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tears.
    ‘There’s only one person to blame and it’s neither of you.’ Martin lifted the dustpan and brush out from under the sink.
    ‘Out the way, both of you. Katie, you’ll dirty Judy’s dress.’
    ‘I can wash it.’
    ‘If you’re going out you’d best be on your way.’
    Martin helped his sister to her feet. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll take care of Mam.’ He gave her a reassuring hug.
    ‘I don’t feel like going out now.’
    ‘Best you don’t stay here. You’ve enough money?’
    ‘I kept back five shillings.’ As she opened her bag, her face fell.
    ‘I saw Dad in your room earlier.’ Putting his hand in his back trouser pocket, he handed her a ten-shilling note. ‘Try and forget this happened. Have a good time.’
    ‘Marty ...’
    ‘I’ll be leaving but I’ll not go far without you.’ He pulled out his handkerchief and blotted her tears. ‘Go on.’ He smiled. ‘You’ll miss the other girls if you hang around.’
    ‘You really going?’ Jack shovelled a pile of old comics on to the floor so he could sit on the windowsill.
    ‘Yes.’ Martin flicked the catches on his case, opened it flat on the bed they shared and separated his clothes from Jack’s on the rail.
    ‘It must be nice to be able to afford to move on when you feel like it.’
    ‘Army pay doesn’t allow for much in the way of savings.’
    ‘You’ve enough set aside to put this bloody mess of a family behind you.’
    ‘Jack ...’
    ‘It’s all right, I’d probably do the same in your shoes.’
    Martin looked at his brother and saw misery and disappointment behind the swagger and bravado. ‘I shouldn’t have come back, not here. It was hard enough when I was away, thinking of Mam and you and Katie getting the rough edge of Dad’s hand, but my being here only makes things worse for Mam. And I can’t stay and watch it, Jack. I’m sorry.’ He pleaded for understanding. ‘I just can’t.’
    ‘I could come with you.’
    ‘You will as soon as I find somewhere big enough for all of us. But I don’t know where I’ll be sleeping tonight.’
    ‘I’ve slept rough before. There’s still a lot of houses round here with air-raid shelters. Some of them aren’t that damp.’
    ‘And Mam and Katie?’
    ‘You heard Mam. She won’t leave him and Katie won’t leave without her.’
    ‘I know it’s a lot to ask, but please stay until I find somewhere decent for all of us. I’ll sleep easier knowing you’re here if Dad decides to have another go.’
    ‘The last time I got between him and Mam was the week I got out of Borstal. He broke my arm. That’s why my call-up’s been delayed for a year.’
    ‘You never wrote ...’
    ‘It mended,’ Jack interrupted, in a tone that warned Martin to drop the subject.
    ‘I’ll find someone to put me up for tonight and I’ll start looking for rooms first thing tomorrow.’ Snapping the locks on the case, Martin lifted it from the bed and walked to the door. He glanced back at the double bed covered with a patchwork of rags that had been worn even before his mother had laboriously stitched them together. ‘I know there’s a shortage of rooms around here but I’ll try to find a place for the four of us. Then there’ll be no more broken arms or black eyes and, if I have to, I’ll carry Mam there and lock her in so she can’t come back here.’
    ‘Between us we could ...’ Jack’s voice trailed as he realised the magnitude of what he was about to suggest.
    ‘Tackle him? We’d probably kill him and there are laws against that.’
    ‘You haven’t been here.’
    ‘But I’m here now. And like I said to Katie, I’ll not go far.’
    ‘But you won’t be in this bloody house.’
    ‘Watch over Katie and Mam until I can get the three of you out.’
    ‘We’ve managed without you for two years. We’ll manage again.’
    ‘I promise you won’t have to manage much longer, Jack. I’m going to change things, for all of us.’
    ‘Seeing is believing.’ Jack turned his back as