Belinda, or Big Belinda as she was called, watched out for the new arrival as they were let out of their cells at teatime. She stood leaning nonchalantly on the top landing, her keen eyes scanning the faces around her. She saw a mass of red hair between Letitia and Marla and walked towards them slowly. Belinda was in for aggravated burglary. She was big and fat, and had the most beautiful face Briony had ever seen on a woman.

As Belinda pushed her way through to Briony, people moved instinctively out of her way.

She smiled and held out a soft pudgy hand. ‘Belinda Crane, pleased to meet you.’

Briony shook the proffered hand and grinned.

The four women walked down to the canteen together, Briony aware of the glances she was gathering from the other inmates. As they entered the canteen she saw a girl being dragged from the queue by her hair, then her face was slammed into the side of one of the wooden tables. No one took any notice. The prison officers in the room looked the other way.

Belinda smiled and said. ‘That’s Mary Molinero, she’s in for drowning her baby.’

Briony watched as the girl crawled to a chair and pulled herself on to it, her face bleeding and her sobs audible.

‘She gets fucking tortured over it. She held its face in boiling water. Can you understand people like that?’

Briony shook her head.

Belinda carried on talking as if the scene had never happened.

‘Mariah Jurgens has seen to it that you got a good reception committee, and I’m part and parcel of it. I run this wing. If you want to take on any of the action, just say and I’ll cut you in immediately. But you’re only on remand at the moment and you might get a court date any time, so I’d wait ’til you’re sentenced before going in for the big scams. There ain’t no one gonna say a dicky bird to you, your reputation’s guaranteed that, plus I’ve put the word out. There’s some right fucking nutters in here, cut their own granny up for the price of a packet of fags! So watch your back all the same, we all have to do that.’

Briony took a mug of tea and a plate of spam sandwiches to a back table. From there they had a grand view of the whole canteen. The noise was deafening. Briony drank in everything around her, and now the enormity of what had happened had begun to wear off, she realised she had to assert herself.

‘Belinda, let me eat me sandwich. I want to think, all right?’