Babs was having little joy calming Frankie down so, at her wits’ end, rang Kerry. ‘It’s Babs, Frankie’s friend. I’m sorry to ring you so late. Did I wake you up?’

‘Yeah, but not to worry. Has something happened to Frankie? Is she OK?’ Kerry asked worriedly. She had been furious with Frankie when she’d all but told her to stay out of her life, but they had been through so much together, she could never hate her or wish her any harm.

Babs explained that the kids were home and that Frankie was in pieces. ‘She’s upstairs crying now. I ain’t told her that I were gonna ring you, but I know she could do with your help. Georgie and Harry have been real nasty to her. If you could ring her over the next couple of days and lend your support, that would be wicked.’

‘OK, I’ll call her first thing tomorrow.’

Joyce thought she was having a bad dream when she heard someone sobbing uncontrollably. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and turned on the light. No, she couldn’t have been dreaming, someone was crying. Joyce got up, put her dressing gown over her nightdress and went to investigate.

‘Whatever’s the matter?’ she asked as she spotted Frankie sitting on the landing, rocking to and fro.

‘Joey’s in danger, so is me Dad, Raymond, Gal, Ricky and Dominic. Jed and Jimmy have followed ’em back from Scotland and now Joey’s chasing after ’em. I’ve tried to ring Stuart, but his phone’s dead. Say he’s been hurt an’ all?’ Frankie sobbed.

Joyce felt her heart start to pound at double its usual pace. She had already lost her beautiful daughter because of Eddie’s feud with the O’Haras, and the thought of losing her Raymond as well didn’t bear thinking of. She crouched down next to her granddaughter. ‘Who told you all this, your dad?’

‘No, it was Joey’s reaction when I told him a secret that gave it away. I had a feeling Dad had been followed, that’s why he kept ringing Joey earlier. Jed’s evil, Nan, he murdered my grandad.’

‘What?’ Joyce asked incredulously.

Frankie fell into her grandmother’s arms. ‘Jed killed Grandad Harry, Nan.’

Overcome by sudden tiredness, Harry had fallen asleep on his sister’s lap.

‘Wake up, Harry. Someone’s at the door – it might be Dad,’ Georgie said, poking him in the shoulder. They’d been in the lounge on their own for ages now. Her mother and the black woman had both disappeared.

‘Frankie, it’s Stu and Tel,’ Georgie heard a voice say.

‘Can’t we nick some money and just run away?’ Harry asked, rubbing his tired eyes.

‘No. We must wait for Dad to come and get us, in case the gavvers find us and lock us up.’