The noise came again and Maura stepped into the room as the boys began to mount the stairs. It was coming from under the boys’ bed and they were all sleeping soundly on the top of the mattress, despite only having a coat to cover them. The sound came again; it was weak and thready, a wail, a cry for attention. Maura dropped to her knees and there, sticking out from the corner of the bed, was a drawer from the press in Peggy’s room. Maura knew that drawer and what it had been used for seven times before. She reached under the bed and pulled it out. She could just about make out the form of a baby.

‘Oh, Holy Mary Mother of God,’ said Maura as she scooped the child up into her arms, ‘by all the angels in heaven… Peggy, what have you done?’

*

Stella tottered down the gangplank of the Morry and almost fell over a number of times on her high heels as she made her way over to her friend, Betty, who appeared to be holding prisoner a woman who was looking very sorry for herself.

‘What do you want here then, love?’ she said as she drew closer.

Betty folded her arms. ‘Our business, that’s what she’s after. Tell her, Stella, she can’t just come down here and take our jobs, can she?’

Stella looked Peggy up and down and what she saw was a woman in extreme distress. She looked over at Betty. ‘If you had been born with a brain, Betty, you would be dangerous, you know that, don’t you?’

Betty looked very put out as she struggled to work out what it was that Stella actually meant and Stella spoke to Peggy again. ‘Didn’t I see you before, love? With a pramload of stuff, heading towards the pawnshop? I saw you again coming out, didn’t I, the pram empty? You on hard times, are you?’

Peggy nodded her head. Even in front of women who sold their honour for a living, she felt ashamed.

‘Oh bloody hell, we even have a dog down here now!’ exclaimed Betty as Scamp appeared, slowly edging his way towards Peggy, softly growling.

‘Is that your dog?’ asked Stella.

Peggy nodded. For the second time in her life, she felt as though she were about to faint. Her nipples tingled sharply, her daughter was calling her… The water was so close, if only she could escape…

‘Can I just go? I don’t want your business,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to cause any bother.’

‘No, you cannot,’ said Betty.