The Long Walk Home by Valerie Wood

'I don't know. I don't know where he is or who he is. Don't much care, either. He'd not help me out even if he turned up and claimed 'bairn as his own.'
    Mikey stared at her. He remembered his father very well, even though he didn't come home from sea very often. Money was so scarce that he only ever took short leave before going back to a ship again, but Mikey recalled that he was always worried about leaving them all, especially their mother.
    Milly sat on a wooden chair and crossed her legs. Mikey averted his eyes; she obviously didn't realize that her legs were showing almost up to her thigh. 'Have you got a lass?' She smiled as she asked it, her mouth turning up at the corners, and he thought how pretty she was, even though she was rather shabby and not very clean.
    'A sister,' he said.
    'No, I meant a girl friend; somebody you're walking out with.' She laughed as she spoke. 'Somebody to have a kiss and cuddle with.'
    Mikey blushed up to his hair roots. 'No.' He thought of Bridget, who had kissed him through the cell bars. 'No, I haven't.'
    She laughed again. 'Still pure and chaste, are you? You do right to come here!' She put her head back and hooted.
    Mikey hung his head. Was it a laughing matter? Should he have been with a girl by now? He hadn't felt the need before, although sometimes he had avoided the company of girls like Bridget because of the physical sensations that came over him.
    'Sorry.' Milly wiped her eyes. 'It's just that I don't get to meet many wholesome, decent men.' She leaned forward and touched his hand, and he drew it away. 'I didn't mean to laugh at you,' she said soberly. 'It's just that I've been corrupted. I'm sixteen and I've never before met a man or boy who didn't want to tek me to bed.'
    'I wouldn't know what to do,' he mumbled.
    'Somebody'll teach you,' she said softly. 'Onny don't be in a hurry. There's plenty o' time. How old are you?'
    'Thirteen and a half.'
    She blew out her cheeks. 'That's how old I was when I went on 'streets. It's different for lads, though, unless they're on 'game as well.'
    Mikey drew in a breath. There was a whole world out there of which he knew nothing. 'I'm leaving 'district,' he said hurriedly. 'I'll be gone in 'morning.'
    'Don't worry,' she said. 'You can stop here as long as you want. Nobody'll bother you.' She smiled again and her cheeks dimpled. 'And nobody'll proposition you. We onny do it for money, not for pleasure.'
    Mikey licked his lips. 'Just suppose.' He wasn't sure how to phrase the question, but guessed that Milly would know the answer. 'I mean— if a lass got under a lad's blanket, would she be doing it to keep warm or cos she wanted— well, summat else?'
    She gazed at him. 'How old would this lass be? Is she just a bairn, or older?'
    'Older than me. About fifteen, I suppose.' He felt himself growing hot again just at the thought of it.
    'Oh, well, in that case, definitely because she wanted summat else.' She grinned at him and he felt himself smiling sheepishly back at her. 'That's what you'd call a proposition, and if she didn't want any money from you,' she added, 'it's definitely because she'd tekken a fancy to you.' She waved a finger at him. 'However! Watch out, cos a lass as bold as that can trick you and tie you down and expect you to set up house wi' her.'
    Mikey nodded. That was probably what Bridget wanted. Or at least to get away from home. He contemplated. It wasn't what he wanted. The more he thought about it the more he wanted to leave this town and find adventure. 'Thanks,' he said. 'That's what I thought.'
    Milly got up from the chair. 'I'll have to go. I've not earned any money tonight. Keep an eye on 'bairn, will you? I'll just be outside.'
    'What if he wakes up?' he said in alarm. 'I might be asleep.'
    She waved an airy hand. 'He'll wake you. He meks a racket like 'artillery.' She glanced over towards the makeshift cot. 'He's 'best bairn in 'world,' she said softly. 'And one day he'll mek his ma's fortune.'
    Mikey slept