Molly felt obliged to give that explanation. Besides which, it was all a great burden on her sorry heart and maybe what Tilly had said was the truth – ‘a trouble shared is a trouble halved’. And so, with no small reluctance and a deal of trepidation, Molly opened up her heart to this kindly woman. She described how she had in fact fled the area because ‘someone meant harm to me and the children’. She went on to explain how she lied about going to Jack, for fear that Mick might be tempted to follow her, ‘and because there were others, more sinister, who might also make it their business to track me down’.

‘But surely Mick the bargee would never hurt a hair on your head, child?’ Tilly was astounded. ‘You’re right, though. He did come a-looking for you… but I could have sworn it were only because the fellow thought the world of you. I’ve always been given to understand that he wanted nothing more than to look after you and the children… adored you… that’s what I thought!’

‘You’re right, Tilly. Mick wanted me to go south with him. He told me how much he loved me and the young ’uns.’

‘What then?… You didn’t love him, is that it?’

‘Oh, no. I did love him… I do love him! Only at the time I was too blinded by my feelings and loyalty for Jack.’ A sadness came into Molly’s dark eyes. ‘I had an idea that I could find Jack and when I did, everything would be all right. But I was wrong.’

‘Then it weren’t the bargee who meant you harm?’ When Molly shook her head, the older woman nodded, as though satisfied that she had not misread that man’s character. ‘Who were it then? Who frightened you enough to make you up sticks and take to the road with three children… one a cripple!’ she loudly demanded. It was obvious that she was ready to do battle.

Engrossed in their conversation, neither Tilly Watson nor Molly heard the front door latch being lifted and the door opening to admit a certain young man whose head was light from the booze he had tasted, and whose heart was pining for want of a woman. That woman was Molly. The young man was Tilly’s eldest son, Joe. Being suddenly intrigued by his mother’s emotional outburst, he came on unsteady tip-toes to the parlour door, where he pressed himself against the wall and strained his neck so as not to miss a single word. What he heard held him rigid and astonished.

In the space of a few minutes, Molly had confided everything to this woman whom she instinctively felt she could trust. She told how Justice Crowther had hounded her over the years and of the manner in which Jack had saved her from that man’s clutches when Crowther had snatched her from the hut which had been home to her and old Sal, the lovable tramp who had found her as an infant. She revealed her terrible fear of that man and the awful consequences were he ever to ensnare her again.