Colin held out his hand to her. 'I've wanted to see you for a long time,'he said.
'Dear boy!' Susan Sowerby whispered, holding his hand. 'You're so like your mother!'
'Do you think.' asked Colin carefully, 'that will make my father like me?'
'I'm sure it will,' she answered warmly. 'He must see you - he must come home now.'
'You see how healthy the boy is, Susan?' asked old Ben. 'Look how strong and straight his legs are now!'
'Yes,' she laughed. 'Playing and working outside, and eating good Yorkshire food, has made him strong. And Miss Mary too,' she added, turning to Mary. 'Mrs Medlock heard that your mother was a pretty woman. You'll soon be as pretty as she was.'
'Do you believe in magic?' Colin asked her.
'I do,' she answered,' but everybody gives it a different name. It makes the sun shine and the seeds grow - and it has made you healthy.'
She sat down on the grass and stayed for a while, talking and laughing with the children in the quiet, sunny garden. When she stood up to leave, Colin suddenly put out a hand to her.
'I wish - you were my mother!' he whispered.
Mrs Sowerby put her arms round him and held him to her. 'Dear boy! You're as close to your mother as you could be, here in her garden. And your father'll come back soon!'