The kitchen was only a few steps from the front room, and Jenny could hear them talking quite clearly. Ivy sounded excited. The tea was nearly made when Glad came in as well, so she put two more cups on the tray and a plate of biscuits. Ma always loved a biscuit with her tea.

‘Ah, that’s grand, Ivy. Jen’s in the kitchen and she’s in a right state,’ Ma said. ‘All wet, and lost her ’at.’

Glad walked in and took the tray from her. ‘I’ll see to this. You go and get out of those wet things.’

‘I’ll do it when we’ve had tea.’

‘You’ll do it now.’ Glad gave a look that said don’t argue with me. ‘Go on, strip off, dry yourself properly and put your other dress on. It won’t take a moment and the tea will stay hot.’

Knowing it was useless to argue, Jenny dashed upstairs for her frock and nipped down again to the outhouse. There she peeled off the wet clothes and towelled herself dry until her skin was pink and glowing, put the dry clothes on and returned to the front room. All this had been done quickly and she was now badly in need of a cup of tea.

‘Ah, that looks better.’ Ma looked her up and down, then smiled. ‘We’ve saved you a bicky.’

‘Tell us what Mrs Stannard said about the centre.’ Ivy was clearly eager to know about the jobs.

Jenny told them what had happened at the council offices and about her meeting with Mrs Stannard. When she finished, Ma scowled.

‘Didn’t bother to wait for it to stop raining before running home with the news. Lost her ’at, she has.’ This was something that was still bothering Ma.

‘Never mind,’ Glad laughed. ‘We’ll find her another one. Now, Jen, where are your clothes?’

‘In the outhouse. I’ll see to them later. They’ll soon dry in front of the fire.’

‘Got a hole in her stocking as well.’ Ma hadn’t finished with the subject.

‘I’ll darn it for her, Ma.’ Ivy was studying the elderly woman, a deep frown on her face. ‘You know how neat my darning is.’

Ma nodded. ‘That’s right, you look after my girl.’ Then she inexplicably fell asleep.

Glad, Ivy and Jenny went into the kitchen and closed the door so they could talk without waking Ma.

‘She ain’t right,’ Glad said.

‘I know. She called me Bessie.’ Jenny chewed her lips in worry. ‘Do you think she’s getting … erm … confused?’

‘Looks like it.’ Glad glanced back at the room where Ma was sleeping. ‘She thinks of you as her daughter and she’s having trouble keeping you separate from little Bessie.’

‘You call if you need us,’ Ivy told her.