Nani and Thea get acquainted as they prepare for Christmas in the tropics

At Christmas time the schools in Port Blair went on holiday even though most students were Hindu or Muslim. The great church on Ross Island decorated its doors with wreaths made of palm fronds and big red bows. Scents from the bakery grew sweeter and stronger, and every now and then the old white ladies being pulled up the ridge in buggies tilted their high reedy voices into songs that Nani knew from school celebrated the birth