‘Naw, I want them as can come to be here now. I want me sister – get our Ciss for me, Angus, please. I’ve a phone number for her, it goes through t’office of the estate as Patrick works on.’

‘We will, Ma; whatever you want, we’ll do it.’

‘Aye, me wee lassie, we will.’

Angus seemed to have gained strength as he said this. His hand came out to Rosie, and she took it and leaned her head on it. As she did so, she saw Roddie, sitting with his head in his hands, and her heart went out to him. ‘Roddie, come over here, lad.’

With Roddie joining them, his da let go of Rosie’s hand and stretched it out to his son. Roddie knelt, making it easier to comfort him, now that he was at the same level as them all. His arms came around them, his hand resting on his ma’s head. And although there was little comfort to be had, with the enormity of this terrible news, they were a family, and just holding each other helped.

Days went by, with Rosie hardly noticing. Her nights were spent remembering and weeping, but during the day she was protected by her Aunt Susan, whose London grit helped her to cope, as she organized the day-to-day living. And then there was the constant flow of lovely folk from their community in Portpatrick who gave comfort.

It was five days later when the second brown envelope came and, with it, a rich-looking envelope with a royal seal. They all stood together, holding hands. Rosie could feel her ma’s body trembling, and the effort she was making to keep herself together. Angus tore open the brown envelope first and read aloud:

‘We regret to inform you that your son, Corporal William Roford, has been taken prisoner by the Japanese army.’

Ma released a huge sigh that told of her relief.

‘Corporal Roford is being held in Malaya, but if moved, we will inform you. And we will do our best to get any letters from you to him, as well as any parcels you may want to send, but we must warn you that the Japanese do not always comply with the rules of war, and anything sent may not reach your son.

‘At all times we will try to keep communications open and will inform you of your son’s welfare, when we have news of how he is.’

Ma stayed standing and, on hearing this, folded her arms. ‘Our Billy’s safe then? Thank God! By, lad’ll have more parcels than he can cope with. We can look after him, Angus, even if it is from afar.’

It was as if Betsy couldn’t let the true impact of this news into her heart, but was warding it off with bravado.