Hoisting the ladder, I walked over to the tower. My husband Harry followed behind me, carrying Sioni’s dinner.

I called up for my daughter to open her window. Her pale face appeared at the casement.

“Oh it’s you again. My jailers. What do you want now?”

“Very funny, young lady. Keep that up and it’s no dessert for you.”

“OK, OK, no need to do anything drastic. I’m standing back now.” Sioni disappeared from the window and I took the tray of food from my husband and prepared to climb up the ladder.

My husband held the ladder straight for me. “Be careful, dear.”

“You know I always am, my love,” I said with a wink.

In a few minutes, I was at the window and climbing into Sioni’s room. It was a mess, as usual. There were books all over the floor, upturned cups and dishes scattered here and there. I almost tripped over her chamberpot as I walked over to the table and placed the tray down.

“You really should do something about this mess, Sioni.”

“Yeah, yeah, you said that yesterday. Are there any apples?”