Joe listened to Pearl and moved slowly up the stairs. His gait was artificially slow, he found the grain of the individual stair-boards more interesting than usual, but he was going. He suspected this wouldn't be the only time he would be apologising for this. He squeezed himself into a corner on the small landing.

"Mam?" Joe said with a child-like softness. Trying to apologise under the stern gaze of his father only served to make it harder and make Joe feel even younger.

"I'm sorry."