The girls flew towards him, putting the elastic of their hats under their chins as they ran.

The tree and the box lay on the frozen earth.

The air breathed dark, frosty, electric.
"Hold it up straight," he said to Millicent, as he arranged the tree in the box.

She stood silent and held the top bough, he filled in round the roots.
When it was done, and pressed in, he went for the wheelbarrow.

The girls were hovering excited round the tree.