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water, just adding more hot as it went cold. Her breath was almost taken away when Betty opened the door. She couldn’t believe her eyes. This beautiful room had a big deep white bath and a washbasin and a lavvy. And all this inside the house.
    ‘I’ll just run the bath for you.’ Betty turned a tap on a large cylinder over the bath. It made a lot of frightening noise as hot water spurted out, and Milly jumped back. ‘I’ll put some of Miss Jane’s lavender water in it, and if I was you I’d wash me hair as well. When you’ve finished, just pull the plug out and clean round the bath. I’ll show you how to do it properly later.’ Betty swished the water about, adding cold from the tap on the side of the bath. ‘There ain’t many houses that’s got this,’ she said proudly, straightening up.
    Milly just stood looking wide-eyed. She had never seen anything like this before. These people must be very rich.
    ‘I’ll just pop along to the store cupboard and get you some of Miss Jane’s clothes she’s grown out of. They should fit you,’ Betty added, eyeing the skinny girl.
    Milly was still gazing all around her when Betty came back, placing a pile of clothes on a chair. ‘There’s a clean towel.’
    ‘Thank you.’
    When Betty had left, Milly picked up the towel and held it to her cheek. It was all fluffy and smelled of flowers, not like the thin, smelly scraps of cloth they had at home. Slowly she took off her clothes, though she left her vest on as she felt very scared and vulnerable. She looked at the door and then put one foot in the bath, before lowering herself carefully into the lovely-smelling water. She lay back and began to cry. What would Dan and Billy think if they could see her? Please God, she prayed don’t let me wake up from this wonderful dream and find meself back in the park.

Chapter 6
    I T WAS A WHILE before Milly plucked up enough courage to take her vest off. What if someone came in? She hadn’t locked the door. Were there any men in this house? What were these people like? Her imagination started to go wild. She’d heard about the white slave market in Chinatown. Did they send Jane out to find young girls? That woman Walton said she had picked up people before. Milly suddenly felt very vulnerable sitting in a bath of water without any clothes on.
    After a while she rubbed the delicious-smelling soap all over her. It was lovely. The water was beginning to get cold, so she stepped carefully out of the bath and wrapped herself in one of the large fluffy towels. As she rubbed her hair dry, she still couldn’t believe how soft it was. Home seemed a lifetime away. Would she ever see her family again? She looked at the grubby bathwater and tentatively pulled at the plug, as Betty had told her to do. When it popped out of the hole, she was terrified the water would gush out all over the floor. She stood watching it disappear. Where did it go? She got down on the floor and looked under the bath. There were a lot of pipes, so it must run away through those. She smiled and gazed around the room. It was so clean and bright. Then she inspected the clothes that Betty had placed on the chair. There was a vest, a chemise, cotton drawers and stockings, a white blouse and a dark blue overdress. She had never seen such fine clothes. When she put them on, she felt like a princess.
    ‘Everything all right?’
    Milly jumped when, after a polite knock, the door suddenly opened.
    ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,’ said Mrs Green. ‘Is everything all right?’ she asked again, walking into the room and looking around. ‘Betty will show you how to clean the bath properly.’
    Milly felt guilty about the black tidemark round the bath. It hadn’t been there when she’d got in. ‘Sorry.’
    ‘Don’t worry about that now. Do you like the clothes? Jane has outgrown them.’
    Milly smiled broadly. ‘Thank you. Why are you being so nice and kind to me and don’t chuck me out?’
    Mrs Green