‘I can talk to my own brother, can’t I?’ May asked, knowing full well that the answer was ‘no’. Any communication between the boys and the girls was strictly forbidden, even between brother and sister. ‘You know what I want,’ she went on, before he could contradict her. ‘Why were you fighting?’

‘What am I supposed to do?’ he replied. ‘Jackson was saying I never really had a father. He said I was a bas—’

‘Hush! You are not to use that word. You don’t need to fight him. You know quite well that we did have a father, and a mother. Just tell anyone who asks that our dad’s dead, that he was lost at sea.’

‘Lost at sea!’ he repeated angrily. ‘What’s that mean anyway?’

‘I suppose it means he drowned. I suppose his ship sank.’

‘He might not be dead,’ Gus said. ‘Lost doesn’t mean dead.’

‘Yes, it does. If he was still alive he would have come home, wouldn’t he?’

‘Maybe he couldn’t. Maybe he’s marooned on a desert island. I’ve heard stories like that. Maybe he found buried treasure and he’s living in a palace. Maybe he’s forgotten all about us.’

May looked at her brother’s small, fierce face and understood the pain behind it. ‘Don’t, Gus. He wouldn’t forget. He’s dead and gone. You have to get used to that.’

‘I don’t believe you. One day I’m going to go to sea and look for him.’

‘Gus …’ But he had turned and was already running back to the boys’ yard on the far side of the chapel.

The bell on the roof of the chapel sounded and May moved away. It was time for work. From her first days in the workhouse, May had been made to understand that one day she would have to leave and make her own way in the world. It was her duty to make herself ready to perform some useful function, which would allow her to earn her own living.

That meant, almost certainly, going into domestic service. It had taken her some time to understand that her future life would be spent scrubbing and cooking and mending for some family that was not her own, but she had had to accept it. So every afternoon was devoted to learning a skill that would prepare her for that.