Jan picked up the telephone and called her sisters number, but there was only an answerphone message: 'I'm sorry. There's no-one available to take your call. Please leave a message after the beep.'

Jan tried to make her message as calm as possible.

'Hello, Kate. This is Jan. I'm sorry, but you'll have to come down to Mother's. We've got to talk. I can't go on like this. It's becoming impossible. I know you're always busy, but you'll have to come. I can't manage with Mother any more. Please call me back at Mother's house as soon as you can.'

Her mother's voice called weakly from the next room.

'Who was that, dear?'

'No-one important. Don't worry, Mum.'

'Well, if I don't worry, who's going to worry? Someone has to do the worrying'

'It's OK, Mum. Really.'

'Oh good. Did you have a nice time then?'

'Sorry?'

'Didn't you go on holiday somewhere?'

'Not me, Mum. That was Mrs Jenkins from next door.'

'Oh. Who are you then?'

'Mum. I'm Jan. I'm your daughter. Surely you can recognise me.'

'Oh yes. That's right. The trouble is, there's too much to remember. I can't remember everything, you know.'

'I know that, Mum. I know.'

Jan sighed. It was late on Sunday afternoon. The room was already getting dark. On the table there was a bowl of rotting fruit - the bananas were black, the oranges brown. On the shelf above stood her parents' wedding photograph in a silver frame. It was yellow with age. Next to it stood a framed photo of her sister Kate getting her degree from Oxford University. Then there were pictures of Jan's daughter, Cindy, and Kate's children, Jeremy and Caroline, when they were all on holiday together in Spain in happier times. There was a picture of Kate and her husband and children by the river, in the garden of their beautiful house in Marlow. There were pictures of herself and Kate as children. She picked up a picture of her father. He was carrying Kate on his shoulders. He looked so strong, so confident, so full of life.

There were no photos of Jan with her father. That was typical. He had always loved Kate more. She had been his favourite in everything. Jan remembered how he'd always treated her so badly and Kate so well. When Jan left school she'd had to go out to work, not go to university like Kate. But Kate had had the best of everything. Jan had always felt hurt by it. 'Why were families like this?' she wondered. Anyway, now her father had been dead for nearly four years.

As she put the photograph back, Jan noticed the thick dust on the shelf. She sighed again.