‘Thanks, Nat, I appreciate it.’ The relief in the foreman’s voice was palpable. It was part of his job to carry out these visits, he knew that, but it didn’t make it any easier, and for a young lass and mother to be told she’d lost her breadwinner a week before Christmas . . .

Clearing his throat, he stood up. ‘Finish your cuppa, lad, there’s no rush. We’ll go in a few minutes, all right? Does the lass’s mam live near or a sister maybe? Someone we could call in on before we go who’d come and be with her?’

Nathaniel shook his head. ‘There’s no one. She— Rose was brought up in the workhouse and her mother died in there when Rose was still a bairn.’

‘What about the in-laws?’

Again Nathaniel shook his head. ‘They don’t get on. In fact, they haven’t spoken since Davey and Rose got married.’

‘Dear, oh, dear. So the lass is all alone in the world? Is that right?’

Nathaniel met the man’s eyes. Quietly, he said, ‘I’ll look out for her, the bairn an’ all.’

‘Well, that’s right good of you, lad. There’s not many who’d say that at your age. He had a good pal in you, did Davey.’ The foreman clapped him on the shoulder and then said, ‘I’ll be back shortly but like I said, there’s no rush.’

Nathaniel sat perfectly still after the man had walked away. Feeling was coming back and with it a trembling deep inside. The echo of Davey’s scream as he fell was piercing the numbness, that and the look in his friend’s eyes in the last second.

He hadn’t meant to do it, not really, he told himself. It wasn’t like he had planned it or anything. He’d lost his grip on Davey’s wrists, that was all. He hadn’t been able to hold on to him. Accidents happened all the time at the shipyards, everyone knew that, and that was all this was – another accident. And Davey would want him to look after Rose, of course he would. Her and the bairn, his goddaughter. He hadn’t caused the manhole cover to give way, it hadn’t been his fault. It could just as well have been him standing on it, after all. This was just fate, all this, it was meant to be.

He continued telling himself the same things over and over again as he drank his tea, but however much he tried to ignore it a faint echo of that terrible scream reverberated in his head.

Chapter Three