‘Crikey, I never knew there were so much space.’

Holly gave her a weak smile. ‘It’s even nicer in the summer when the sheep and cows are grazing in the fields,’ she informed her. ‘But I dare say they’ll all be in their barns for the winter now. It is nearly Christmas, after all.’

The thought of the festive season away from home suddenly brought a lump to her throat and she hastily turned to stare from the other window so that Ivy wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes. It would be a very lonely time for her mother without her there, she was sure, and guilt stabbed at her like a knife.

It was soon clear that Ivy was thinking along the same lines for she suddenly blurted out, ‘I hope yer mam don’t get into trouble about me comin’ with yer. She were goin’ to tell yer gran’father later today. I popped to see me mam last night to explain.’ She sniffed loudly and withdrawing a scrap of linen that had been torn from an old sheet she noisily blew her nose. ‘Not that she much cared,’ she said sadly. ‘The only thing she’ll miss is me wages.’

Holly’s soft heart melted and hotching along the seat she placed her arm about Ivy’s thin shoulders. ‘They’ll all be fine without us. And we’ve got each other so we’ll be all right.’ She wasn’t sure if she was trying to reassure Ivy or herself. Suddenly they were just two young women stepping into the unknown. It was a very daunting thought.

Chapter Four

By the time the train drew into Euston Station they were both hungry and thirsty and more than a little apprehensive about the journey they had embarked on. Neither of them had eaten much at breakfast and so Holly suggested, ‘Why don’t we find somewhere we can get something to eat and then we’ll start to look for a place to stay? We can look for a job tomorrow.’

Ivy nodded, her face solemn as she stared at the crowds of people milling around them. She had never seen so many people all in one place before and was feeling a little overwhelmed. They followed a throng of people who all seemed to be heading for the exit and emerged into Euston Square where an old man with a grubby bandage wrapped around his eyes was sitting against a wall with a bowl in front of him. As they passed he asked pathetically, ‘Spare a penny fer an old blind man?’

Holly’s soft heart made her reach into her purse and drop some coins into his bowl before they tentatively went on with no idea whatsoever of where they were going. An old lady was selling little posies of dried heather and there was a cart of pies and peas. Beside this, a woman was selling tiny bags of food for the pigeons that hopped across the pavements and perched on the roofs. The streets were alive with traffic – horse-drawn cabs and carts, as well as motor cars, which were a rarity back home. The vehicles seemed to be coming from every direction, with the cars sounding their horns and the drivers of the horse-drawn vehicles shouting at their horses and any pedestrians who got in their way. It was so noisy Holly could hardly hear herself think and there was not a patch of grass to be seen. Instead, everywhere she looked, the buildings towered above them, belching thick black smoke from their chimneys. Suddenly she felt very small and vulnerable.