‘Come on, bab.’ She recognised Mrs Petty’s voice as she leant up on her elbow and knuckled the sleep from her eyes. ‘I want you to get up an’ pack yer things as fast as yer know how. I’ve put a bag here for yer but don’t make a sound, mind! Just come down to the kitchen soon as yer dressed an’ ready.’ With that she crept from the room, leaving Ruby to wonder what was going on as she fell out of bed and did as she was told.

Minutes later she was down in the kitchen where she looked at Mrs Petty with a question in her eyes.

‘I’ve found you a job, a proper job, an’ somewhere to stay,’ the kindly woman informed her as she paced nervously up and down.

‘Oh!’ Ruby looked shocked. ‘What sort of job?’

‘I’ll tell you on the way, but come along, it’s in Erdington, so we’ve got a long walk ahead of us and I want you gone before Maddie knows what I’ve done. Get your coat on, there’s a good girl.’

Still half asleep Ruby quickly obeyed her then followed her out into the cold early morning. The streets were busy with men and women making their way to work and Ruby wondered where they were going.

‘Is it much further?’ she asked after some time and Mrs Petty shook her head.

‘Not too much further now,’ she said breathlessly. They seemed to have been walking for hours but at last they turned into a long road lined with large detached houses, each standing well back from the main thoroughfare. As they trooped along Ruby stared at them in awe. She could only imagine that the people who lived in them must be very rich indeed. She had thought that Maddie’s house was nice but these were even grander.

‘Here we are then,’ Mrs Petty panted after some time. ‘This is it.’

Ruby stared down a long, tree-lined drive to the house beyond and the breath caught in her throat. It was like something out of one of the magazines Maddie was so fond of and she couldn’t imagine what it must be like to live there.

‘Is this where I’m going to be working?’ she dared to ask.

‘It is indeed. Come along, let’s get out o’ this drizzle. I’m soaked through.’

They set off again and once they came to the end of the drive, Mrs Petty led her around to the back of the house where they found themselves in a huge cobbled yard with stables on one side and a number of small outhouses and the kitchen on the other. The yard was walled with a large gate over which Ruby could see the tops of trees.