‘Don’t you trust me?’ he went on. ‘You just think I’ll go to the pub again, don’t you. Well, I won’t. I won’t let you down.’ He was going red in the face just like he used to when he got cross as a little boy.

Kitty had wondered if he could stay with the Feenys but the place was, as usual, bursting at the seams. Maybe Rita could take him, but she’d recently decorated the smallest bedroom in the flat for Ellen and therefore Tommy would have to stay on the settee. Rita would be coming in at all hours and Ellen would wake up as likely as not. It wasn’t a recipe for a growing lad to get a good night’s sleep. Privately Kitty was unsure of how much use Ruby would be as a guardian, either.

The tension broke as there was a quick knock at the door before Sarah came in. ‘Look what I found,’ she said as she stepped inside. ‘Tommy, this is yours, isn’t it?’ She held up a scarf.

‘Oh, that’s my old one! I’ve been looking for that for ages,’ said Tommy, his expression changing from mutinous to relieved. ‘Where was it?’

Sarah laughed and shook her head. ‘Believe it or not, behind the sideboard. Heaven knows how it got there. Well, now you’ll have two.’ She held it out to him. ‘Careful, I tried to brush off all the dust but you’ll need to wash it, I should think.’

Tommy took it eagerly. Even if he now had a new warmer, softer scarf, he was delighted to get this old one back – you never knew when you’d need a spare. Besides, it had annoyed him that he’d lost it – just one more thing that Kitty would use in her argument that he wasn’t sensible enough to take care of himself.

Sarah realised there had been something going on before her arrival. ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked, sharp as ever.

‘Oh, nothing,’ said Kitty, at the exact same time as Tommy said, ‘Kitty’s going away and won’t let me stay here on my own.’

Sarah glanced from one to the other and Kitty gave her the details, while Tommy chipped in with his objections at every possible moment. Eventually he was satisfied that Sarah had understood his point of view, not just Kitty’s. He liked Sarah and couldn’t bear her to think he was still the little boy they all considered more of a liability than a help.

Sarah nodded, and sat herself down at the kitchen table. ‘I see,’ she said slowly. ‘Actually, you know, this might get me out of a tricky situation. As long as you don’t think I’m being cheeky.’

‘Whatever do you mean?’ Kitty demanded.