Prologue
he sun streams through the open patio doors. An elderly man is surrounded by his grandchildren; he cannot be tempted out into the brightness of the garden as he has misplaced his hat, but he has permitted his armchair to be moved closer to the door so that the grandchildren spill out on to the grass as they listen to him. There is a bowl of strawberries on a small table beside him, and glasses of apple juice with melting ice cubes and soggy straws. ‘You promised us another story about Whetherwhy,’ one grandchild says. ‘We want to know what happens next,’ another says. ‘Can you remember what happened in the last chronicle, before you find out what happens next?’ asks the grandfather with a whiskery smile. 1