‘Well, of course you must be in charge!’ agreed Tilly, casting a wary glance at the other children, who had stopped their yelling and fighting to view the proceedings. ‘Isn’t that so, you lot?’ Tilly asked them. ‘Sal must be in charge.’

‘Only if I can be a soldier!’ replied the chubby, fair-haired boy.

‘And me, too,’ chirped the smaller boy, who had a definite crossover in his speckled green eyes. The baby of the group, who was not much younger than Peggy, said nothing. Instead, she stood slumped against the back wall, sucking her thumb and using her free hand to hitch up the pee-stained knickers that had slipped to her knees.

‘There you are then, Sal. It’s agreed,’ confirmed Molly, bending down and taking the two girls into her arms. ‘Give your mammy a kiss.’ She almost lost her balance when they flung themselves tight into her and rained her with kisses and hugs.

As she climbed the stone steps, Molly was made to pause when Sal’s voice called out, ‘Promise you’ll be quick as you can?’

‘I promise, sweetheart.’

‘And will you bring us something?’ Peggy chipped in.

Molly smiled at the difference in the character of her two daughters. All Sal wanted was for her mammy to come back quickly. That was enough. Peggy wanted her mammy back also, but she preferred her to return with a present in her pocket. ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ she told the eager, uplifted faces. When she saw that little Sal was not altogether satisfied, she added a message just for her, ‘I promise I’ll be back as quickly as possible.’ She warmed at the child’s smile, and watched as she happily returned to the others, quickly beginning to stand them up against the wall and issue orders to ‘get into a straight line, and no fighting’.

Thinking how much she adored her children and how empty life would be without them, Molly left the house and went away down Dock Street with a determined heart. She hoped the good Lord would understand why she was about to go back on a promise she made to him soon after Peggy was born. At that time, Molly had thought long and hard about the responsibility of having two children, one of whom was old enough and quick enough to follow her mammy’s example, whether it be good or bad. Pickpocketing and stealing at every given opportunity was a bad example for little Sal, Molly had decided. She knew well enough that her older daughter was already beginning to acquire certain traits that would lead her into a life of street crime; just as she herself had done while under the influence of old Sal Tanner, albeit a loving and protective influence.

So Molly had stopped her thieving and turned to more honest ways of earning a living. Such as selling flowers that were past their prime, and moving crates in the marketplace, or singing outside a public house on a Saturday night – that was the most lucrative of all. But none of these enterprises ever allowed Molly and her offspring more than just a meagre existence. In fact, as Tilly had rightly pointed out, Molly had fallen behind with the rent and was having to dodge the landlord for fear he would give her notice to quit.