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through the shop doorway, calling, ‘Ta-ra, Billy, we’ll leave yer in peace now.’
    ‘Ta-ra, girls, see yer tomorrow.’
    Amy was grinning as she moved the basket to her other arm so she could walk on the inside and link her friend. ‘I enjoyed, that, girl. We had a good laugh, didn’t we? And in case yer haven’t noticed, the rain’s gone off.’
    ‘It went off twenty minutes ago, sunshine, but you were too busy talking to notice. I’m going to get me stew on, then put me clothes out again. With a bit of luck we’ll get them dry this afternoon.’
    Amy looked at Mary out of the corner of her eye. ‘I heard yer telling your Laura off on Friday night, girl. Had she been giving yer cheek?’
    ‘That’s nothing unusual, is it, Amy? She’s gone really hard-faced and is always giving me cheek. She went too far on Friday, though, and I slapped her face.’
    ‘She is cheeky, I’ll grant yer that. Not only to you, either.’ Amy wanted to say more, but bit on her tongue. She could tell Mary a lot about that eldest daughter of hers, so could many of the neighbours in the street. But everybody kept quiet because, apart from Laura, the Nightingales were well-liked and respected. ‘Never mind, she’ll change when she starts work. It’ll be a case of having to, ’cos if she gets ajob in a factory none of the women will take any lip from her.’
    ‘I hope ye’re right, Amy, because I do worry about her.’
    ‘Of course I’m right.’ Amy squeezed her arm. ‘Vampires are always right, aren’t they?’

Chapter Two
    Mary sat one side of the hearth sewing a seam that had come undone in Jenny’s gymslip, while Stan sat facing her, reading the evening paper. It was the best time of the day for Mary, when the girls were in bed and she and her husband could discuss the events of the day, or sit in companionable silence. At the moment the only sounds in the room were the rustle of newspaper when Stan turned a page, the ticking of the clock and an occasional spurt from one of the coals.
    With a sigh of contentment, Mary sewed the last stitch and snapped the cotton between her teeth. ‘That’s one job done, thank goodness. With a bit of luck Jenny will get a few more months’ wear out of it.’ She rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands. ‘I’ll leave your socks until tomorrow, it’s hopeless trying to sew in this light.’
    Stan looked over the top of the paper. ‘I think the gas is going, love, it’s taking me all me time to read. Yer’d best put a penny in the meter before it goes altogether and we’re left in the dark.’
    ‘I can remember the time when yer’d have been glad to sit in the dark.’ Mary grinned. ‘Stealing kisses when me mam and dad had gone to bed.’
    Stan lowered the paper to his lap. ‘That brings back a few memories. I used to dread the sound of yer mam knocking on the floor with her shoe.’ He chuckled. ‘If she didn’t hear me leave right away, she used to bang so hard I expected the ceiling to cave in on us. I got thedistinct impression she didn’t trust me.’
    ‘All mothers are like that with their daughters. I used to call her for everything, saying she was treating me like a child. Now I’ve got daughters of me own, I understand why she was so protective. I’ll always regret not telling her that she’d been a good mother and I loved her dearly. The trouble is, yer think yer’ve got plenty of time to say all these things; yer don’t expect yer mam to die at fifty-two.’
    ‘Yer mam didn’t need telling, pet, she knew yer loved her.’
    ‘She probably thought me dad loved her, as well. Yer would after being married for nearly thirty years, wouldn’t yer? I thought he doted on her, they always seemed so happy.’ Mary gave a deep sigh. ‘But he couldn’t have loved her that much, could he? Not to have married again six months after she died. And to a girl only half his age. A man of fifty-five, trying to act as young as the girl he’d wed. I’ll never forget