Jenny moved in her few possessions immediately. The back bedroom was tiny, with room for only a bed and a small cupboard, but it seemed like heaven to her. She had been so frightened that she would end up homeless and sleeping anywhere she could find. She knew that some young girls ended up as prostitutes in an effort to get enough money to live on, but nothing on this earth would make her do that. She would rather starve.

After settling in her room, she went to the kitchen and looked through the larder. As there was little food in the house, her first task was to get the shopping. Armed with Ma’s list and half a crown, Jenny walked up to the small parade of shops at the top of the street. She watched in fascination as the grocer cut off the required amount of butter from a large slab and patted it into shape with a pair of wooden paddles. She put in another one and sixpence to add to the meagre basket of goods. One lesson she had learnt over the last few months was to be careful with money, so she spent wisely and was quite pleased with her efforts.

She returned to the house and was just putting the purchases on the kitchen table so she could decide how to make the best of them when Ma came in, walking with difficulty and leaning heavily on a cane.

‘You never got all that for two and six,’ Ma said suspiciously. ‘You been spending your own money?’

There was little point denying it with those sharp eyes pricing every item on the table. ‘I bought a few extras. After all, you’ve been kind enough to give me a room and I can’t let you pay for my food as well.’

‘Humph! Well, if you can’t get a job you can stop that.’ Ma pulled the wrapping aside on one packet. ‘I see you got the butcher’s best bangers. We’ll have them for our dinner.’

‘What time do you have your dinner?’ Jenny asked.

‘Around twelve will do nicely.’

Jenny was taken aback for a moment until she realized Ma was talking about noon and not midnight. ‘Oh, you mean lunch.’

‘You’re going to have to learn our ways,’ Ma told her. ‘We has dinner in the middle of the day and tea at five o’clock.’

‘And what do you have for tea?’ Jenny asked.

‘A nice bit of bread and jam.’ Ma looked at her with a twinkle in her eyes. ‘You gonna make a cake?’

‘I thought I’d try.’ She had bought what she thought were the right ingredients, though she’d never made a cake in her life. ‘I think I’ve got everything.’

‘Try?’ The elderly woman chuckled. ‘What did they teach you at school?’