‘This morning. I had breakfast.’

‘Why, it’s past two now. You sit tight an’ I’ll bring you a tray. I did me baking yesterday an’ you’ve always been partial to a bit of ham-an’-egg pie.’ Having said that, she didn’t move, staring at Ruby as though she couldn’t get her fill of her, and adding, ‘Oh, lass, can you ever forgive me?’

‘Forgive you?’ Ruby stood up and covered the space between them in a heartbeat, holding her mother tight. ‘There’s nothing to forgive.’ And in that moment there wasn’t. Seeing her mam again and the love that had poured out of her had wiped away the hurt and resentment that had been festering for a long time. She had been right to come home.

Ruby had sat with her father for more than an hour until he had dropped off to sleep, holding his frail hand and talking about Newcastle and her life there. She had told both him and her mam about Ellie after her mother had enquired after Ruby’s friend shortly after she had brought her the tray with a large slice of ham-and-egg pie. They had been shocked and saddened but Ruby hadn’t mentioned Daniel Bell, merely saying Ellie had got mixed up with a bad crowd. The last thing she wanted was for them to worry about her when she went back.

Now it was four o’clock in the afternoon and she had quietly tiptoed out of the front room and joined her mother in the kitchen where Cissy was preparing a pot pie for dinner. It was snowing heavily and had been for a while, and as the light had vanished earlier than usual the kitchen was lit only by the glow of the fire. Her mother never lit the gas light until it was well and truly dark outside.

Her mother looked up and smiled, saying, ‘Sit yourself down, lass, and I’ll make a pot of tea once I’ve finished this.’

‘I’ll do it.’ She made the tea and brought two cups to the table, sitting down and watching as Cissy tipped the chopped steak and kidney and onion into the pastry-lined pudding basin, half-filled it with water, dampened the edges of the pastry and then put on the remainder as a lid for the pie, sealing it by pressing her fingers round the bowl. Once it was covered with greaseproof paper and steaming on the hob, her mother sat down close to her and reached for her cup.

Ruby had found it immensely comforting watching her mother work; it was something she had done a thousand times throughout her childhood and it brought countless memories of happier times. Once Cissy had sipped at her tea, Ruby said softly, ‘How bad is Da, Mam?’