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minister. ‘Let’s start carrying the things in, then, shall we?’
    He gave her a gentle smile, as if he understood what she’d been thinking. ‘You won’t be on your own here, my dear. You’ll make friends and you’ll be able to turn to people at chapel if you need help. We pride ourselves on being practical Christians.’
    That kindness nearly made her weep, but she forced back the tears and nodded. ‘I know. It’s all been … a bit rushed.’
    She tried to move and couldn’t. Things blurred round her and she knew nothing more until she came to, lying on the ground, with Mr Garrett’s coat under her head and Renie kneeling beside her.
    ‘What happened?’
    Renie took hold of her hand and gave it a squeeze. ‘You fainted. Mr Garrett caught you or you’d have bumped your head. How do you feel?’
    ‘A bit dizzy.’ She sat up and waited a moment or two until she was sure her head wasn’t spinning, then she let Renie help her to stand up.
    Footsteps heralded the return of Mr Garrett with a cup of tea and a scone provided by Mr Rayner. ‘Here. Drink this. Did you eat any breakfast?’
    ‘No. I feel a bit sick in the mornings and dizzy sometimes.’
    ‘My wife’s the same. It usually passes after the first three or four months.’
    ‘I hope so. I need to get a job and earn some money.’
    He looked at her consideringly. ‘Doing what?’
    ‘Anything that pays. I worked in a laundry before.’
    ‘I could give you a day’s work each week helping my wife with the washing. It’s a bit much for her, and our previous washing woman just left town. My wife’s also expecting, as you must have noticed. She’s further along than you and is quite big now. We hadn’t expected to be blessed again, but the Lord has decided to give us another child.’
    ‘I’d be happy to work for you.’
    ‘Good. Now, drink the tea and eat the scone. We need to get this furniture in place, so that the lad and I can go and collect the things offered by the congregation here in Milnrow.’
    ‘There are more things?’
    ‘Oh, yes, quite a lot more.’
    ‘I can’t thank you enough.’
    After he’d gone, she and Renie walked round the house. They had been given two bed frames, both needing rewebbing. Three threadbare blankets. Some ragged old towels, which would only be usable for cleaning, so full of holes were they. Still, you needed rags. There were odd spoons and knives, but no forks. Two plain white cups in perfect condition, another without a handle. The teapot had a chunk missing from the end of the spout, but it was all right otherwise. There were two drinking glasses, one badly chipped.
    She studied a sagging armchair and two stools, the latterrough pieces clearly made by an inexpert hand. She tried one stool and sat there for a moment, gathering herself to continue.
    Renie giggled suddenly and sat on the other stool, which wobbled to and fro on uneven legs. ‘Which one do you think is the master’s seat?’
    ‘The armchair, of course.’ She smiled back. ‘I wonder if there’s a corner shop nearby? We could buy some tea and maybe a loaf and some margarine, and leave them here. We’ve got a bread bin, so even if there are rats, they’ll not be able to get at it. I’m quite hungry now.’
    ‘Jam too?’ begged Renie.
    ‘Yes, why not? But we’ll use it sparingly.’
    She stared round, assessing it all, feeling determination rise within her. ‘I want to move in here as soon as possible, even if I have to sleep on the floor. But before we do, it’ll need scrubbing from top to bottom and the walls distempering. You and I can do that, but you’ll have to climb the ladder – if we can borrow a ladder, that is. I don’t want to risk it, not with me getting so dizzy.’
    By the time Mr Garrett came back, they had a cup of tea to offer him – Nell was using the cup without a handle – and had met a neighbour, who had come in to see who was moving in. Peg wasn’t the sort of person Nell usually associated with,