‘I love that!’ Mary finally said as she touched her hair. ‘My da will too. I’m not sure what Ma is going to say – but it doesn’t really matter as long as Jimmy notices me, that’s all I want.’

Cindy grinned. She was more than happy with her work and it had transformed Mary. ‘Leave your mam to me, Mary. Jimmy… now that’s a bit more difficult. You do look irresistible. But Alice is right – don’t you go chasing him, don’t ever do that. And she is right on the other thing, Mary; this time next year when you’re sat in this chair having a trim and I say to you, “Remember that crush you had on Jimmy O’Prey?” Do you know what you will say to me?’ Mary shook her head, her newly revealed eyes open wide. ‘You’ll say to me, “That soft lad? I don’t think so!”’

Mary shook her head, but she couldn’t resist laughing, not something she often did. Alice and Cindy were wrong and she would show them; she loved Jimmy O’Prey and she knew, once he saw her again, it would be just as it had been before he went down.

Cindy was brushing up and Mary said, ‘Here’s my money.’ She held out the note and a few coins. Cindy waved her hand away.

‘No, I’m not going to take it, Mary. You go and spend it on some make-up in town. If Alice is going to give you some nice clothes, well, it goes to say, doesn’t it, you need a bit of tutty, too.’

Mary stepped forward and took the brush from Cindy’s hand. ‘Then let me,’ she said. ‘Honestly, I’m used to clearing up.’

Cindy allowed her to take the brush. ‘Go on, then, I won’t refuse a bit of help, and I’ll finish the sinks.’ As she was doing so, she looked at Mary – and an idea lit a light bulb above her head.

*

As Mary made her way out of the parade, she stared into every shop window she passed to admire her hair. It wasn’t just a haircut – it had made her feel six feet tall, beautiful, grown-up and it had put wings on her heels. She would knock on at the Deanes’ and thank Alice and maybe Alice would have time to show her the clothes. Her heart felt light; she had not only enjoyed the haircut, but Cindy had also spoken to her as though she were her equal – and no one spoke to Mary like that. She was always there to do something for someone else. And she had loved Cindy’s shop, a microcosm of pink and whiteness, of scents and potions, a little world all of its own in the middle of the bleakness that was the docks and rows of terrace houses.