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Melissa was on the doorstep for a couple of minutes before a light came on in the passage; she had to wait another couple of minutes for the door to open, and the moment it did she burst into tears.
She felt vaguely ashamed at collapsing emotionally, but that disappeared as her grandmother stepped out of the house and wrapped comforting arms around her. They remained like that for a minute or so, until her sobs subsided, at which point Melissa allowed her grandmother to lead her into the house and down the passage to the kitchen, where she was pressed into a seat. She put the batch of papers she had brought with her on the table, but that was as much as she could bring herself to do, after that she simply sat there, her cheeks wet with tears as she stared ahead, looking at nothing.
“
