Shrugging her off, he kept his back to her and, leaning against the door like an old man, he appeared to sag into himself; one arm hanging loose to let the coat slip to the floor, and his head buried deep into his neck.

To her amazement, Molly thought she heard him crying. Then his shoulders began heaving and the sound of his sobbing filled the room.

Shaken to her soul, Molly felt she had to get out of the house. She went into the scullery and opened the back door, then sat on the steps in the dark, breathing in the fresh night air, steeped in thought.

After a while the sights and sounds of the night invaded her senses: a man’s voice, whistling a merry tune as he wended his way home; rats scurrying about in the cellar; the shadow of a solitary cat gliding over the wall. Overhead the stars winked at her, seeming to say, ‘Take heart, Molly. Take heart.’ And her heart did grow quieter.

Suddenly, without warning, the quietness was shattered and all hell let loose.

From inside the house she could hear Lottie and her father screaming at each other. Scrambling up, she rushed inside. ‘Stop it!’ she cried. Taking Lottie by the arms, she held her off and pleaded, ‘The children, Lottie. Think of the children!’

But with so much pent-up hatred and fear spilling out, Lottie was unstoppable. ‘You’ve got to tell him, Molly,’ she roared, struggling like a wild thing. ‘It’s his fault as well as mine!’ she cried, her face contorted with loathing. ‘He was a pig to her, a vicious, violent pig – and it’s no wonder she’s gone! I hate you, Dad!’ Breaking away from Molly, she fled back up the stairs, sobbing as if her heart would break.

‘Little cow!’ Frank muttered, pacing the floor. ‘Our Amy’s never gone,’ he said obstinately. ‘She can’t have gone. She wouldn’t do that to me.’

Within minutes, Lottie was down again, all her belongings crammed into a bag. Keeping her distance, she yelled from the doorway, ‘You’re no good. You’re allus drunk… eyeing other women when me mam’s stuck at home with your bairns. You spend your wages soon as you get ’em, leaving her to do the best she can with what’s left. She said you were neither use nor ornament, and she were bloody right!’

With a deep-throated growl, he lunged at her from across the room. Throwing Molly aside, he took his younger daughter by the throat. ‘One more word outta you, and I’ll do for you, see if I don’t!’ He grinned when she began fighting for breath. ‘No good, am I?’ A spray of his spittle showered her face. ‘I’ll show you what’s no good.’ The more she struggled, the tighter he squeezed.

Dazed and cut where he had knocked her down, Molly saw what he was doing and was horrified. ‘GET OFF HER!’ she screamed. Any second now, Lottie would stop breathing. Thrusting herself between them, she tried to separate one from the other, but his grip on Lottie was like iron. ‘Dad, you’re killing her. For God’s sake, let go, or I’ll fetch the police.’