As they walked past the cosmetics counters and admired the expensive perfumes, Mo thought Sarah seemed rather animated, like a child at Christmas. She could see her friend was enjoying herself, and couldn’t understand why. It wasn’t fun to look at things they could never afford, and the women behind the counters made Mo feel inferior. She felt like everything in the store was teasing her, mocking her life and reminding her of all the things she would never have.

‘Let’s get out of here,’ she snapped to Sarah.

She saw the look of surprise on her friend’s face, but nonetheless hooked her arm through Sarah’s and dragged her quickly back towards the grand carpeted staircase. She had to get out of there and back onto the dirty streets.

‘Hey, slow down, Mo. What’s wrong?’ Sarah asked.

‘Nothing. Nothing’s wrong. I just don’t like it in here,’ she answered through gritted teeth.

Just as they began to descend the stairs, Mo stopped in horror as she saw her brother Danny walking up towards them. There was no mistaking him, he had the same red hair as her. ‘Quick, run,’ Mo said, and pulled Sarah back through the beauty department.

‘What’s happening? Where are we going?’ Sarah asked as she trotted alongside Mo.

‘It’s my brother! He’s on the stairs. Oh, God, I hope he hasn’t seen me.’

‘What are we going to do? Hide?’

‘Yes … yes … in the ladies’ toilets. No – we won’t know when he’s gone. Bloody hell, let’s just get out. This way – quick. We’ll use the lift.’

Mo pressed the button to summon the elevator, and was glad to see no one else was waiting. She looked over her shoulder, grateful to see no sign of Danny. He was unlikely to be on this floor, amongst the cosmetics. No, as she’d suspected, he’d be heading for the record department.

The lift stopped and a short, thin man in a smart purple uniform and cap opened the doors. ‘Which floor?’ he asked politely.

‘Ground,’ Mo answered quickly.

The lift operator closed the gated door first, then the inner door, and moved the lift down. It wasn’t going fast enough for Mo, and she could feel her panic increasing. ‘Come on … come on …’ she muttered.

‘It’s all right, Mo, we’ll soon be out and clear of him,’ Sarah whispered.

Soon enough, they were on the ground floor, and Mo fled for the exit with Sarah closely following. As she came out onto the street, she turned right and began to run up Lavender Hill.

‘Mo, wait … you’re safe now.’

She heard Sarah speak, but her own heartbeat was pounding so hard it was ringing in her ears. ‘Are you sure?’ she asked breathlessly.

‘Yes, it’s fine. There’s no one following us. He couldn’t have seen you.’