Vaisey came in just before the gig began again. Her hair looked like mad hair and she was all blushy. Flossie said, “What have you been up to?”

Vaisey said, “Well, you know, we, well, Jack was all excited about, well, his sticks and everything, you know.”

Jo said, “Never mind about his sticks, what kind of snogging did you do?”

Vaisey looked even redder.

“Well, we … He held my …”

We all shouted, “WHAT??? Your what??”

I said, “Your corkers, did he hold your corkers? Your bottom, was it your bottom?”

Vaisey said, “No, of course not. He held my hand—”

Jo said, “Aaaah, that’s sweet, he held your hand. How lovely and romantic, holding your hand.”

Vaisey said, “No, no, he held, well, he held my handbag. In case it was … heavy.”

Crikey. I couldn’t think of anything to say.

There was no sign of Honey. I wondered where she was?

Oooh, there she was, over by the bar talking to Ben.

He looked like she had hypnotized him.

The Bottomlys came back into the hall. They were with a big crowd of village girls, gathered round Beverley near the edge of the stage. Beverley looked like she had been crying. Eccles put her arm around Beverley’s shoulders and glared at us.

Why, what had we done?

Eccles was chewing on something (possibly cow heel) and said loudly, “Dun’t take no notice of these posh twits and dun’t take no notice of ’im, he’s a bad un, Beverley, all of them Hinchcliffs are.”

Beverley was snuffling. But she’s got quite a loud voice so we could hear what she was saying. “He said that I was allus moaning on and that he wanted his freedom.”

Eccles said, “Well, give him his bloody freedom then, let him sling his hook.”

Then the lights dimmed and the big lad from The Blind Pig leapt onstage and said, “Once again, it’s them, they’re back. Our very own local boys made good. Well all right, maybe not good, there’s been the odd feighting but here they are, they’re loud, they’re proud, they are … The Jones!!!!!” Jack came on (yes, with his new sticks) and started doing a drum roll, and Ruben came on and took a bow, then Seth, who spat out his chewing gum and took up his guitar. And last Cain ambled on.

He said, “Are you still here?”

I thought he was talking to the audience but realized he was looking straight at Beverley.

He started singing a low really menacing song.

I said to the girls, “Is he singing ‘Put your coat on, girl, you’re leaving’?”

They nodded.

And he was singing it directly to Beverley. She was dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.

She looked at him and he looked back and then still singing, he went to the edge of the stage and brought on a coat. It was Beverley’s coat that she had on when she came in. He threw it off the stage at her. She caught it and the crowd went, “Ooooohh,” although a boy did call out, “Well held, that big lass!!!” and Beverley rushed sobbing out of the hall.