She spun round with a whimper of panic to find herself looking straight at Fred. She almost collapsed in relief, expecting to see a policeman there, or someone else in authority. ‘Oh, no, they’ve found me!’

Ma hobbled up to her, taking hold of her hand. ‘Now, don’t be affrighted, Jen. No one here would tell strangers anything.’

‘Who was it?’ Her voice wavered as she pictured Greaves’s large bulk walking down this humble street.

‘Two young men.’ Glad made her sit down. ‘Don’t take on so, ducky. You’re shaking something terrible.’

‘Right nice they were too.’ Ma winked at Jenny. ‘Both tall, dark and ’andsome.’

‘They were strolling along talking to everyone in this street, and there was plenty around ’cos we all came out to have a look at these toffs.’ Stan grinned. ‘They had a lot of guts to wander around here, but they was wasting their time. We’d never give up one of our own.’

As Jenny glanced at each face in the room and saw them all nodding in agreement, the panic began to fade. One of their own?

‘Don’t look so surprised.’ Fred’s smile was full of affection. ‘Since you’ve been with us, you’ve mucked in, worked as hard as any of us without a murmur of complaint, and you’re looking after Ma real kind like. We’ve known from the start that you wasn’t born to this kind of life, but you’re doing good. We’re right fond of you for that.’

Jenny gulped back the emotion. ‘You’ve all been so kind, and I don’t know what would have happened to me without your help. But you said it was two young men looking for me. Did they say who they were?’

‘Matthew and Luke Stannard,’ Ma announced. ‘I asked what they wanted with these girls. They said it was only the one girl, and she could be using either name. She was in trouble and they wanted to help. We told them we didn’t know no one by those names. Do you know them?’

Jenny couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘Yes, I do, but that can’t be true. Why would they be searching for me? And how did they know my real name?’

‘We didn’t ask that,’ Glad said. ‘It would have seemed suspicious if we’d shown too much interest. So you don’t think they really wanted to help you?’

‘Of course not. They think I’m a thief!’ This was too ridiculous! The Stannard brothers had no reason to come looking for her, unless they were after the reward. Jenny was immediately ashamed of that thought. She didn’t know them very well, of course, but they were rich enough not to be tempted by one hundred pounds, and she didn’t believe Matthew Stannard would do anything so underhand. He had seemed so nice.