pillar with a Santa Claus hat on its head.

‘Look!’ exclaimed Cecily. ‘It’s a lion, like the ones at home!’ Stella broke away to run towards the toy. ‘It won’t bite, will it?’ she said as she approached it with Cecily following in her wake. ‘It’s only pretend, isn’t it?’

‘Of course it is,’ Cecily said, as Stella threw her arms around the head of the life-sized lion.

‘Oh! I’ve always wanted to hug a lion,’ Stella giggled as all the other mothers and children in the queue looked on at the display.

‘Tell you what, honey, let’s not wait in this great long line to see Santa right now. Let’s go and buy some gifts for Lankenua and my mama and papa, then go home and put the note to Santa up the chimney as we normally do, okay?’

Stella looked longingly at the man dressed all in red and white, sitting on the dais, and sighed. ‘I guess the line is kind of long,’ she agreed.

Cecily did not look back to see all the eyes following their exit.

Back at home later, Stella duly wrote her letter to Santa, with Cecily mentally noting the items she wanted. The big furry lion was top of her list.

‘But I can’t see how he would get it down the chimney, honey,’ Cecily said as they sat in front of the fire in her bedroom, toasting the s’mores – chocolate and marshmallow melted between graham crackers – which were Stella’s new favourite treat.

‘True,’ Stella agreed, taking a sticky marshmallow off the toasting fork that Cecily held out and squashing it like Cecily had shown her between chocolate and two crackers. ‘But Michael told me he got a bicycle from Santa last year.’

‘I’ll tell you a secret, I happen to know there’s a real-life lion in Central Park,’ Cecily whispered.

‘Really? He must be cold out there in the snow,’ replied Stella as she stood up and went to the window.

‘Oh, he’s okay; he has a whole house to himself. Now, why don’t you come help me wrap some gifts in this pretty paper?’

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