Ruby scoops up the brooch with her discarded glove and shoves it into her coat pocket as Billy stacks three trays on top of one another in a single swift movement. Then she runs to the door and pulls it open – just as a sad-faced young woman in a dowdy coat enters the shop.

‘Good morning.’ The girl’s face brightens a little as she sees the customers, and her sloping shoulders lift. Her frame is fragile, like a child’s. She is in the doorway, blocking their exit. The jeweller turns, hearing her voice.

‘Where are you going with my rings?’ he asks in surprise, noticing what Billy’s carrying.

‘Excuse me, we’re just leaving,’ Ruby says to the girl, the politeness of her expression at odds with the hard look in her eye.

The girl doesn’t move; she stands rigid, fixed to the spot, her mouth gaping. Ruby doesn’t know if she’s terrified or just stupid.

‘Move!’

The girl doesn’t respond. The jeweller runs around his counter and grasps at the ring trays in Billy’s hands.

This is not how it was supposed to be.

Billy keeps one hand firmly on the trays and shoves the man away with the other. The jeweller clatters back towards his counter and lands heavily.

‘Pa!’ the girl cries out to him. But rather than running inside, she steps back, out of the doorway and onto the pavement, and begins shrieking for help. She’s surprisingly loud for one so tiny, and a few people across the street turn their heads to see what is happening.

‘Go!’ Billy calls to Ruby, and without a second thought, she runs out to the road, with Billy following right behind her.

The girl is still screeching.

As he runs from the shop, Billy charges her with his shoulder, jewellery trays still in his hands. He is much larger than she is, and she is knocked to the ground. A woman, turning the corner, freezes in mute shock, trying to make sense of what’s happening, before rushing to the girl’s aid.

‘Ron’s here,’ Billy shouts.

The car is waiting for them across the street, as planned. Ronald’s enormous car – the one he bought from an officer in the war.

‘Stop, thief! I’ve been robbed!’ The jeweller is out of the door, pointing at them, shouting as loud as he can to the whole street. ‘Thief!’

The woman on the pavement with the terrified girl looks up, and her eyes find Ruby’s.

Ruby stares back at her for a spilt second before running to the car door. Billy sprints around to the other side and Ronald pulls away as he climbs in.

‘Let’s go,’ is all he says, as his foot slams the pedal.