Shaking her head, she lapsed into a trance. ‘Now it looks like I’m about to lose the pair of youse.’ Whistling through her teeth, she sat up, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘America! It’s like the other side o’ the world, so it is!’

Molly, too, was deeply shaken. ‘It’s a lot to take in, Rosie,’ she admitted. ‘One way or another, it’s been a surprising sort of day.’

Rosie came to sit beside her. ‘What will ye do, lass?’ she asked. ‘Will ye go with him?’ There was a kind of desperation in her eyes.

Admittedly, Molly didn’t fancy the idea of going that far away one bit but, ‘I’d follow him to the ends of the earth if I had to,’ she told Rosie. Reaching out, she took hold of the woman’s hand, squeezing it so hard, Rosie felt a twinge of pain. ‘I can’t say I’m over the moon, but it’s all he’s ever wanted. If he turns it down because of me, how can I ever look him in the face again? Whether I want to go to America or not, it seems I don’t have much of a choice… not if I love him, which I do, with all my heart.’

Aware of the girl’s dilemma, Rosie observed, ‘I know how much you love him, and I know what you’d sacrifice to be with him, but America!’ She shook her head. ‘It’s not what you really want, is it, lass?’

Molly had to tell the truth. ‘America, London, Lancashire – it makes no difference,’ she said hopelessly. ‘The truth is, I hate what he does. It’s a dangerous business, Rosie. What I’d really like is for him to give it up altogether.’

‘I’ve always felt the very same,’ Rosie agreed. ‘I blame me da for driving the lad on; living out his own past through Alfie. Street-fighting is no way to make a living, and the better you are, the more the vultures come after you. I for one wouldn’t be sorry if the law were to sweep it from the streets once and for all!’

Molly was astonished. ‘I didn’t realise you felt so strongly about it,’ she murmured. ‘You never said.’

Rosie sat for a moment or two, reflecting on things. ‘I didn’t want to worry you any more than you already were. But you need to know the truth of it now, afore you give Alfie your answer.’

‘What truth, Rosie?’

In a quiet, clear voice trembling with emotion, Rosie spoke from the heart. ‘We both know street-fighting is a barbaric sport, but you don’t know the half! Over the years I’ve seen the spilling of young blood and witnessed things I never want to see again. Brave, stupid men made insane by the incessant, merciless blows that rained down on their heads. I’ve heard tales of able lads crippled for life by the greedy money-men who lay bets and lose out.’

She paused, before going on in a rush of words: ‘If he stays here, like as not Alfie could end up hurt or maimed. Even if he goes to America and takes the boxing up professionally, he’ll still be risking life and limb. But he’ll be off the streets, and that’s a blessing, however small.’