The next day started uneventfully. It was only after lunch, when Corrie and Sarah were sitting in the kitchen, that things started to go wrong again.

Sarah sat staring, completely lost in her own thoughts again, her eyes empty. Then suddenly, she began to sing.

'All things bright and beautiful.

All creatures great and small.

All things wise and wonderful.

The Lord God made them all...'

Her voice was high and very shaky on the top notes. And she sang the words of the old Sunday school hymn very deliberately, rolling the 'r's and pronouncing all the final consonants. It was a strange, almost crazy performance.

Sarah suddenly looked straight at Corrie and ordered her to sing too: 'Come on now. All together...' And she began to sing again. All things bright and beautiful. Come on, dear, all together. Join in. Come on.'

Corrie, who had never heard the words or the tune of this hymn before, didn't know what to do.

'Come on, dear. It's a lovely hymn. We used to sing it at Sunday school. Come on...'

And she sang the first verse again, conducting wildly, with her arms spread wide, like some crazy old bird flapping its wings. She moved on to the second verse.

'Come on, you can do better than that,' she told Corrie.

'Each little flower that opens.

Each little bird that sings.

He made their glowing colours.

He made their tiny wings.'

Corrie tried her best to sing along, but Sarah was clearly not satisfied with her efforts.

'Back to the chorus,' she said, and waved her arms even more wildly. 'All things bright and beautiful-'

And that wasn't the end of it. Sarah went on and on, repeating the verses over and over again. Corrie began to wonder if she would ever stop singing.

The week went on and somehow Corrie got used to the old woman and her crazy talk. At times Sarah would act quite normally. But other times she would refuse to eat her food, or throw it on the floor. One morning she woke up and refused to get out of bed. Often she would ask Corrie about her father and mother as if they were still alive. Sometimes she seemed not to recognise Kate, or she thought that Corrie was her daughter. Luckily, Corrie was a patient and kind person, so somehow they got through the week.

On Wednesday evening after supper, Kate asked Corrie again, 'How do you think Mother is now?'

'Madam, I think she very old and maybe she got problem with her memory. But she a nice lady, I think. Maybe she need her family with her.'