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It was half past nine by the time she was settled Leslie went into the kitchen and opened theHe could see a few stars in the clearing sky He cleared away the supper plates, then took out a fresh sliced loaf, cheese, toht fruit cake into slices and wrapped everything in foil He put the food into a carrier bag, with half a dozen Mars bars, soh for four, and if there were more, they had to share it

He soe blocks of cheese and packs of butter in the fridge, the chocolate and biscuits in the cupboard, and wondered who ate so ht; but his s about Hilary was that she was never nosy, never cos and if she was not, did not ask

He tidied up, then watched the news headlines When he switched off the television, the house was very quiet A car went past Quiet again They were at the end of the row, and the neighbours on the other side ht prefer to live in a livelier street, withto and from school; she spent a lot of time in her chair by theBut she had lived in this house for fifty-three years It had been his ho now

The front roo rooer climb the stairs; there was a bathroom in a sht co from under her door, but he called her na He opened the door slightly and stood listening to her soft breathing The nureen on her radio clock

‘Goodnight, Mother’

She did not reply

But tenthe soft click of the front door closing, Norah Blade opened her eyes The house was settling back into itself She listened Leslie parked his car on the sround between their house and the block of flats Sometimes she asked him why he bothered to keep it, whether it wasn’t too much of an expense, as he didn’t use it for work

‘I take you to the hospital, I use it for shopping, we go out in the summer You’d miss it’

‘You could hire one’

‘No, once you stop driving regularly you lose the skill’

But he used it ht, twice a week, though where he went and what he did she did not know nor would she ever ask He was a grown h

She strained her ears waiting until she heard hi this early part of the night because she arm and comfortable propped on her special pillows, and the es for a time But she never slept until Leslie careen glow of the bedside clock He would be out for a couple of hours and when she heard him return, she would fall asleep at once, until the pain and the stiffness in her liain in the early hours

Two

Abi Righton pulled the sleeping bag further up round Frankie’s neck He mumbled and chewed his lips for a ainst the wall, his sister Mia coughed, stirred, coughed again and opened her eyes

‘It’s OK, go back to sleep’

The child coughed again and struggled to sit up They were in sleeping bags because Abi thought they were safer and ware knitted blanket she didn’t have any other bedclothes for them

She sat at theher eye fro to look only at what she was doing and not at her own face, the sepia shadows under her eyes, the crack in the corner of her mouth where a cold sore had just dried

Mia coughed again and started to whih e drink at the bottoive her that warhed too much Where was Hayley, anyway? It was ten past nine, she was supposed to cohts, Hayley cahts, Abi took theo out until Hayley had arrived, that was a given Leaving their kids alone was so they had both said they would never do That was how the arrangeo She turned her head and started on the other eye At least it had stopped raining Rain was the worst, though the bitter cold last winter had been soet rid of for weeks, Frankie and Mia had been ill on and off the whole tias fire more than a couple of hours a day That had been her rock bottoh it They had kept one another going, and if one of them had money they’d help each other out that way too Once or twice they’d stayed here, all the kids sleeping together, she and Hayley next to theain One night they’d had no one over to the Catholic church and nicked a couple of candles frohosts with the light flickering up the walls They’d wet the, woken the kids, made jam sandwiches with the last of the loaf

I was happy, Abi thought suddenly, putting down the eyeliner That hat it was It was being happy

She heard Hayley co down the steps If they could just be like that, have a laugh, be with their kids all together and not go out Not go out ever again Only, she had to go out, she was saving Her savings were in an old biscuit box and every tih But a bit She thought three years, h to move into somewhere else or maybe her naet so better than this

Four years, ain Not once

‘Hiya’

Hayley ca

‘Thought you’d got lost’

‘He was sick’

‘Oh bloody hell, you haven’t brought hiive it to mine, and that’s all I need’

Hayley stood in her jeans and parka, holding Liam by the hand He was the colour of wax

‘Well, you’ve got to go out, what else was I supposed to do?’

‘OK, OK Only maybe put him over there Put him on the other side’

‘Make it sound like he’s got fuingHe can’t help it, you know’

Hayley ainst the , pulling off her jacket

‘Anyway, it’s stopped raining Can’t be bad’

‘My luck, it’ll start again five s’

‘Great’

‘If I’et some There’s a bit of milk’

Abi got her fleece from over the chair back, checked the pocket for her h cash for that either Another reason she had to go out You could do without a lot before you did without the phone The lifeline

‘Lend us your mobile, Hayles’

‘No way What’s wrong with your own?’

‘Nearly out Go on, I’ll leave h on it to call an a if you had to’

‘Saoes for you then’

Hayley stared her out When she was in this mood, it was best to leave her Ju her head on the walls, chuck so at you, all of that, it happened, and they both knehy Abi wasn’t risking it when all the kids were here with her