As she approached, she saw that there was a large hole in the roof on one side of the building. It was surrounded by a picket fence from which an old gate hung on a single hinge. The tiny leaded windows – or what remained of them – were black and bleak looking and it looked barely habitable, but then she supposed Charlie was right – any port in a storm would be welcome at that moment.

As Susie raced ahead, Opal followed as fast as she could. On entering, she found herself in what she presumed must once have been a small kitchen cum sitting room, although it was hard to see in the all-enveloping gloom. The roof in this room seemed to be intact, so, quickly deciding, she told Charlie, ‘Go and grab the cart. We’ll light some candles and we’ll try to get a fire going.’

He was gone before the words had left her mouth and, minutes later, she heard him grunting as he yanked the cart down the small overgrown path. Placing Jack in Susie’s arms, she soon located the candles and matches. Once she had managed to light one, they looked around. Luckily there were odd bits of broken furniture lying about, so at least they would have some dry wood for the fire. A small inglenook fireplace was set into one wall and, after scraping out the dead ashes onto the hearth with his hands, Charlie immediately began to break the wood into pieces and set them into the fire basket.

Soon after he had it alight and, now with the candle burning and the faint glow from the fire, they could better see the room. A grimy deep stone sink stood against one wall and low beams framed the ceiling – but at least this room was fairly dry. The floor was littered with dirt and from the terrible smell that hung in the air, Opal suspected animals had found refuge there.

She couldn’t believe how quickly their lives had changed, that they were now having to sleep here, but she couldn’t think about that now. Pushing her worries aside, she rooted about in the cart and pulled out the blankets she had packed then shook the snow from them. Little Susie was struggling to keep her eyes open, and Opal immediately laid some of the blankets on the floor in front of the fire, instructing Charlie, ‘Take the kettle and fill it with snow. I’ll make us a brew of tea and at least it will warm us.’

While Charlie was doing that, Opal quickly settled Susie and Jack on the blankets and blocked up the broken panes in the window with rags or anything that came to hand. Soon after that, the kettle was placed on the fire and it gradually got a little warmer. Opal rooted in the cart for the half a loaf she had bought with them and tore chunks off it.