They were still fast asleep when she woke them in the morning. Angeline had stirred once in the middle of the night when something furry had run over her legs. Normally that would have been enough to have her jumping up and screaming, but she was so tired she had merely thought, ‘Hope it’s a mouse and not a rat’ and had gone straight back to sleep. ‘Rise and shine!’ The farmer’s wife stood smiling down at them, basket in hand. ‘What time is it?’ May murmured sleepily as she sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning. ‘Gone eight, lass. I had to wait till my lot were in from milking and what-have-you, an’ had had their breakfasts and gone out again, before I came. Likely one or the other of ’em will be along this way later, so I wouldn’t dilly-dally once you’ve eaten.’ She had taken two dishes out of the basket as she’d been speaking, one with several slices of thick ham and a few sausages in it and the other full of scrambled eggs.
