Peggy waved away his worries and reached for the squalling baby. ‘Come on, big boy, let’s go out and look at the chickens while Mummy warms your breakfast.’ She carefully carried him down the concrete steps and out into the garden. ‘There,’ she soothed. ‘Look.’ Squatting down so he could see the hens fussily parading in their pen, she held him close to the wire netting.

Joseph stopped crying and stared at the chickens, reaching towards them with his tiny chubby fingers. Enthralled by the sight of them, he forgot his hunger and gave a beaming smile.

‘It seems you have a way with babies,’ said Betty, coming to stand beside her.

‘I’ve had enough of them to know what to do,’ Peggy replied, handing the baby over.

Joseph opened his mouth to protest and it was swiftly plugged by the rubber teat. ‘I’m still learning,’ Betty said and giggled as her baby drank hungrily. ‘But Joseph is like all other males, and the answer to most of their woes is usually food.’

Peggy cocked her head at the sound of the telephone. ‘Oh lawks, I hope that’s not Pauline at this time of the morning,’ she muttered and hurried indoors.

‘Hello, Mum. I’m so sorry for ringing this early, I didn’t realise the time. I hope I didn’t wake you.’

‘Not much chance of that with a baby in the house,’ Peggy replied warily. She sat down on the hall chair, prepared for bad news. ‘What’s the matter, Anne?’

‘Nothing’s the matter,’ Anne replied. ‘Everything’s fine here. It’s just that I felt I should warn you that Martin’s on his way home with Sally and her boys.’

Peggy didn’t like the sound of that at all. ‘But why aren’t you with him? There hasn’t been trouble between you, has there?’ she asked anxiously.

‘Not trouble exactly,’ Anne said hesitantly. ‘He’s found it very hard to settle here, that’s all, and when he discovered Sally was going home today, he decided to go with her.’

‘That still doesn’t explain why you aren’t with him,’ said Peggy. ‘What is it that you’re not telling me, Anne?’

Anne let out a long sigh. ‘It’s a very long story, Mum, which I’m not prepared to go into right now. But Martin was determined to leave today, and I couldn’t stop him. Also, it would have been impossible for me to go with him at such short notice. We parted on good terms, because I realised it was for the best. But Martin isn’t well, Mum, so you’ll need to keep a close eye on him.’

Peggy knew how it was for Roger and her heart ached to think that her lovely son-in-law was similarly afflicted. ‘Why didn’t you tell me how hard things were down there, darling?’