‘You can leave him here with me, Sarah. I ain’t going nowhere,’ Mo offered. She worked in the evenings as an usherette at the Grand Picture House, and had offered Sarah free tickets.

‘If you’re sure, that would be great, thanks. I’ll have this cuppa and get going. Tommy, you can go out, but behave yourself and do what Mo tells you.’

Tommy ran out of the front door, and Sarah smiled at her friend.

‘Who is he then?’ Mo asked.

‘I don’t know what you mean,’ Sarah replied. She could feel her cheeks flushing, as she hadn’t realised her feelings for Roger were so transparent.

‘I know that look. You’ve got a boyfriend, haven’t you?’

‘No … but I have met this gorgeous bloke …’

‘I knew it! Has he asked you out on a date?’

‘Not yet, but even if he did, I’m not sure I could go.’

‘Why not?’ Mo asked.

‘Well, there’s Tommy to think about …’

‘Don’t let that stop you. When I’m home I can always have him, and on my evening off. From what you’ve told me, you deserve a bloody good night out!’

Minutes later, Sarah had finished her tea and set off for Battersea Bridge with Mo’s words still buzzing in her head. If Roger asked her out, there was no reason why she couldn’t accept. She wasn’t homeless any more, she had new clothes, soap and a comb. If she found anything good on the banks today, she might even treat herself to a hairbrush and a new lipstick, a pink one, just like the one Mo wore.

Before long, she was on the bridge and looking out along the Thames, but to her dismay the tide was in, and murky water covered the banks. She wouldn’t be searching for anything she could sell today. Her heart sank and she also began to feel a bit panicky. She’d been too quick to spend money on things, and now she didn’t have much left to put into purchasing stock. Until Tommy started school she couldn’t find a job, and even then, with school hours, it would have to be part-time. She’d been depending on finding things in the mud and slumped with disappointment.

‘Sarah, is that you?’

Sarah turned to see Jenny, her old friend from the tenement blocks, walking towards her from the other side of the bridge. ‘Jenny! I haven’t seen you in ages. How are you?’ Sarah asked, genuinely surprised and pleased to see her.

‘I’m all right, just on my way home from work. What about you?’

‘Yes, not bad, thanks. Me and Tommy are living just off Shuttleworth Street now. We’ve got a room there. Where are you working?’