‘We’ll get something to eat here,’ Holly said, gesturing to the man selling pies from a cart and feeling totally out of her depth. ‘And there’s a drinking fountain over there, look, so we’ll have a drink of water, which should tide us over until we can find somewhere to get a cup of tea.’

Holly approached the old man and ordered their food. He stared at her curiously as he spooned peas into a bowl. ‘New here, are yer, dearie?’ he enquired.

Holly nodded as she fumbled in her purse for the money to pay him before dropping it carelessly back into her bag.

‘Hmm, I thought as much.’ He handed her the first tray. ‘Well, take a bit of advice from me. Be careful wi’ yer purse. The dippers, or pickpockets as you might know ’em, are rife round here an’ yer don’t even know they’ve dipped yer till yer come to get yer money out again, be it in yer bag or in yer pocket.’

‘Thank you, I’ll remember that.’ Holly hastily did the clasp on her bag up and put it under her arm as she took the second tray and joined Ivy.

As they stood eating their pies they gazed about. Traffic was zooming past them at an alarming rate and Holly thought longingly of the much quieter streets at home. It felt a very long way away and she had to fight down the panic that was threatening to overwhelm her. Everything was so loud and large here and not at all like the pictures of the famous landmarks she had looked at in books. Those pictures had made London seem a very glamorous, adventurous place but in reality she could see now why it was called the big smoke.

The pies were surprisingly tasty and by the time they’d eaten they were both feeling a little more optimistic as they crossed to the drinking fountain and cupped their hands to take a drink.

‘So what do we do now?’ Ivy looked completely lost.

Crossing back to the old man who had sold them their dinner, Holly waited patiently as he served a customer before asking, ‘Would you happen to know of anywhere round here where we might be able to rent a small house?’

He chuckled. ‘Yer in London now, luvvie. You’ll be lucky to afford a room in a shared house unless yer prepared to go close to the docks.’

‘Oh, I see … thank you.’ Feeling disappointed, Holly took Ivy’s elbow and they set off with no idea where they were going whatsoever. The shops windows they passed were decorated with baubles for Christmas, which only made Holly realise again how far away from home they were, and her spirits sank still lower.

They set off and found themselves walking through a market that appeared bigger than the whole of their home town, where the stallholders competed with each other to shout their wares louder than their neighbours. Soon they veered off into an alleyway that was overshadowed by dingy, ill-kept houses where children played barefoot in the street despite the freezing weather, and old women sat on the steps smoking pipes and watching them with lifeless eyes. The stink in the alley was such that they swiftly turned to make their way back to the main thoroughfare. Eventually, they reached the Thames and were disappointed to see that it was a dull, sludgy brown colour, with houses perched along the shore that were little more than huts.