going to pull down the wall of our court, so weâre open to the street.â
âHumph, and where are they going to put the rubbish bins? Theyâre fixed in the wall.â
âDonât ask me. Maybe the council will give us a bin or two. They must reckon that if thereâs no wall, we can run into the shelter real quick.â
It did not strike either of them that the Public Health Department had viewed the statistics of the recent influenza epidemic with anxiety. Unable to bulldoze the remaining unhealthy courts until more City housing was built, they were using a cheap remedy, the removal of the enclosing wall, to get some cleaner air to circulate in the crowded court.
Martha gave a little laugh of relief as her fear of being moved receded. âThey must be expecting that this court wonât be moved for a while, if theyâre building us a shelter.â She chuckled. âWeâd have a right job all of us getting through the entry at the same time, thatâs for sure â Alice Flynn upstairs is that fat she has to edge through it sideways already. Why arenât they moving us to Norris Green?â
âDunno. I suppose they havenât built the houses yet.â
âItâs real funny that theyâve found a way to make room for an air-raid shelter, but they canât build new houses for us right here.â
âMaybe theyâve stopped building houses everywhere and are doing air-raid shelters instead?â suggested Patrick.
Martha leaned forward to put her empty mug on top of the oven. âIs there really going to be a war, Pat?â
âOh, aye. I believe so.â
âBut Thomas said as Mr Chamberlain was talking with Adolf Hitler, and thought Germany was being reasonable.â
Patrick shrugged, and then said shrewdly, âNa. All heâs doing is get us a bit of time to build tanks and guns. Heâll sell the Czechs down the river to do it, youâll see.â
âWill you have to go for a soldier, Pat?â
Pat laughed. âMe? Na, Iâm too old.â
âWell, praise all the saints for that. And our Brian is too young?â
âOh, aye.â He glanced round the dark room. âWhere is the lad?â
âHeâs working late â itâs Thursday. And Tommyâs gone down to see his pal. Theyâll be back just now.â
Their father heaved himself up from the chair. âWell, Iâm going to turn in. Iâll be working tomorrow.â
He knelt down and moved little Joseph furtheracross the mattress. He winced as he laid himself down, turned on his side and closed his eyes. He was asleep in seconds.
Martha sighed, got up, took an old coat from a hook on the front door and laid it over him. She then rearranged Number Nineâs blanket to cover his sister Ellie as well. She would not lie down herself until she had decided what to do about breakfast â she would have to go out again into the cold, that was for sure.
She stood uncertainly, her toothless mouth tightly clenched as she looked down on the sleeping children and her snoring husband. She had not a crumb left to give them for breakfast, and, as she had sat patiently waiting for Patrick, this fact had been gnawing at her, almost outweighing her fear of being whisked off to Norris Green.
After the childrenâs fighting that afternoon she had not wanted to leave home until Patrick returned. She reckoned that Mary Margaret alone could not reasonably be expected to watch them all tonight; she really was not well, and this knowledge added to the painful ache of Marthaâs own hunger and to her other worries â Kathleen, for example. Sheâd have to give the girl a good talking to: she must be taught to take care of the kids better.
She turned, and quietly padded up the stairs andthrough Sheila and Phoebeâs room to reach Mary Margaret.
Her friend was asleep on her narrow camp bed in the far corner, her head pillowed on