It wasn’t long before Sarah reappeared holding two steaming cups. Lena could hear them rattling on the saucers as the girl’s hands shook, and noticed much of the tea had sloshed over the side and into the saucer. ‘I don’t bite so you don’t have to be so scared,’ she said, trying to put the girl at ease.

‘I know, I’m sorry. My nerves are all jangled. This job means so much to me and I don’t want to mess it up.’

Lena’s heart went out to her. She was such a young woman with the huge responsibility of raising her little brother, and from what she’d seen, she thought Sarah was doing a great job with Tommy. ‘You’ll be fine. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to make sure you work hard, but as I’ve always told my George, hard work is good for the soul. Now, your first job this morning will be restocking the shelves. The goods are all boxed up out the back. Just bring through one box at a time and make sure you put the new stuff at the back of the shelf. That way, the old stuff gets sold first. Do you think you can manage that?’

‘Yes, no problem,’ Sarah answered.

Lena kept a close eye on Sarah as she very efficiently stacked the shelves. Customers came and went, and Sarah’s affable ways impressed Lena and charmed the customers. She thought the girl was a natural at shop work, but she still had the till and money to cope with yet. The till didn’t do any adding or subtracting, and was only used to store the takings. She hoped Sarah wouldn’t find it too difficult. ‘You’ve done really well, love. Now come and join me behind the counter and we’ll have a go at you serving the customers.’

Lena had thought that Sarah was beginning to relax, but then she saw the panicked look in her eyes that had been there earlier. ‘It’s easy, honest,’ she said, hoping to reassure her.

It didn’t take long for Sarah to grasp how the monetary system worked. Lena had a pad and pencil on the counter for writing down the prices to add them up, and was astonished when, nine times out of ten, Sarah would add the numbers in her head. At first she felt compelled to check the girl’s figures, but soon found out they were always correct. In fact, Sarah could do it faster than she could. ‘I told you there was nothing to worry about. You’re really good at this, and I know I’m not going to have any problems with leaving you here alone soon.’