Take it off, says she, put it back where you got it. You can take it down to look at it now and again, but don’t go wearing it. If Tam catches you with that on you, you know what he’ll do.

I did know. My whole body went stiff at the notion of it.

As I took the dress off and hung it up, says Mummy Noreen, If you’re fit to be dancing around down here, you’re fit to do a bit of work up there.

I was terrible sad to leave the children and go upstairs. They could’ve come with me, surely, I wouldn’t have minded, but they didn’t like the light. They wanted to stay in the dark places, where they could hide.

When I went up there and got to work, it was the same as before, and it wasn’t the same. I did the jobs I always did, but I was slow, and I got tired awful quick. Every once in a wee while I had to go and sit down, or maybe lie on the floor. Daddy Tam didn’t like it, he said I was nothing other than a lazy wee shite, but Daddy George telt him, The child needs to rest. She shouldn’t be working at all. Daddy Tam didn’t like being telt anything, and not by Daddy George. They argued a lot, them days. They didn’t get to hitting the other, but they weren’t far off it.

Everyone was quiet around them. Daddy Tam was more cribb’d than ever. And he had a smell about him, a smell that was sour and sweet. Mummy Noreen said he was drinking, that’s what the stink was. She warned me to say nothing to him, to keep out of his way, or he’d beat the tar out of me.

Things were different downstairs, too. Mummy Joy and Mummy Noreen weren’t getting along so well. They always had their wee rows, always over stupid things, but this was more than that. Mummy Noreen was angry about something, and I didn’t know what. Mummy Joy had done something on her, or said something, or hadn’t done something, or whatever it was, but Mummy Noreen was wild annoyed with her. Even once, I got in her way, and she give me a clip round the ear. Not hard, not like Daddy Tam would hit me, but it hurt all the same. And here, didn’t Mummy Joy lit on her, she had her by the throat. If Daddy Ivan hadn’t come along, I don’t know what would’ve happened.