'Ben,' she said, into the dark. 'I'm not well. I'm going to bed for a day or two to rest up.' He made a sound that meant, I am listening. 'Did you get the certificate?' A silence from Ben, and something like a whimper. 'Did you see your mother?'

'I saw her. In the park.'

She already knew the answer but asked, 'Did you speak to her?' Ben moved against her side, and whimpered again. 'I don't know what to suggest next, Ben. I'd go with you to the place — you know, I told you about, where you get certificates, but I'm not well.'

'I've got some money. I've got twenty pounds.'

'That's not going to get you far, Ben.' He had known she would say that, and he agreed with her. 'I'll get some money.'

She did not ask how. She had been told the story of the building site, how he had been cheated. He would always be cheated, poor Ben, she knew that. And so did he.

When morning came she did not get off the bed, but lay there, breathing slowly and carefully. She said, 'Ben, I want you to go to the bathroom, take off your clothes and wash yourself. You don't smell good.'

Ben did as she said. He had not washed himself in this thorough way before, but he remembered what she did, and did the same. But now he had to put on the dirty clothes.

She said, 'Find your old clothes. They're in that cupboard. Take your new clothes to the launderette, and when you come back here you can put them on again.'

He knew about the launderette. 'How do I get back in again, if you are in bed?'

'The key's on the table. And get some bread and something for you. And be careful, Ben.'