‘Who did that?’ she screamed. Florrie looked up. ‘What’s upset our little gel then?’ ‘I’ve just been out for a pee and someone’s gone and chucked me finished ironing about.’ ‘Now who would do a fing like that? It must’a fell on the floor and someone picked it up. I must say they wasn’t very careful, was they?’ Ruby looked along the line at the others, but they had their heads down, working away. ‘Still,’ said Florrie, ‘the way you work, yer’ll soon make up yer money.’ As Ruby sorted out her work she knew why they were jealous. She was a lot younger than they were, but she could keep up, and even at the beginning when her work was being heavily scrutinised by Mrs Watson, she’d been able to earn nearly as much as they did - after all she had had many years of practice. But it still didn’t get her over that ten-shilling barrier. She sat down and got on with her work. She kept her head down, to hide the fact that her eyes were smarting with unshed tears.
