She paused for thought. Today was Saturday, so there was every chance that Ted wasn’t at home because he played football with some of the lads from the factory on a Saturday. She wondered if her father knew this. Even if he did, there was no way he would single Ted out in front of a pitch full of witnesses. Her stomach turned as an alternative image entered her mind: Ted opening the door to his house, only to find himself confronted with her father, purple with rage, shouting accusations and threats. Ted would deny the accusations because he truly didn’t know any different. He would be caught completely unawares, with no chance to defend his actions, on top of which he would doubtless find himself jobless and homeless. It wasn’t just Ted who would suffer but his father also.

She began to relive the dreadful moments which had led to the damning revelation. She had been in her mother’s bedroom … Olivia froze. Her mother! In her haste to save Ted, she had fled the house leaving her mother alone in her room. Her cheeks reddening with shameful guilt, she found the strength to get to her feet. Taking a deep breath, she began to make her way back to her mother, who would doubtless be beside herself with worry.

Olivia cursed softly beneath her breath. As a child, her mother Catherine had been struck down with polio, but thanks to the loving care of her parents, she had made a full recovery and they hadn’t given the matter another thought. However, Catherine had now been suffering from ill health for many years, and it seemed that she no sooner got over one cold or chest infection than she would be struck down with another. Recently she had started to display the same symptoms as she had as a child, and they had called for Doctor Palmer, who diagnosed her with post-polio syndrome. Olivia had thought her mother would get over this as she had when she was a child, but it wasn’t that simple. Doctor Palmer had gone on to explain that post-polio was incurable with a gradual deterioration of the muscles. Olivia had turned to her father for comfort, but he had refused to listen to the doctor, claiming that her mother had always been of a fragile nature, and she was allowing it to get the better of her.

Olivia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She knew from her grandparents – Nana and Pops – that their daughter had always been a fighter, which was how she had got over the polio in the first place.