We’re all going to be late at this rate,’ Maggie shouted up the stairs as she tied a pretty blue ribbon into the bottom of Lizzie’s plait. Seconds later, they heard the thud of his footsteps on the stairs and he erupted into the kitchen. Maggie couldn’t help but smile as she looked at her son. He might have been pulled through a hedge backwards, for his hair was on end, the flies of his grey shorts were wrongly buttoned, and one of his thick grey socks had already slipped around his ankle. ‘Just look at the state of you.’ She grinned indulgently as she brandished the hairbrush and yanked him towards her. ‘You look like nobody owns you and you haven’t even stepped out of the door yet. Come on, let’s see if we can’t tidy you up a bit.’ ‘Aw, Mam.’ Danny frowned as she started to tug the brush through his thick mop of hair, much to Lizzie’s amusement. She liked to be neat and tidy, whereas her brother didn’t much care what he looked like. Maggie guessed most boys of his age were much the same.
