Sacha had no idea how long Kate would take to arrive from the airport, or even if she was serious about getting a taxi, so she just waited in her flat until, after half an hour, there was a knock on the door.

"Hi!" Kate exclaimed long and loud when Sacha opened the door. "How are you? My god, I haven't seen you in so long!" She leaped forward through the doorway to hug Sacha.

"Your hair's longer!" said Sacha, looking at Kate's blonde pony-tail. She looked over Kate's shoulder to the empty stairwell behind her "Where are your bags?"

"In the taxi" said Kate. "Can you give me a hand bringing them up?"

They got to the taxi and, with a nod from Kate, the driver popped the boot open. Kate lifted it high and Sacha looked in in disbelief.

"How much did you bring?" she asked in a tone of awe.

"Well I am going to be here for a week!" Kate protested. "And you keep telling me about how unpredictable the weather is, so . . . I had to pack a lot."

"All the same . . ."

"Anyway" Kate continued, "the big one's empty. I mean, it's Melbourne, come on! The shopping capital of Australia! I'll need to carry all my loot back somehow."

"You're going to fill all of that?"

"Not necessarily. But you never know." Kate looked at the driver watching them in the taxi's wing-mirror. "We better get these out" she said, "I think the meter might still be running."

"So you plan on doing anything else while you're here?" asked Sacha as they lifted the bags out of the boot of the taxi. "Or just shopping?"

Kate could hear the disapproval in Sacha's voice. "Listen, Sacha, I know you've got to work. I'm not expecting you to keep me entertained all day, every day."

"Okay" said Sacha defensively. She hauled the big bag out onto the pavement. "Christ, are you sure this thing's empty? It weighs a tonne."

"I know" Kate sighed. "Is that everything?"

"I think so."

"Okay." Kate went to pay the driver, and the taxi drove off. "So . . . I guess we'd better take these upstairs, then."

"Yep." There was a pause, in which neither of them made a move to pick up the bags. Suddenly, a little awkwardly, Sacha lurched forward and embraced her sister. "It's good to see you" she said.