midday
And now this is the story of his Odyssey . It happened on a wet April afternoon . The morning had been fine , a golden morning with the scent in the air of the showers that had fallen during the night . Then , suddenly , after midday , the rain came down , splashing on to the shining pavements as it fell , beating on to the windows and then running , in little lines , on to the ledges and falling from there in slow , heavy drops . The sky was black , the statues in the garden dejected , the almond tree beaten , all the little paths running with water , and on the garden seats the rain danced like a live thing . The children -- Lucy , Roger , Dorothy , Robert , Bim , and Timothy -- were , of course , in the nursery . The nurse was toasting her toes on the fender and enjoying immensely that story by Mrs. Henry Wood , entitled `` The Shadow of Ashlydyat . ''