‘Never!’ Mary Paul exclaimed. ‘Nobody could replace you, dearest Ada.’

Though Sally tried her best to be good, she was always led astray by her fearless, wilful brother, who one day went way too far in his dangerous antics. He was spotted by the station master at Kents Bank walking along the railway track that led to Grange-over-Sands. Outraged, the indignant man penned a letter of complaint to Mary Vale’s Reverend Mother, who immediately took matters into her own hands. Summoning Matron into her office, the Reverend Mother came straight to the point.

‘Sister Ann,’ she declared. ‘The evacuee children simply cannot go on like this. They need firm handling and a regular routine.’

‘Reverend Mother, with all due respect, Ronnie and Sally are extremely hard to control.’

‘We can’t just let them run wild,’ the Reverend Mother reminded her. ‘They’re a danger to themselves and the community.’

Sister Ann vehemently nodded her head. ‘They definitely need strong discipline.’

‘Exactly,’ the Reverend Mother responded. ‘So I had a talk with the primary school headmaster in Grange this morning and he’s kindly agreed to take the children immediately.’

‘That’s excellent news,’ Sister Ann replied, though a frown soon appeared on her smooth pale brow. ‘But how do you plan to get them there?’

‘By train, of course,’ the Reverend Mother answered.

‘They can’t be trusted to travel alone on a train,’ Sister Ann cried. ‘They would cause chaos left to their own devices. Probably pull the alarm cord and bring the train grinding to a halt.’

‘I hear Sister Theresa has established a bond with the children,’ the Reverend Mother said thoughtfully. ‘Perhaps she would agree to escort them to Grange every day?’

Sister Theresa was given the task not only of escorting Ronnie and Sally to school but also of breaking the news to them. Mutinous Ronnie, immediately on the defensive, announced he wasn’t ‘going to no bleedin’ school’.

Sister Theresa took a firm line with him. ‘We’ve been as considerate as we can, giving you enough time to settle into your new home, but really now you are required by law to attend school, or else we’ll get into trouble,’ she told him.

‘I never bothered with school in London – why should I bother with it ’ere?’

Praying for strength, Sister Theresa patiently pointed out, ‘Because, as I just said, Ronnie, it is the law. If you refuse to attend school, the local bobby will come knocking on our door and he will frogmarch you to school, whether you like it or not.’

Frightened of being man-handled by a policeman, Sally instantly complied. ‘I’ll go to school, Sister Trees.’

The nun smiled at the earnest little girl. ‘Good, and so will your brother if he knows what’s good for him.’