She wondered what Felix would think when he saw her. Would he even recognise her? Roz knew how much she had changed in the short time she had been living with the Haggartys. The skirts she had been given to wear were big when she had first tried them on, but they were even bigger now, due to the weight she had lost. Living on such a meagre diet had presented other problems. She no longer had a clear complexion, and her hair was dull and lifeless. Her cheekbones, which had once been nicely defined, were now gaunt, and Roz knew that she looked ill. She felt it too. Working on the coal was hard, physical labour, which meant that you were permanently dirty no matter how hard you tried to get clean, and the dust got everywhere, under your nails, in your hair, even in your ears. The Haggartys didn’t have a bathtub, so a strip wash was the best she could manage. She hesitated. Did she really want Felix to see her like this? The answer to that was no, but it was either that or she might as well give up all hope. Besides, Felix had seen the Haggartys for himself, so he probably had a good idea by now that things weren’t going so well for Roz.

She was swapping the heavy bag onto her other shoulder when another thought entered her mind. She knew that Felix was keen on her, and whilst she hadn’t admitted it to Mabel, she was sure she liked him as more than a friend or brother, but how would he feel when she turned up dressed in the Haggartys’ hand-me-downs?

This brought her mind back to the time she had found a suitable-looking dress in the pile of unwanted clothing which the Haggartys kept to use as rags, or to block up holes in the walls. She had been waiting for the water for the porridge to come to the boil when she came across the dress. Holding it up against her she had thought it to be about the right size. With the family still fast asleep, she slipped it on and was pleased to see that it fitted nicely. Thinking no more of it, she had returned to her duties, and called for Suzie and Callum to get up. Suzie had been the first to rise. Half asleep, she had soon woken up when she clapped eyes on Roz wearing the dress. Her finger shaking, she demanded that Roz take the dress off.

‘No, it’s not yours and it certainly isn’t Lilith’s,’ said Roz, who couldn’t see a problem. Suzie looked anxiously over to where her father was still asleep then back to Roz. ‘Take it off!’ she hissed, only this time her voice was trembling.