Cautiously she entered the building and there behind the counter was the booking clerk, snoring softly with his peaked cap pulled low on his forehead. With her heart in her mouth she crouched down and crept past him and soon she was on the freezing platform and on her way to the waiting room, praying that it hadn’t been locked up for the night. She was in luck, the handle on the door turned easily and she hurried into the room.

The warmth wrapped itself around her like a blanket and after a few minutes her teeth stopped chattering as she held her hands out to the dying flames of the fire. She doubted there would be many more trains running that evening and hoped that if she was quiet enough she could stay there undetected until morning. Anywhere was better than being back at home or out in the cold. Crossing to the bench she lay down on it using her bundle as a pillow. But although she was worn out, sleep eluded her as she thought over the happenings of that night. She was still reeling with shock that her father could have done such a thing to her and she knew that she would never get over the shame of it.

She was sobbing softly when the door suddenly opened, letting in a blast of freezing-cold air, and a beautiful lady stepped into the room. She was expensively dressed with a thick fur stole over her dark-green costume, a matching feathered hat on her head and her hands hidden in a fur muff. Ruby could only assume the entire outfit must have cost a fortune.

The woman stopped abruptly as she caught sight of Ruby and for a moment she looked shocked before saying, ‘My dear child! Are you all right? Whatever is a little one like you doing out all alone at this time of night?’

The woman’s gentle voice was Ruby’s undoing and the tears came again so fast now, that she feared they would choke her.

‘Please, missus . . . I-I’ve run away from ’ome!’ she sobbed. ‘Yer won’t tell the ticket man, will yer? Else he’ll chuck me out an’ I’ll have nowhere to go.’

The woman looked perplexed. ‘But won’t your parents be worried about you?’ she asked kindly.

Ruby shook her head. ‘Me mam died some days ago.’ She didn’t bother to mention her father, she never wanted to think of him again after what he had done to her, and she could never tell anyone. She was too ashamed.

‘I see. So are you saying that you have no one?’

Ruby nodded. It was only a white lie after all.