Walking up the stairs having left her pram in the kind bursar’s office and carrying her baby, Hana ripped the sticky label off her jumper. In case of a fire it was hardly likely the fire brigade would pull the building apart looking for ‘Minnie Mouse.’ At the top of the stairs, Hana paused and looked over the bannister to the parquet floor below. The broad staircase was an original feature of the old building. Two sets of steps approached a wide landing, running diagonally towards each other, symmetrical and identical like a pair of open arms. The boys were meant to go up and down one side, leaving the other free for staff, but often both sides were a free for all in the rush between lessons. The wood was a dark chocolate brown, shining from over a hundred years of polish and wear. It stil
