Drawing the bedclothes up over herself, Lottie screamed abuse. ‘Leave me alone and stop your nagging. You’re not my mam!’

‘No, but I’m the one who has to put up with you.’

‘Only until our mam gets back, and then we’ll see.’ Turning away, she ended the heated conversation.

Knowing she couldn’t leave it there, Molly sat beside her on the bed. ‘Lottie, I’ve summat to tell you,’ she began. It was time for her to know that Amy wasn’t coming home.

‘I don’t want you to tell me nuthin’!’ Lashing out, Lottie caught Molly hard on the face. ‘Get away from me.’

Realising there was nothing to be gained by trying to tell her now, Molly backed off. ‘I’ll leave you,’ she agreed, ‘but I want you out of that bed and dressed before Dad gets home.’

‘Sez you!’

‘If you don’t, I’ll have to tell him you stayed out all night.’ She wouldn’t tell him, but Lottie couldn’t know that.

‘You cow!’ Glaring at her sister from beneath the blanket, Lottie snapped, ‘You would an’ all, wouldn’t you?’

‘Not if you promise to be out of that bed and dressed before he gets home.’

‘I’ll get out when I hear him come through the front door.’

‘I need your help downstairs, Lottie. There’s the dinner on the boil, the table to be set, and the children to be seen to.’

Lottie would have none of it. Turning away she growled, ‘I’m no bloody nursemaid! I’ll get out when I hear him come in, and that’s it.’

Apart from dragging her out of bed and forcing her downstairs, Molly could only bide her time. ‘You and I had better have a long, hard talk,’ she warned. ‘You can’t go on as you are, Lottie. Right now, none of us can afford to be selfish.’

With Lottie remaining sullen, Molly decided the best thing was to leave her be, for now. There would be time later to pull her up by the bootstraps. ‘Just think on what I’ve said,’ she urged. ‘We have to talk, and soon.’

‘Go away!’

‘I mean it, Lottie. There are things you have to know, and rules to be kept to… whether you like it or not.’

Leaving the room, Molly deliberately left the door open. She wasn’t surprised when, even before she’d reached the bottom of the stairs, Lottie had scrambled out of bed and slammed it shut against her. ‘I’ll have to get tough with her, or she’ll run rings round me,’ Molly decided.

But it was a hard thing, because Lottie was a law unto herself and, judging by her attitude now, always would be.

When she got downstairs, Bertha and Eddie were playing tents with Molly’s winter coat. The sound of their laughter echoed through the house. ‘Come and see, Molly!’ Bertha peeped out from beneath the tail-end. ‘Me an’ Eddie are gonna live in here all the time.’

Getting down on all fours, she crawled in with them. ‘Cor!’ Feigning astonishment, she told them, ‘It’s as big as a house.’