Oh ho ho, it wis a fine procession, let me tell you, hen. Dod Mackay and his bony-necked wife heading it up, all the wee nosy buggers from around the street. Wummin I’d stood with on the picket just the day before, hissing at me. Because it was me they blamed. All of them. Because I’d lived away, because I’d opened my legs and brought this bad blood back home. And Dod clears his throat and he calls me Mrs McIvor, no Eileen like he’d cried me every day of oor lives, Mrs McIvor. We have reason to believe your daughter is fraternizing with the scabs at the barracks. Talking like he’s a police officer or something. And oor Alec comes to the door and he’s saying, Dod man, whit are ye talking aboot? And Dod’s bitch of a wife opens her mooth and screams at me, looking that pleased with herself, aye, she’s away up there just noo. I saw her. Walking up the road kissing that big blond yin. Probably letting them all get it up her, so she is.

Here’s whit I said that would cost me, really. I said, don’t you dare talk aboot my daughter like that, you common bitch. I said, don’t you dare. And I would’ve went for her but for Alec holding my arms back. Aye, that bit of loyalty, that’s what did it for me. Funny, eh. And Dod’s saying to Alec, you need to sort this oot, pal. You need that girl telt or the whole town’ll tell her.

Dod loaned us his car so we could drive up there and get her before the rest of them did. He was always all right wis Dod, shame aboot that arse ay a wife ay his. The barracks wis aboot half an hour away, so who knows what Brenda Mackay was doing up that way, oh wait, did her brother not work the farm up there? Aye, that was maybe it, hen, that was maybe it. Alec walks right up and bangs on the door and marches in. They were all English, all young boys, I remember that. Probably no that much older than her. They’d have to be, really, to come up there. All away from their own mammies. They’d have to be young to not understand why they shouldn’t. Alec was shouting which of you scab bastards has got my daughter here, and that wis the last time he’d call her that, right enough. And one of them goes to him, calm down mate, in that funny flat accent they’ve got, and he wheels on him, he says I am not and will never be your mate.