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hats!’
    â€˜She never!’ Sadie went up to him to learn more. Amy Ogden, Arthur’s daughter, had been a year or two ahead of her at school. She’d worked for a time on Annie’s stall straight after she left, but that meant being out in the cold in all weathers and she didn’t take to it. Sadie hadn’t heard this latest development. ‘Is your Amy in a big store up the West End selling hats?’ It was Sadie’s own dream come true.
    Arthur frowned and shook his head, slopping his beer in the process. ‘Not exactly. Dolly found a place for her at Coppers’.’
    Coopers’ Drapery Stores was at-the top end of Duke Street by the railway line. Still, it was one up from a job on the market. Sadie pictured her working with ribbon and lace. She’d be selling those huge, frothy hats you saw in Coopers’ big plate-glass windows.
    â€˜Dolly works in “Hosiery”,’ Arthur explained. ‘So she got a place for Amy in “Hats”.’
    â€˜She makes them, does she?’ Sadie was still eager to know more about the latest fashions worn by the better off ladies.
    Arthur nodded. ‘Top hats. My Amy puts the greaseproof band inside to stop the oil on their heads from staining the silk lining. Very posh hats, they are.’ He looked pleased with his daughter’s achievements and smiled sloppily into his drink. ‘Mind you, she works long hours, and it’s only seven pence for two dozen hats.’
    â€˜It’s a job, ain’t it?’ Duke said. He wiped the stains around Arthur’s glass as he kept an eye on the door. Chalky White and his gang had just come in. ‘Go up and get something to eat,’ he told Sadie. ‘And no messing.’
    Sadie made a face. She ducked under the counter, too late to avoid the bunch of new customers advancing on the bar.
    Chalky White was well known on Duke Street and down the court, where he lived in a squalid corner in one of the cheapest rooms rented out to workmen. In his late twenties, he worked as a warehouseman on Albion Dock, but this was only a front for the many dodgy deals he was involved in. Everyone knew Chalky cheated his way along the waterfront, earned plenty, then blew themoney on the clubs and halls. He was over six feet tall, kept fit at Milo’s, the local boxing club, and had a reputation for knowing how to handle himself in a fight. He was a flashy dresser and didn’t mind spending the easy money on the string of women he went around with. But they didn’t like his temper. ‘You never know where you are with Chalky,’ they said. ‘He’d as soon hit you in the gob as give you a kiss.’ They quickly dropped him, and afterwards every one had a tale to tell about Chalky’s drunken rages. Yet when he was sober and dolled up for a night out, he could be hard to refuse. ‘He’s got a way with him,’ they warned. ‘You have to watch out.’
    He swaggered in ahead of four or five mares and caught sight of Sadie. ‘Oh my, what lucky fellow’s walking out with you?’ he called with a low whistle. He jostled his pals with his elbows.
    Sadie stopped in her tracks. She blushed and looked back at Duke.
    â€˜Go on up,’ he repeated.
    â€˜What’s the rush?’ Chalky said. He leaned against the door. ‘I only want to know who’s her beau. It’s not one of them little ikeys hanging around out there, is it? You’re too good for any of them, you know!’
    Sadie blushed a deeper red. ‘I’m not walking out with no one,’ she said, gathering her dignity. ‘And if I was, it wouldn’t be with any of them hooligans.’
    â€˜Quite right. Like I said, a girl like you can afford to be a bit choosy, can’t she, Arthur?’
    Chalky got one step bolder, reached out and took Sadie’s arm. Then he advanced her with mock gallantry towards the bar, surrounded by his friends.