Her small white teeth nipped at her lower lip as she stared at all the familiar places from the carriage window. There were so many different emotions churning around in her that she barely knew if she was coming or going. Soon, she forgot all about Miranda as she tried to picture what the meeting would be like. Would her mother be pleased to see her after all these years or would she be horrified that she had been tracked down? She could have no way of knowing and suddenly she wondered if this had been such a good idea. After all, she was happy and settled with Hermione now, with a wonderful career in the jewellery trade ahead of her. Perhaps she should have been content with that and let sleeping dogs lie, as Maddie had suggested? And yet, deep down she knew that she would never be totally at peace with herself until she had found her birth mother. The need to know her was like a constant gnawing inside and she could hardly believe that at last it was really going to happen.

The carriage trundled through Abbey Green then the horses slowed slightly as they began the steep climb up Tuttle Hill. As they passed the five-sailed windmill that stood atop of it and turned towards Ansley, Ruby asked again, ‘Surely you could tell me where we are going now?’

‘Very well. But I don’t think you’re going to be too happy when you know. We’re going to Hatter’s Hall!’

Miranda watched as the colour drained out of Ruby’s face. ‘H-Hatter’s Hall?’ she croaked in horror. ‘B-but that’s a mental asylum.’

Miranda nodded. ‘Quite. That’s why I didn’t tell you before because I knew you’d be upset. But I can assure you that’s where she is.’

They were on level ground again now and the carriage swayed from side to side as the horses trotted along at a fair old pace and suddenly Ruby began to feel sick. Hatter’s Hall! Just the mention of the place struck terror into her heart, for everyone in the town knew what a godforsaken place it was. It was shunned by the locals, particularly at night, when many people swore they could hear the screams of the poor demented patients who were incarcerated there. And now to discover that her own mother was one of them . . . it almost broke her heart.

She sat stunned as they moved on, down through Chapel End and Ansley Common, and then the horses slowed and Ruby gazed fearfully through the window at a pair of tall wrought-iron gates and the high brick wall that seemed to stretch forever on either side of them.