Ada Abboud cradled a twin in each arm as she gazed through the window into the hospital room where her husband was attached to a multitude of tubes and monitors. He had been in a coma since the fire and the doctors had explained that for now it was best that way.

‘Hello dear,’ said a lady with curly grey hair. She was wearing a pink pinafore over a white uniform and was pushing a tea trolley towards Ada. She manoeuvred her way past and stopped on the other side of the corridor. ‘Would you like something to eat?’

Ada shook her head. ‘No. Thank you, I am fine.’

‘You must be hungry. At least have a biscuit.’ The woman placed a couple of packets into Ada’s pocket. ‘I’ve left some for the children, and juice too,’ she added, her blue eyes twinkling.

Hamza squirmed in Ada’s arms and his sister, Miray, began to whimper. They were both hungry and Ada had been having trouble with her milk since the fire.

‘I’ll fetch someone to help you,’ the tea lady said. ‘I’m Sue, by the way.’

Ada’s eyes filled with tears. The thought of starting over – again – was almost as overwhelming as the journey that had brought them to Winchesterfield in the first place. When she, Mehmet, Zahra and baby Esma had fled the bombs that had rained down on their city, Ada had wondered where they would end up. Anywhere safe was all she had prayed for. At first the villagers were wary of them – suspicious, almost – but Mehmet had such a bright smile and an infectious personality that it wasn’t long before the residents embraced them. How could they resist? He was the happiest person she knew. Ada had fallen in love with Mehmet the day they had met, when he’d made her laugh at his silly jokes. Only Myrtle Parker had taken a while longer to win over. In the end it was Mehmet’s falafels that did the trick. The woman couldn’t resist them.

‘Here, let me help you,’ Sue said, taking Hamza in her arms. ‘Don’t you worry. I’ll speak to someone. I’m surprised the social worker hasn’t been to see you to sort out your accommodation.’

Ada reached into her pocket for a tissue as Miray’s screaming grew louder. She had to feed her or else the matron would come. ‘Please, give me my baby,’ she said.

‘I’ll take him to the room for you,’ Sue said, abandoning her trolley for the moment.

She followed Ada down the hall to the room and halted at the door. Feather down from the inside of two pillows was falling like snow and the two little girls were jumping on the bed as if it was a trampoline.

‘Stop!’ Ada yelled, startling them. She then spoke harshly in Arabic, causing Esma and Hatice to burst into tears. ‘Enough! Or they will ask us to leave and then where will we go?’

The simple fact of the matter was that there was nowhere to go. Their home was destroyed and they had no family in the country. The nurses had been terribly kind, setting them up in an empty room with two beds and a large chair, but Ada knew they couldn’t stay there forever.

‘Clean up this mess, Zahra. You are the oldest and you should know better,’ the woman scolded. ‘But then what do I know about you? Always coming and going and not telling anyone where you are.’

Zahra’s eyes hit the floor. She’d just run to the toilet for a couple of minutes and returned to find her sisters misbehaving. She’d told them to stop, but they wouldn’t listen, and now it looked as though she was being irresponsible yet again.

Sue waited for Ada to settle on the bed with the twins before piping up. ‘Would you like me to organise some formula and bottles?’ she asked. ‘I can get them from the nursery. The staff here are very appreciative of us tea ladies and I’m sure it won’t be a problem.’

‘Thank you,’ Ada said gratefully. She hadn’t wanted to ask for another thing.

As Sue stepped into the hallway, an idea came to her in a flash. She would call her friend Myrtle. Yes, that’s exactly what she would do. There was nothing that woman couldn’t fix.