she fixed them firmly to the side of the hat at a jaunty angle. Then carefully she looped the ribbon around the crown in one simple length. When it was finished she stood back and viewed it with satisfaction.
It was stunning in its simplicity and she was pleased with her efforts. However, just then she spotted the nightwatchman, working his weary way across the shop floor towards her, and instantly her elation turned to panic. She had intended to put everything back as she had found it before she left, but now she would have no chance. Seconds later he pushed open the door and asked her worriedly, ‘Is everything all right in here, love? I were beginning to think you’d got lost.’
Amy snatched up her broom guiltily. ‘It’s all right, Mr Stubbs, everything’s fine … I was just coming.’
As she reluctantly followed his retreating figure from the room, she looked back one last time at her handiwork and her stomach sank into her boots.
It was as she made her way home that a thought occurred to her and she began to relax. Tomorrow was Sunday. There would be nobody in the factory and if she went in early on Monday morning, before Mrs Davis arrived, she would have time to put everything back as it had been and no one would be any the wiser. Whistling with relief, she made the rest of the way home in a slightly easier frame of mind.
As planned on Monday morning, Amy arrived early and crept across the factory floor. As she had hoped, there was no sign of Mrs Davis – but when she pushed open the door to the design room, the sight that met her eyes made her stop dead in her tracks. Milly was busily mopping the floor and it was hard to say who was the most startled, she or Amy.
‘Cor, yer didn’t half give me a fright, gel.’ Milly grinned. ‘Thanks fer covering fer me while I’ve been ill. I bet you’re glad to see me back, eh?’ She coughed and blew her nose.
Amy returned her smile weakly; in truth, she was far from glad to see her back. Her eyes went to the hat she had dressed on Saturday night and her stomach churned.
As Milly’s eyes followed hers, she grinned. ‘It’s lovely, ain’t it? I’d do anything to have a hat like that, wouldn’t you?’
Amy nodded miserably. There was no chance now of putting it back as it had been, and she didn’t know what to do.
‘Oh well, I’d best get on,’ Milly said, although she still looked far from well. Amy turned and went to fetch her own mop and pail. Now that she was here she might as well go about her own duties, and as for the hat … Well, it was too late to worry about it now. What would be, would be. She could only hope that once her interference came to light, as it surely would, she wouldn’t be dismissed.
Outside, a watery sun rose in the sky and inside Amy fetched and carried – one fearful eye on the door of the design room all the time, every minute expecting to be summoned. But the morning passed uneventfully and no one disturbed her. Just before lunch Samuel Forrester and his son arrived and after striding across the factory floor they made their way up the steep metal staircase at the far end of the room and disappeared into the office. Minutes later, Amy saw one of the designers mount the stairs to join them and when they descended together only moments later and entered the design room, Amy’s stomach twisted into a knot.
They seemed to be in there for what appeared to be an eternity but eventually Mr Forrester reappeared in the doorway and beckoned to Mrs Davis. Just as Amy had feared, Mrs Davis, after exchanging words with him, raked the factory floor with her eyes until they came to rest on Amy. Then, picking her way through the whirring machines she approached her.
‘Mr Forrester wants you in the design department right now.’ She had to shout into Amy’s ear to make herself heard. ‘You’d best hurry; he doesn’t like to be kept waiting.’
Amy was quaking in her boots but she obediently retraced Mrs Davis’s steps and entered the door.
Mr Forrester was standing, legs slightly apart, arms behind his back, staring at the hat she had trimmed. Silently she went to stand before him, aware of the eyes of