‘Enjoy yourself, then, and make sure you’re back by nine,’ Alice shouted as Georgie shut the trailer door. She liked it when Georgie went shopping and to the pictures with young Josie. It was what little girls should be doing at her age, not knocking about with boys all the time. Feeling happy, Alice picked up her duster. She was proud of her luxurious five-bedroom mobile home, especially when it was gleaming, and she had two women coming over later for a reading.

When Alice dusted the photo frames, she took extra care of the ones that held pictures of the deceased. There was a beauty of Jimmy holding her grandson, Lukey boy, and a lovely one of her son, Mark, on his wedding day. Alice picked up the photo of Jed and Sammy sitting side by side on their horse and cart. Jed and Sammy had been more than just cousins, they’d been best pals, business partners and had spent their whole lives together as if they’d been joined at the hip, bless them.

‘God rest your soul, boy,’ Alice said as she put the photograph back on the cabinet.

Feeling mournful all of a sudden, Alice made herself a brew and took it outside to drink. It was a warm day for March, the birds were singing and the sun was shining brightly. Sitting on the step, Alice tilted her head towards the sun’s rays. She loved living in Scotland, preferred it a thousand times more than living in that doomed house in Essex.

Alice shut her eyes and allowed her mind to drift back to all those years ago when Jimmy had first bought their house in Rainham. It was certainly lavish and very posh, but Alice had had bad vibes about it from the moment she had first stepped over the threshold to view it. ‘I don’t like it, Jimmy. We’ll have no happiness living here. Please don’t buy it, let’s stay where we are,’ Alice had pleaded.