Windy

It was a grey afternoon and London's houses were filled with light and the streets were almost empty.

Digory followed Polly through the tunnel behind the houses into his own. It was strange entering his aunt's house that way, but he was supposed to be at Polly's house and not come back until the evening, and that was the only way of coming here without his aunt asking too many questions.

It has been four years since he'd seen the tunnel for the first time and yet the same excitement still filled him he'd felt the first time.

They entered his uncle's old room, now everything dusty and unused, since Andrew had been living with him and his parents.

Polly shut the door behind them and then they sneaked down to where Digory thought his mother would be. Polly waited for him at the staircase.

"Mother?", Digory asked into the room, before he even knew if his mother was in it.
"Digory?", she replied, looking up from her book.
She didn't seem to wonder at all where her ason was coming from.

"So, you know how my…cousin? Was it my cousin?"
His mother nodded.
"How my cousin is celebrating his birthday on Saturday?"

"I think I do know, since we came to London for that", Mable answered.

"Well, Polly's parents are away on Saturday and she'd be alone all day long", Digory came to his actual point.

Mable smiled, knowing what her son's plan was.
"Does she know where we're going?"
Digory nodded.

"No one's going to notice anyway with all these people around", he said. "And even if they do, what difference would it make?"
His family was terribly big, his father had around seven siblings, although Digory wasn't sure about that. He just knew a few of his family members, and these he didn't know very well.

Mable laughed out loud.
"I'm sure most people won't even know me", he defended his statement.
"I'm sure they will", his mother said.

"We'll see", Digory replied.
"Now, to get back to Polly-"

"If she's alright with coming with us, then she'll gladly come along", Mable said. "You might want to ask your father later when he comes home, but I'm sure he'll agree too."

Digory nodded. "I will. Thank you."
He turned around, but then stopped.
"Oh, and she has to leave around 4", he said.

Then he ran out of the room, yelling:"Polls, I've got splendid news!"

Mable chuckled and returned to her book.

⊱

Soon enough Saturday had come, and with Polly, the Kirkes made their way to the hall where the birthday was being held. Digory had never been there in the short time he'd been to London, and Polly had always just seen it from outside.

It was terribly windy, and she was very glad that Digory was walking next to her on the side the wind was coming from.

"Are you nervous?", Digory asked, as his parents were walking ahead.
"No", Polly answered. "Maybe a bit."
"I would burst with nervousness", Digory said.

"How good I'm not you then", Polly replied.
She saw very well that Digory was already almost bursting now.
She knew very well that if she was nervous, she'd had a good reason for it. But what was supposed to happen?
The worst case was that she'd be sent away.

But Mable had told her she'd reached out to the birthday-cousin, and confirmed Polly's appearance at the celebration was alright, so that was not very likely to happen.

Digory was almost bouncing up and down when they entered the hall. Inside, there were already terribly many people. Digory didn't seem to recognise anyone.

A young man walked towards them, Mr. Kirke's face flushing with joy of reunion and recognition.
It was apparently the birthday cousin, whose name, as Polly learned, was Henry.

He greeted Mable, after hugging Mr. Kirke, and then he greeted Polly.
"You must be Polly", he said, grinning.
She nodded.
"Happy birthday", she said.
"Thank you. I'm happy you're here."

His smile was genuine, his eyes vividly alive and he was so, so different from Digory, so different that she couldn't have imagined they were cousins.

She watched with glee as Digory awkwardly shook his hand.
He muttered something when he came back to stand next to her, but Polly didn't want to ask.

Time went by quickly. People introduced themselves to her, and some to Digory, although most of them knew him, which didn't mean he knew them, but apparently that was how it was like in big families. She wouldn't have known, she had a very small one.

Generally it seemed like all the younger people didn't know each other while all the adults shared old stories and jokes.

The food was delicious, and there was a lot.
Some held talks about Henry, and some younger children recited a poem.

And then it got quiet, very quiet, when somebody, probably Henry's brother, took a violin, no, a fiddle, and started playing. The people started dancing, and those who weren't dancing were clapping and it was a wonderful sight.

Four o'clock came quicker than Polly had thought it would come.
"Polls", Digory said. She turned to him, her eyes gleaming happily. "It's four."

Surprised, she looked at the clock. "Already?"

Mable turned to her, and then to the clock. "Oh Polly", she said. "That's a pity."

"I guess I'll go and say goodbye", she said quietly, the glistening in her eyes disappeared.

She got up to walk to Henry, and Digory got up with her. "I'll come with you", he said. Polly grinned.

Together they made their way to Henry, who was standing at the other side of the room. When he saw their saddened faces, he sent a glance at his watch.

"Oh, you were leaving at four, right?", he said before Polly could even open her mouth.
"Yes. I'm terribly sorry", she said. "I wish I could stay longer, but my parents told me to come home then."

"Please, it's alright! I hope you had a good time", he said.
"Just splendid", she grinned.
Digory thought there was some sort of reddish colour rising into her cheeks.

"That's good. I hope we meet again one day."

She nodded. "That would be great."

He shook her hand and shared his vibrant smile again, before she and Digory returned to his parents.

"Thank you for taking me", Polly said.

"Oh dear, you don't need to thank us. It was wonderful having you here!", Mable answered.

"I'll accompany you home", Digory suddenly said.
His father seemed to nod, just a little, but Digory was sure he'd seen it.

"It's just a few streets, really", Polly protested.

"No, no, I'll come with you."

After a final goodbye, they made their way to the door and onto the street.

The wind was blowing even stronger now, leaves flying around everywhere. One hit Digory's face and Polly laughed.

"Oh just laugh, I'm sure you had a wonderful day", he grumbled, hands in his pockets.

"Is something wrong?", she asked, finally.

"Why, if that was my family, was everyone more happy to see you than they were to see me?", he asked. "And why did you have more fun than me?"

"Maybe because I tried having fun", she snapped and started walking faster.
She knew very well that he could have had fun if he had wanted to, and if he had chosen not to sulk over her getting more attention.

"Oh, I'm sorry that I have feelings!", he snapped back, catching up with her.

"Well then why did you want to walk me home and not spend that time with your family?", she almost yelled.

"Because maybe I'd like to spend my time more with someone who usually makes me happy than with people who did not!"

Polly stopped.
"I make you happy?", she asked.

"If you're not screaming at me", Digory replied.

"You started."

"I did not."

"Yes, you did."

"Shut up."