Nancy’s tone was starting to irritate her. ‘I can’t see what’s so wrong with that.’

‘And then . . .’ Nancy hesitated.

‘And then? Go on.’

‘I saw them kissing.’

Kath didn’t want to hear any more. It was the same dizzy feeling she had when the teacher put up one of those unfathomable mathematical equations on the blackboard. None of it made any sense. Nancy must be lying. She began to walk away.

‘Listen, please.’ Nancy trotted alongside her. ‘I didn’t really want to tell you but I don’t want your brother to get into trouble. He needs to stop associating with that man. Do you understand?’

Kath kept on walking.

‘If anyone saw them they could be sent to gaol.’

‘Gaol?’ The word was like a slap in the face. ‘Why?’

Nancy took a deep breath.

‘Captain Burrows is a homo.’

By the time Kath reached home she’d decided that Nancy was deluded or malicious, or both. Her story seemed so unlikely, and everyone knew, because she’d hardly made a secret of it, that she fancied the pants off Captain Burrows. So when he hadn’t asked her for a date – hadn’t called, written or anything – she’d obviously got the hump and decided to get back at him by spreading rumours that he was a . . . Kath found it hard to say the word, even in her head. She had only the barest idea of what it meant, and couldn’t imagine that such a thing really existed.

Of course there were plenty of people who lived with friends of the same sex. Her great-aunt Phyllis was one of them. Her boyfriend had been killed in the last war and now she lived with a sweet lady to whom she referred as her ‘companion’. And men shared digs together, after all. What was wrong with that? But somehow she’d never imagined anything else going on. And certainly not with men like the Captain, who flirted with anything in a skirt, or Mark, who had so many girls calling for him that Ma had once suggested she’d have to put him under lock and key.

No, it was plainly ridiculous. She wouldn’t mention any of it, to anyone. Safer that way.

But as the days went by, she became less certain. What if Nancy decided to spread her nasty rumours more widely? Perhaps she ought to warn her brother, just in case. For a week she vacillated, waiting for the right opportunity.

It was the weekend. Pa was on an extra shift, and Ma was out shopping. Mark was by the back door, rummaging for his Felixstowe Town scarf. He was going to watch the local team play an early-season friendly against their neighbours and fierce rivals, Walton United. There were rumours of a merger between the clubs, so this might be the last match of its kind, he said, and would be sure to draw a good crowd.