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behind her. ‘Stop dragging your feet,’ she warned, almost yanking him right off the last couple of steps. ‘I’ve had just about enough of you for one morning.’
    ‘Bless!’ Marnie laughed. ‘She sounds just like you, Ames.’
    Amy turned her head so the kids wouldn’t see the smile on her lips. Cassie had just turned three when Bobby came along, and she’d mothered him from the off. And, just like a real mother, her adoration was mixed with impatience, so she thought nothing of telling him off if he didn’t do as she said, or giving him a little slap if she thought he deserved it. Amy’s mum had told her off for letting Cassie get away with that, but Amy didn’t see the harm in it as long as Cassie didn’t hurt him. Anyway, she thought it was kind of cute to see a five-year-old acting like a full-grown woman.
    As Amy manhandled Bobby into his anorak and strapped him into his buggy now, Cassie slotted a piece of toast between her teeth and pulled on her own coat. When she reached into her pocket for her mittens, a folded piece of paper fell out. She picked it up and handed it to her mum.
    ‘What is it?’ Amy asked, ushering her out into the hall.
    ‘My teacher said to give it to you. It’s about the trip.’
    ‘What trip?’
    ‘Chester Zoo, next week.’ Cassie gazed up at her with a world-weary look in her eyes. ‘You forgot, didn’t you?’
    ‘Oh, shit!’
    ‘Language,’ Marnie teased, grasping the buggy’s handles and pushing it over the step.
    Amy opened the letter and groaned when she saw that it was a reminder for payment: £9.50 – due today, or Cassie would be excluded from the trip.
    ‘Sorry, love, I can’t afford it.’ She gave her daughter a regretful smile and tossed the letter onto the hall table. ‘Maybe next time, eh?’
    Tears immediately welled in Cassie’s big blue eyes. ‘I’ve got to go, Mummy. Everyone else is going, an’ I don’t wanna stay in the office with Mr Tunney. He smells.’
    Amy sighed. Cassie was right: Mr Tunney, the deputy head, did smell. Correction, he stank – of BO and halitosis.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ she said again. ‘I’d let you go if I could, but I’ve got to put credit on the electric and get a bit of shopping.’
    ‘Don’t be so tight.’ Marnie gave her friend a disapproving look. ‘It’s horrible being the odd one out when you’re a kid.’
    ‘Can I?’ Cassie’s face was a picture of hope. ‘ Please , Mummy? Ruby will sit with Shandi if I don’t go, and they’ll make bestest friends and won’t play with me no more.’
    ‘Right, fine,’ Amy conceded, flashing Marnie a hooded look of annoyance as she yanked her handbag out from under the buggy. ‘But don’t bother asking for sweets for the rest of the week ’cos you won’t be getting any.’
    As Cassie nodded her eager agreement, Amy opened her purse – and frowned when she saw the lone ten-pound note.
    ‘What’s up?’ Marnie asked when she started rifling through her bag.
    ‘I’ve lost a tenner.’
    ‘You probably spent it and forgot. I’m always doing that.’
    ‘No, it was definitely there last night. I bought the kids an ice cream on the way home from school yesterday, and there were two of them. And I didn’t go anywhere else after that.’
    ‘Maybe Mark took it?’
    ‘No, not without telling me.’
    ‘You’ll have put it somewhere safe, knowing you,’ Marnie suggested. ‘But can you look for it later, or we’ll miss the bus. Don’t worry, I’ll pay.’
    Amy knew that she hadn’t taken the money out of her purse, but she could do without Cassie’s teacher giving her another lecture about the importance of punctuality so she pushed it to the back of her mind, telling herself that if worse came to worst and she didn’t find it, Mark would just have to stump up for the electric. He always pleaded poverty whenever she asked for money, but if he could afford to go drinking three or four nights a week he could certainly afford to keep the lights on at