by Rae Cod

He knelt before her and took her liver-spotted hands in his, as gently as if he was collecting an injured bird. His eyes hadn’t changed since he was a baby, but what a strong young man he’d become. It wasn’t fair he had to carry this on his shoulders, but she could ease his burden.

‘Nonna, we have to go now, I’m sorry.’

She looked at him gently, but her voice was firm as she spoke.

‘I am staying here Nicolai.’

‘Nonna, please…’

‘I am Katrina Van de Vars,’ she interrupted him, ’our family have lived here for five hundred years,five hundred yearsNicolai. I know that doesn’t mean much to you now, but it will one day. It will. I am not made for change any longer. I will stay. If there is a way to salvage our lives here, I will find it and…