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noticed. Why shouldn’t I notice? So, what’s up with her?’
    The contents of the saucepan containing apples chose that moment to reach boiling point. Mary turned it off.
    ‘Well,’ she said, her attention focused on the apple slices. ‘You may have noticed that she went out on Sunday morning all dressed up and looking as though the world belonged to her and her alone. She returned looking as though she’d lost it somewhere.’
    ‘Where’d she been?’
    ‘For a walk. So she said.’
    ‘You don’t think so?’
    Mary set the saucepan on the window ledge to cool. ‘She went to the Apple Tree. I knew by the look in her eyes that she hadn’t been for a walk. She looked desperately unhappy and I didn’t need her to tell me the reason why. I could guess. She thought Gareth loved her.’
    ‘I see.’ Charlie nodded into his teacup. ‘So that’s why she’s dumped her job pulling pints. I take it he let her down?’
    ‘Of course he let her down.’
    ‘I hoped it would wear off, otherwise …’ Charlie pulled a face. ‘I was going to say that I would have had a word with the bloke, but then, what good would that have done? She had to find out for herself.’
    Mary agreed with him. ‘Thank goodness she has. Now perhaps she’ll forget the man.’
    Charlie set down his tea cup and clenched his fists. ‘I suppose I could still go along and have a word with him – keep away or else?’
    ‘I don’t think you need to, unless he starts pestering her. But I don’t think he will. He’ll move on to easier girls.’
    She knew he was suggesting that he warn Gareth Stead to keep away from his sister. It was the ‘or else’ that worried her.
    ‘If you’re sure …’
    Mary set a pan of milk on to the gas ring, let it heat up then added custard powder and sugar. ‘Leave it Charlie. Let sleeping dogs lie. In time she’ll forget him and find someone else.’
    Charlie took another sip of his tea as he considered the rumours he’d heard regarding Gareth Stead. The man was a lecher, preferring younger women to those his own age. One girl in the village, Cathy Page, was only sixteen when her family sent her away to live in the city. Rumour had it that her staying away was necessary until the baby she was expecting had been born and instantly put up for adoption. Even then Cathy didn’t come back. A ruined reputation was easier to hide in a big city with a large population than it was in a village where everyone knew everyone else’s business. Ruby was lucky, even though she didn’t know it yet.

CHAPTER THREE
    Frances was lying face down on the bed, one arm thrown over her head, the other beside her cheek.
    ‘I want a word with you,’ Ruby said, closing the door firmly behind her.
    Frances said nothing and didn’t move. Her hair was loose from its usual braids and hid her face. It looked as though she were sucking her thumb.
    ‘Have you been spying on me, telling Mary everything that’s been going on?’
    Although her tone was confrontational, she was careful to keep her voice down. The last thing she wanted was for her sister and brother to hear, but it was hard not to shout when she was feeling so angry.
    Frances raised herself on one arm and looked over her shoulder.
    ‘I didn’t tell Mary anything. She just seemed to know that you and Mr Stead weren’t friends any more. She said it was for the best. So did Charlie. What’s a lecher?’
    Ruby’s jaw dropped. ‘What? Who told you that word?’
    ‘Charlie. He said that Mr Stead is a lecher and that he wouldn’t leave a bitch in his company for long. I know what a bitch is. It’s a female dog.’
    ‘That’s disgusting!’
    Frances frowned. Growing up, she decided, wasn’t easy. There was so much to learn, so many things she could do when she was younger that she couldn’t do now, like Mary telling her that she was too old to tuck her dress into her knickers so she could climb trees more easily especially since that bleeding had started. She wished she