Kathleen was on her knees at the press and, staggering to her feet, held a bottle aloft. ‘We definitely need a bit of this in our tea – Golden Knight, you can’t beat it. Maura, I can’t believe you are here, so much going on that I’ll tell you about when this lot are asleep. Speaking of which, you can’t sleep over the road, it’ll be freezing.’

‘We’ll be fine, Tommy and I, especially with this inside me, but could the kids spend the night here, Kathleen? Do you mind, Alice?’

‘Of course I don’t mind! They can all squeeze in together and we can put extra blankets down on the floor. It may not be the most comfortable night they will ever spend, but it will at least be warm and they will sleep after the journey they have had. Are you really back for good?’

Maura sipped and winced. ‘Jesus, that’s just taken the lining off my stomach, Kathleen. We are, Alice, and I’ll tell you this, we are never leaving again.’

Half an hour later, the kitchen table was filled with the crumbs from the scones and Maura was drying the faces of her children, lined up in a row, with a warm towel. Then Alice said, ‘Say goodnight to your mam,’ and Maura hugged each of her children.

‘Mammy, can I go and see Paddy?’ Harry muffled into her chest. ‘I’ve slept all the way home.’

Maura looked up at Kathleen, her eyes asking what she should do. Kathleen, alight with the excitement of having Maura back, said, ‘Go on, Harry, you go with Nellie and Angela and take the griddle scones.’

Minutes later, as the last of the murmurings came from upstairs, the three women sat before the fire, warm, alcohol-laden cups nursed in their hands. It only took seconds before the conversation turned to the shocking state that Peggy and Paddy were in – and the horrifying news to Maura that Frank the Skank thought he was about to move into her house. But it was the news about Peggy that concerned her the most.

‘Frank the Skank might think he is, but I’ve paid the rent, I still have the rent book – and what’s more, I have rights,’ said Maura. ‘Kathleen, are you sure the letter said the bailiffs were coming on Friday?’

Kathleen dug deep into her apron pocket. ‘See for yourself, I brought it back with me because I wanted to speak to Peggy about it myself.’

Alice gasped. ‘Kathleen, you didn’t!’