Lilith paled. ‘No! Wait until we hear what Suzie has to say first, but no matter what, you’re not to raise a hand to that girl, do you hear me? I know what your temper’s like, and I won’t see you hang for some silly little tart.’

Suzie had found trailing after Roz to be fun at first, but waiting outside the market for what seemed to be an eternity had soon put a dampener on things. She had been relieved when Roz reappeared and she could follow her to the next destination, hoping against hope that it would be somewhere warmer this time. She was disappointed when she saw Mabel Johnson come out from the laundry and link arms with Roz. All this sneaking around, thought Suzie bitterly, just because little Miss High and Mighty had befriended one of the girls from the courts? I don’t know what Gran thought she was up to, but she’ll be disappointed to hear it’s nothing more than knocking around with the likes of Mabel Johnson, stuck-up cow that she is. Assuming that the two girls were going back to Mercer Court, Suzie was about to head home when to her surprise the girls turned onto the Scottie Road. Why on earth were they going in that direction? Unless Roz was going to go into one of the shops and ask for some leftovers … She shook her head dismissively. Roz had objected to asking the stallholders in the market; she’d hardly approach shopkeepers, especially not off her own bat. Curiosity getting the better of her, Suzie abandoned her plans for an early dart home, and continued to follow the girls.

Out of earshot from her unknown spy, Roz confided in Mabel that she was feeling nervous at the thought of seeing Felix again when she wasn’t looking her best.

‘He sounds like a grand chap to me,’ said Mabel. ‘I doubt he’ll be bothered by your appearance, although I daresay he won’t be best pleased when he hears Callum sold your clobber down the Pig and Whistle.’

‘Clobber?’ enquired Roz, who had not yet mastered all the Liverpudlian slang.

‘Clothes,’ explained Mabel. ‘It was a downright mean thing to do if you ask me. They might just be clothes to the likes of him, but they were things your parents had bought you, the only thing you have left to remind you of them …’ She stopped short, seeing the wry smile cross Roz’s face.

‘Is there something else?’

Nodding, Roz told Mabel about the gold Star of David necklace which she had been given at her bat mitzvah.

‘Can I see?’ asked Mabel, eyeing Roz’s neckline.

Roz shook her head. ‘I’ve left it back at the Haggartys’ …’

‘You’ve what?’ cried Mabel.

Roz smiled. ‘Not to worry, I’ve hidden it where they’ll never think to look – in my bedding.’