‘Are you yampy or what bringing her ’ere?’ she heard the woman ask as the kitchen door closed behind her, but then she forgot everything again as she stared around her. The kitchen was huge and so clean that Ruby was sure she could have eaten off the floor. There was a large inglenook fireplace with copper pans suspended the length of it that gleamed in the light from the fire, and to either side of it were two leather wing chairs with pretty flowered cushions on them. A huge dresser stood against one wall on which was placed a large amount of fine china, and a big pine table surrounded by chairs stood in the centre of the room. A lump formed in Ruby’s throat as she thought of how much her mother, as she still thought of her, would have loved this room. Their own kitchen back at home had been very austere – her father hadn’t believed in knick-knacks or anything that wasn’t completely essential.

She stood uncertainly feeling exhausted and upset and wondering if she had done the right thing in coming there with a complete stranger, but the door opened then and Mrs Petty appeared. ‘Take yer coat off, bab. We don’t stand on ceremony ’ere. I bet you’re hungry, ain’t yer? I’ll get you some soup to keep you goin’ till morning an’ warm you up.’

Ruby quietly removed her coat and hung it across the back of a chair as Mrs Petty went to the range where a pot of soup was simmering, and started to spoon some into a dish, which she carried to the table for her. ‘There, get that down you. You look like one good puff o’ wind could blow you away. You need a bit o’ fattenin’ up.’

‘Th-thank you.’ Ruby sat down and had just lifted her spoon when the back door suddenly opened and a young woman walked in bringing with her a blast of icy air.

‘Lord love us, whatever’s happened to you?’ Mrs Petty cried as she saw the state of her. The girl’s lip was bleeding and the buttons on her coat were missing, leaving it to flap open. The woman nodded towards Ruby and gave the girl a warning glance as she said quickly, ‘Fall over, did you?’

‘Oh, er . . .’ The girl frowned before answering, ‘Oh, yes, yes, I did. I slipped in the snow and cracked my face on the floor.’

‘We’d best get you cleaned up then. This here is Ruby. She’s come to stay for a while. And, Ruby, this is Nell.’

The girl looked towards Ruby. ‘How do.’