‘Well done,’ Bet murmured, busy packing a box full of tea cloths. ‘He’s got a shop in the next street and often buys from me, but you got a better price out of him than I could have done.’

‘Er, how many is a ton?’

‘A hundred.’

‘What!’

Bet winked at her. ‘Take the man’s money afore he changes his mind.’

They concentrated on the china after that, and Jenny was amazed by how much business they were doing. Where she lived people didn’t have money to buy such items. Over lunch of a hot pie and a dollop of mushy peas from the shop behind them, Bet explained that it was only the unemployed who were suffering so much. Anyone with a little bit of money always came to the market because they could get things cheap.

There was a lull in the middle of the afternoon, and Bet thrust a couple of mugs at her, telling her to get them filled at the café. As they sat drinking the welcome hot tea, Jenny felt very happy. She was enjoying this so much that she hadn’t even noticed the cold. Fred and Stan were still making a small profit from their stall, Ron and Jimmy had full-time jobs at the centre, Ivy was occasionally picking up work there, and now she had been taken on by Bet. Oh, Ma, she thought, if you could only see how well we’re doing now. But perhaps she could.

Trade picked up again in the afternoon. Jenny was surprised when she realized that it had grown dark and that everyone had started to pack up – the day had just flown by. Bet had an old car near by, and Jenny helped her to pack everything away.

‘Now, let me see.’ Bet dived into the pouch she wore around her waist. ‘We’ve done real good today, and I’ll pay you each day.’ She handed Jenny five shillings. ‘It might not be that much every day, depends how much we sell, but you’ve earned that today.’

Jenny was almost speechless. ‘Thank you so much.’

‘My pleasure, Jen, you’ve been a right laugh to work with. See you tomorrow, make it half past seven.’

‘I’ll be here.’

‘Right, I’m off. Better get my old man a couple of pints or he’ll sink into the miseries.’ Her laugh was almost as loud as the roar from her old Austin Seven as she drove away.

‘Ah, there you are.’ Fred walked towards her. ‘This is handy – you can come home with me and Stan every evening.’

She fell into step beside him and held out the coins. ‘Look, I got five shillings for one day’s work, and Bet paid for my pie at lunch.’

‘Nice going.’ Fred smiled kindly. ‘Keep that up and you’ll be able to pay the rent easily.’