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want? The girl can spot an injury at ten yards. She caught a sprained wrist this week.’
    Pearl tucked her arm behind her back. Frank stared at his knees.
    ‘I’m all right. Don’t want to trouble anyone, Jack.’
    ‘I’ve got to get to work or they’ll dock me.’ Pearl stepped back into the corridor. ‘Jack, come here.’
    ‘What?’
    But she didn’t answer, just pulled him out of the room. Jack shook himself free.
    ‘He can’t stay in there.’ She hugged the basket.
    ‘It’s dry and it’s free.’
    ‘How’s he going to keep well with that whiff? And it’s so dark, Jack.’ She shuddered. ‘Who calls themselves Spider?’
    ‘Frank’s my fighter. He ain’t one of your bloody stray mutts to smother.’
    She used to collect injured animals, even snails with broken shells.
    ‘I never took in a dog, and that cat with the snapped leg lasted for months.’
    ‘Quite a casualty list it racked up, though. Birds, mice, rats.’ He counted them off on his fingers. His mum had finally put her foot down when a fox Pearl was keeping safe under the sink died. The kitchen had filled up with bluebottles crashing against the windows and feasting on plates.
    ‘I ain’t ten no more. Said it yourself, didn’t you – he’s an investment.’
    ‘Where do you expect I put him up? The Ritz?’
    ‘Well, with his fights coming, I bet he could afford a little bit of rent for somewhere…’
    She didn’t need to say any more and perhaps she was right.
    ‘We’ll see after the next fight.’ Jack sighed.
    ‘Thank you.’ She put her arms around his neck, half strangled him.
    ‘I said maybe. We ain’t keeping him forever, Pearl.’
    ‘I know, I know. But I’ll help out, I promise, and I’ll make the money stretch.’
    ‘Give me the grub, and get out of here.’ He snatched the basket and went back into the room.
    Frank wasn’t going to sleep out his days in front of the fire; racehorses, greyhounds and boxers, they all got put out once they were used up.
    ‘Suppose you heard all that – nothing wrong with the girl’s lungs.’
    ‘I promise to do me best. I won’t get in the way none. You know how hard I can work. I’d do jobs around the place. Don’t want no one thinking I’m a cadger.’ Frank jumped up, but with no room to move he dropped back down again. The bedsprings jingled; his backside scraped the ground as the mattress caved in the middle. Jack supposed it was a bit like clipping a bird trying to keep Frank in that room. At least under his roof the kid wouldn’t have the chance to start running with those mates again.
    Frank started stuffing his clothes into the duffel.
    ‘I’m looking forward to writing me ma on Sunday. She’ll be happy to hear I’m doing good and might have found a good honest place to live. They only have little Sheila and Theresa left and they’re relying on me. They’ll be saying prayers for you when –’
    ‘Nothing definite until after that fight. And we’ve got to have a few rules before then.’
    ‘Anything you say, Jack.’ He dropped his bag and stood to attention.
    Jack held his hand straight, fingers sealed together. ‘This means lie down and take the count.’
    Frank stepped forward, glanced over at the bed.
    ‘Not now, you fool. When you’re in the ring.’
    ‘Why would I want to do that, Jack?’
    ‘When I start signalling, you stop thinking and start doing. Your trainer is going to have his own signs, but it’s important you understand mine first.’
    ‘Like secret messages?’
    ‘This means get up.’
    He placed his fist under his chin and banged it against the bone. Frank touched the base of his chin as he nodded.
    ‘Finish it and get out quick smart.’ Jack squeezed his hand around the base of his neck. ‘I’m going to start throwing these signals out at you soon, so make sure you’ve got them.’
    ‘A lot to learn, ain’t there? But if you think I’m going to make it big then I believe you, Jack.’
    ‘Rub yourself down. I’ll see