A man, a woman and a child sat at breakfast in the kitchen of their flat. On the wall hung a calendar, open at the current month, June 2010.
As the man raised his coffee cup, his eye lit on the calendar, and he put down the cup and checked the date on his watch.
‘The seventeenth,’ he said to his wife. ‘Amazing! D’you realize it’s two years ago today that Gran died? And almost as long since Mother and Father moved into the old house. Time flies, doesn’t it?’
His wife nodded, mopping the child’s face, which was jammy.
‘It was good,’ she said, ‘that your grandmother lived long enough to see this messy sticky person.’
‘I must have told you a dozen times,’ said the man, ‘of the prophecy she made – just before my tenth birthday, I think it was.’
‘Yes, you have. And don’t you think maybe the time has come to fulfil that prophecy? After all, somebody not a hundred miles away is going to be five in the autumn. And so far she’s never even set eyes on you-know-who.’
‘Should we wait till her birthday?’ said the man.
‘Well,’ said his wife, ‘I just suddenly thought it would be nice if it happened today, on the anniversary of your grandmother’s death, as you were so fond of her. Go on, why don’t you, Ned?’
The presentation took place that evening.
All the years since the day when the magic cord between Lady Daisy Chain and Ned had snapped, she had lain, in her cot, inside an old tin trunk that had belonged to Ned’s grandfather. There was no need for mothballs or mouse-poison, for the trunk was proof against such invaders, and only the sweet smell of a lavender-sachet wafted out as Ned opened the lid.
The small girl was dumbstruck when first she saw the doll. Then after a while she said, ‘Is it for me?’
‘Not “it”,’ said Ned. ‘“She”. She is called Lady Daisy Chain, and, yes, you can look after her if you’d like. Take her out – see, the side of the cot drops down like this.’
The small girl pulled back the bedclothes, and lifted out the doll, and held her up before her face.
Lady Daisy’s baby-blue eyes opened wide.
‘Who in the world are you?’ she said.
‘She talked to me!’ the child cried. ‘Mummy, she talked to me!’
Her mother smiled.
‘Did she, darling?’ she said.
‘Daddy, she talked to me!’
‘What did she say?’ asked Ned.
‘She said, “Who in the world are you?”’
‘Well,’ said Ned, ‘you must tell her. But first, give her my love, will you?’
‘Please, Lady Daisy Chain,’ said the small girl, ‘Daddy sends you his love.’
‘Daddy?’ said the doll. ‘What is your daddy’s name?’
‘He’s called Ned.’
‘Oh!’ cried Lady Daisy Chain. ‘You are Ned’s daughter? Oh, how lovely! To think, I am still with the family! What a happy awakening! Pray tell me, child, what is your name?’
‘My name,’ said the small girl, ‘is Victoria.’
THE BEGINNING
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First published by Viking 1992
Published in Puffin Books 1993
Text copyright © Fox Busters Limited, 1992
Illustrations copyright © Valerie Littlewood, 1992
All rights reserved
The moral right of the author has been asserted
ISBN: 978-0-241-42149-9
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
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