There was an exclamation so loud that Mo heard it distinctly, and also the sentence which followed. ‘You keep your hands on them kids and we’ll claim the reward, half each,’ the woman said. She must have then asked how long the trio would remain in Banc-y-Celyn, for Mrs Hughes replied: ‘Till Monday, that Miss Trent said, so we’re all right for a bit, but we’ll have to talk again because I’m in me nightgown and fair freezin’. But I’ll ring you again after nine o’clock, when they’ll be out of the house. Do you know who’s givin’ the reward? The scuffers?’

This time Mo was so keen to hear the answer that she actually pushed the parlour door a little wider and heard the reply distinctly. ‘I’m not sure. It could be the Huxtables, I reckon, whoever they are. But I’ll speak to my mate and find out a bit more.’

By the time Mrs Hughes put the phone down Mo was halfway up the stairs, and she shot into her bedroom to find Glenys sitting up and staring at the alarm clock. She began to ask where Mo had been but Mo jumped into bed and clapped a hand over the teacher’s mouth.

‘Hush,’ she whispered urgently. ‘I’ll tell you what I’ve been doin’ in a minute, when Witchy has gone back to bed.’

Mo told the story rather well, she thought, though she left out any allusion to the black cat. It had, after all, only been a dream. And she was glad she had said nothing about Solly when Glenys accepted her story without question and began to look for her clothes. ‘As soon as you’re dressed you nip up to Jimmy’s room and wake him,’ she hissed. ‘We’ve got to get away from here. Tell Jimmy to dress like lightning and pack his stuff into his bag. Are you sure she’s gone back to bed, love? Only I don’t fancy walking into her . . .’ she glanced at the alarm clock, ‘at five in the morning and explaining that we’re doing a moonlight.’

Mo nodded. ‘I heard her bedroom door shut,’ she said, and disappeared to wake her brother.

Presently all three of them foregathered in the kitchen, Jimmy still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. ‘What I don’t understand . . .’ he began, but was interrupted.

‘Explanations can come later; you’ve got the bare facts and that will have to be enough for now,’ Glenys said. ‘We’ll catch the first train that leaves the station.’

They let themselves out into the windy darkness. Glenys had left the outstanding rent on the kitchen table with a note to Mrs Hughes explaining untruthfully that they were going back to Liverpool since she had heard that a job awaited her. Then they made their way to the station, only feeling safe once they were on board a moving train, heading deeper into Wales. Glenys had made each of them a packet of sandwiches and had left an extra few shillings so that Mrs Hughes could not accuse them of stealing her food as well as cheating her of the reward. ‘Not that she’d ever have got a penny out of the Huxtables,’ Jimmy remarked, sinking back in his seat, as outside the window the countryside grew lighter. ‘What’ll we do, Auntie Glenys, if we don’t find our mam’s relatives? As you said, we can’t run for ever.’