‘They want the last drop of sweat we got,’ said Ivy crossly. She blew out her cheeks and looked around. ‘I can’t say I’ll be sorry to leave this place, but I shall miss earning the good money they pay.’

The other girl shrugged. ‘They only paid that because it’s dangerous and dirty, and we’ve all ended up with yellow skin. Personally I can’t wait to get back to Coventry. There might not be much of it left, but it’s home, and I never felt right being all this way south.’

Ivy fetched her things from the locker room, drew on her jacket and traipsed out of the factory to be met by an equally disgruntled Ruby who was waiting for her. ‘I suppose you ’eard all that?’ Ivy asked, linking arms with her fellow Londoner and friend.

‘Yeah,’ Ruby replied as they ambled towards the gate. ‘It’s rotten luck, ain’t it? You ain’t gunna find them sort of wages again.’

‘What about you? I know they’ve cut yer hours, and laid off a lot of the workers, but are they closing too?’

Ruby shook her head. ‘Nah, they’re staying open, but the hours from now on will be nine to five, and no night shifts where there was a chance of a bit of extra money.’ She heaved a sigh and adjusted the strap of her handbag over her shoulder. ‘People still need tools, war or not, but the cut in me wages means I’ll have to give up on Cordelia’s bungalow at the end of the month. Me mate what was sharing the rent has already gone ’ome to London, and she ain’t coming back.’

‘But where will you go?’

Ruby grimaced. ‘Uncle Stan’s, I suppose, though it will be a terrible squash with him, April and baby Paula already taking up the two bedrooms in that little station cottage. I’ll just have to ’ope my Mike gets leave to come down before he’s sent back to Canada. He’ll sort something out.’

‘Auntie Peggy would take you in again like a shot. But she’s chock-a-block already, and if ’er family come back from Somerset, we’ll all be doubling up – even the snooty Cissy.’

Ivy gave a deep sigh. ‘I thought the end of the war would be wonderful and everything would go back to the way it were before. But it ain’t like that, is it? The factories are closing, friends are leaving, and with the servicemen and women coming back, there ain’t a job to be ’ad nowhere.’

‘I thought you’d go back to London with Andy,’ Ruby said as they came to a halt outside the factory gates.