A pot of jam

Sister Madeline was very old. Kit and Clio didnt know exactly how old, but very old. She was oder than their parents, they thought. Oder than Mother Bernhard. Fifty, or sixty or seventy.

You wouldnt know. Clio had once asked her. They couldnt remember exactly what Sister Madeline had said, but she certainly hadnt answered the question.

She had a way of saying something else entirely, which was a little bit connected With what you had asked, so that you didnt feel you had been rude, but which wasnt anywhere near telling you.

"A pot of jam." said Sister Madeline With excitement, as if she were a child getting a bicycle as a surprise. "Isnt that the nicest thing we could have.. Will we all have tea?"

It was exciting having tea there, Not boring like at home. There was an open fire and a kettle hanging in a hook. People had given Sister Madeline little stoves and cookers in the past, but she had always passend them on to someone less fortunate.

She managed to insult nobody by this recycling of gifts, but you knew that if you gave her anything for own comfort, like a rug or some cushions, it would end up in the caravan of a traveling family or someone who needed it more.

The people of Lough Glass had got used to giving the hermit only What she could use in her own daily life.

The place Was so simple and spare it was almost as if nobody lived there. No possessions, no pictures on the Walls, only a cross made out of some simply carved wood.

There were mugs, and a jug of milk that someone must have brought her during the day. There Was a loaf of bread that had been baked by another friend. She cut slices and spread the jam as if it were a feast that she was preparing.

Clio and Kit had never enjoyed bread and jam like it before. Little ducks walked in the door in the sunlight ; Sister Madeline put down her plate so that they could pick at her crumbs.

It was always peaceful there; even restless Clio didnt need to be jumping up and moving about. "Tell me something you learned at school today. I love facts for my mind." Sister Madeline said.