‘I need another basket,’ she told the woman as she carried the glass bottle to the sink. ‘The handle just broke on the other one.’

Whilst she was there, she decided she may as well put the bottle into soak until she had time to clean it but as she peeled off the rubber teat the strangest smell wafted up to her and she frowned as she lifted the bottle to her nose. When she realised what it was, she gasped in disbelief and horror and spun about to look at the table next to where Mrs Barstow sat. On it was a small bottle of laudanum and a bottle of gin.

‘You . . . you’ve been drugging my baby,’ she said with a wobble in her voice, wondering how anyone could be so cruel. ‘How dare you! No wonder the poor little mite has been sleepin’ all the time. You could have killed ’er!’

‘Oh, stop bein’ so sensitive,’ the woman responded nonchalantly. ‘It’s shut the brat up, ain’t it? She were near drivin’ us all mad wi’ ’er grizzlin’ an’ wailin’ all the time. An’ all mine were brought up on a drop o’ gin an’ it never ’urt them.

Slowly Amber’s disbelief turned to rage and after throwing the bottle into the sink she snatched the baby from the old woman’s arms. ‘Well, I’ll not give you the chance to do it again!’ she stormed and turning about she raced to the stairs that led to the loft. Already Charlotte’s head was nodding as the mixture she had been given took effect, so after laying her on the mattress, Amber began to throw their things into the bags she had brought with them. It took no time at all to pack their few clothes and she threw them down the ladder where they landed with a resounding thud in the kitchen. Next, she strapped Charlotte to her in her shawl and followed the bags down only to find Mrs Barstow waiting for her at the bottom.

‘Just what do yer think yer doin’?’ she demanded in a panic. She had never given Amber so much as one kind word or a single word of praise since she had been there but she was no fool and had quickly realised that Amber was a hard worker. She had totally transformed the farmhouse and had worked from dawn to dusk, unlike most of the idle so-and-sos she’d employed in the past. The old lady had had it easy since Amber’s arrival and now she was reluctant to let her go. ‘I’ll not give yer a penny o’ yer wages if you just up an’ go an’ leave me in the lurch!’ she threatened, but Amber tossed her head and snorted as she snatched up a bag in each hand.