Desperately hoping that the requisition order would go through if only to facilitate her escape from Mary Vale, Sybil did her best to soothe. ‘I can see why the Army might be interested in taking possession of the place. It’s perfectly positioned for their transportational needs, so near to all the major train lines, and its proximity to local shipyards will be vital too.’

Annoyed that she was one step ahead of him, Monty bluffed, ‘I don’t need you to tell me what the Army needs.’

‘Try not to get too cross, darling,’ she gushed, as she offered up her pouting lips.

Suitably distracted, Monty’s hands once again returned to caressing her breasts, which, because of her pregnancy, were fuller than they had previously been.

‘Don’t you go worrying that pretty little noddle of yours with men’s talk,’ he murmured throatily, as he reached under her skirt. ‘Jesus, I’ve missed you so much, Sybil.’

Before he could suggest they had sex in his car, Sybil wriggled free and flung open the door. ‘I must get back to the Home – we have chores to do,’ she said, and, making a little moue of distaste with her mouth, she added, ‘Such a ghastly, barbaric place.’

Looking distinctly put out, Monty snapped, ‘For women up the duff it looked like a decent enough set-up to me.’

Suppressing the urge to hit him, Sybil feigned a cheery smile. ‘Don’t worry, I can easily walk back from here.’

Revving the engine, Monty called over his shoulder, ‘I’ll phone you after I’ve got to the bottom of this bally Boswell business.’

Standing on the edge of the marsh, where the wind snatched the words from her mouth, Sybil gave vent to her fury. ‘PIG!’ she exploded as he roared away. ‘You never even asked how I am.’

6. Finsbury Park

Rosie Pickles would never know how she got herself and her two children, Ronnie, seven, and Sally, five years old, from Finsbury Park to Morecambe Bay. If her local doctor hadn’t brutally informed her that her children would soon lose their mother as a result of Rosie’s poor health, she wouldn’t even have considered such a journey.

Finsbury Park was where Rosie had been born and where she planned to die. She had met her husband, Mick, at primary school; they had got married in the Catholic church attached to the school and lived in a run-down tenement block (crawling with cockroaches), where both their children had been born. Patriotic Mick had joined the Navy almost as soon as war broke out, and she had seen him once since and fallen pregnant as a consequence of his only home leave.