‘I used to take such trouble getting her ready for school. Pretty clothes, and her hair done up with bows. And I’d take her there, and watch her run in, and turn and wave, and my heart would hurt a little, but it was fine, I’d see her once the day was done. I used to get there early every day, to watch her coming out and into my arms again.’

She stops, and her chest is heaving. Her whole body, tiny and frail-looking, is tense with the dreadful emotion wracking her. After a moment she calms a little, to explain something to me.

‘It was after the war, and there were still army trucks roaring about the place… we lived near a barracks, you see.’

I nod, pointlessly, as her eyes are still shut. She seems to relax. I have an awful feeling about what’s coming next.

‘I was late one day. I don’t know why. Something made me late. Amy had come out of school, and she was there, by the gate, looking out for me. And she saw me across the road. She ran to me. Smiling. I shouted but she wouldn’t stop. She only had eyes for me, not for the lorry, coming fast, too fast, and she only saw it just before… before… She didn’t cry out. The sound as it hit her… I can hear it still… Oh God, where were you then? When my baby girl was smashed right in front of me? What sort of world are you running here?’

I’m crying too, of course. How lucky I am to have all my children still. Bill though, he went, suddenly. But he was a grown man. An old man. A child… in front of you… Her heart must break, and how has it not broken before? It has, of course, but now she wants it to break one last time, and stop.

‘Today I’m going to see Amy. I am. And Arthur, who’s been with Amy for years now. They’ll be waiting for me. Hand in hand. And I’ll come to them.’

She’s sobbing now, and her body is stiff, and she’s letting the grief take hold of her. Like she never has before, I’m guessing. It’s convulsing her. I sense it like a hand reaching into her chest, squeezing her heart, tighter and tighter.

Still her body sucks in the air. She opens her eyes and fixes me with a gaze from somewhere beyond.

She speaks, in short gasps. ‘Not another second – apart from my baby – and my love. Enough. This world has – nothing for me – I have nothing for it. It’s over. Let my heart – break again, and never be mended on this earth.’