Half an hour later, Amber dragged the little cart from the stables and after placing a blanket in it she gently sat Charlotte on it. The child thought it was great fun and giggled as her mother began to drag it along the cliff path. At the top of the steep hill Amber paused to catch her breath and looked down on her home town. It was a fine day and far out at sea beyond the harbour she could see the trawlers with their nets cast wide. It already seemed a lifetime since she had lived there; so much had happened in such a short space of time. After getting her breath back she moved on and soon came to the market square, which was teeming with housewives shopping.

There was a cluster of them standing outside Mr King’s grocery store, and taking a deep breath and raising her chin, Amber moved towards them, painfully aware that they had all stopped talking to monitor her approach. Then Mrs Preston stepped from inside the shop, and Amber’s heart sank.

‘Well, well who do we ’ave ’ere then, ladies?’ the old woman chortled, her lip raised into a sneer. ‘If it ain’t the little whore from up on the hill! How’s your fancy man then, eh, lass?’

Amber felt colour flood into her cheeks but she kept walking towards her with her head held high. But Mrs Preston wasn’t done with her yet, not by a long shot. ‘So what’s it like bein’ a rich man’s fancy, eh? It’s ’is poor wife I feel sorry for,’ she said with a shake of her head, addressing the women clustered around her. ‘Not even cold in ’er grave she weren’t afore you stepped into the poor lass’s shoes. Shame on you.’

Amber’s temper started to rise. ‘I shouldn’t call me too much if I were you, Mrs Preston,’ she said in an icy voice. ‘Not when your own family ain’t blameless. Is it right what I hear? That your Bertie’s on the run from the police for murder!’

‘My son’s innocent!’ Mrs Preston spat as the women started to titter.

‘And so am I,’ Amber retorted. ‘So, my advice to you would be don’t make assumptions about things you know nothing about. I’m only there to care for this little one here an’ there’s nowt goin’ on between me an’ her father!’