I found the book I wanted most of all right at the back of this fairyland shop. It was a fat book of reproduction Victorian scraps, all ready to peel off and stick in a scrapbook. There were hundreds of children in bright pinks and purples playing with cats and dogs, flowers, birds, seaside scenes, Father Christmas, babies, butterflies, angels . . .

'Oh, Mum. Victoria. Please!' I whispered.

We spent that evening sitting up in the double bed together watching television. Mum click-flicked through channel after channel. Kendall cuddled up between us, making George swim across the bed and attack poor little Bob the bear again and again. I sat up cross-legged with my scrapbook balanced on both knees, sticking in my new scraps.

My absolute favourites were four enormous angels. They had long golden hair and flowing white robes and great grey wings springing from their shoulder blades. I stuck them in carefully, having to edge them in really close together to fit on the page. When I fell asleep I dreamt the angels were standing at each corner of our bed, wings spread out like feathery curtains protecting us.

'Let's go on the razzle again,' said Mum, the minute I woke up.

She was already up and dressed. It didn't look as if she'd slept a lot but she didn't act tired. We razzled till we dazzled. We bought new tops, new trousers, new night things and new shoes. Oh, those new shoes wonderful, strappy sling-back stilettos for Mum and my first pair of proper grown-up heels too. They were only little heels but I still couldn't cross the room in them without twisting my ankles.

'Who cares?' said Mum. 'You'll be fine with a little bit of practice. All set to go dancing, eh?'

She bought a little CD player and a stack of her favourite CDs. We had our own private disco in the hotel bedroom during the day when the vacuums were roaring and it didn't matter how much noise we made. Mum especially liked 'I Will Survive'. She danced to it, punching her arms in the air, and Kendall and I copied her.

The maid came in to clean our bedroom and saw us dancing. She roared with laughter and imitated us, punching her own arms. 'That's it, you tell them, girl!' she said.

She was a very very large lady but she was surprisingly good at dancing, jiggling her hips and strutting her stuff.

'Wasn't that lady fat!' Kendall whispered when she'd gone. 'She went wibble wobble, wibble wobble.'

'If you think she was fat you should see your Auntie Barbara,' said Mum.

'Your sister?' I said. I poked Mum gently in her flat-as-a-pancake tummy. 'But you're skinny!'

'Yep,' said Mum. 'We're complete opposites in every way. I always used to wonder if we had different dads. Our dad couldn't stick me right from the start.'

'Did you ask him?'

'No fear! He'd have given me a clump around the head for cheek,' said Mum. She bit her thumb again. 'What is it about me, eh? Why do all the men in my life want to thump me? What am I doing wrong?'

'You're not doing anything wrong, Mum! It's them, not you. But you're not you now anyway. You're Victoria and I'm Lola Rose and he's Kendall and we're the Luck Luck Lucky family.'

I put the music on again and whirled Mum round and round, while Kendal did his little jiggle-stomp with George. It was just as well he was so keen on George. Poor Bubble had died in the night. Kendall wanted to bury him properly in a shoebox but Mum said she wasn't mucking about with dead goldfish and tipped Bubble down the toilet.

We had to go back to that awful aquarium every day to keep Kendall happy, visiting the real George and his horrific fishy friends. I stayed outside on the embankment. People kept stopping to talk to me, asking if I was all right. I was scared they might fetch a policeman. And any time a tall guy with long hair and a leather jacket came loping along my heart would thump even though I could see they were all strangers.

'Come in with us, you daft banana,' said Mum.

But I couldn't. I was far too scared of those sharks. I dreamt about those gaping jaws every night. I kept waking up, shaking. Mum was often sitting up smoking, curled in a chair in the dark. I'd squash up beside her and we'd cling together while Kendall snored softly, cuddled under the covers with George.

One night I woke with a start and reached for Mum. She wasn't in the bed, she wasn't in her chair. I found her kneeling in the bathroom, handbag in her lap, five-pound notes all round her in unsteady piles.

'Show me the money!' I whispered, to try to make her laugh.

But she wasn't in a jokey mood. Her face was screwed up, a big vein standing out on her forehead. 'Somebody's stolen some of it!' she said, sniffing furiously.

'They can't have done. You carry it round everywhere with you,' I said.

Mum always clutched the handbag tightly in case someone made a snatch at her bag. She wouldn't even hide it in the hotel room when we went down to breakfast.

'How can someone have stolen it?'

'Don't ask me. I just know they bloody have. There's hundreds and hundreds gone missing!'

'We've spent a lot,' I said, kneeling down beside Mum and starting to count the notes.

'Not that much!'

I got a piece of paper and wrote down all the clothes we'd bought, all the meals and treats and rides, all the ordinary everyday stuff like ice creams and Mum's ciggies and bus fares.

It started to add up to hundreds and hundreds.

'And we had the night out with Dad, and the taxi and the train fare to London and the first hotel-'

'And we've still got to pay this one too,' said Mum. 'Oh God.'

'I don't think anyone's stolen any, Mum. We've just spent it.'

'Right. OK. You've made your point. We've spent it.' Mum snapped, as if it was all my fault. 'So, Miss Clever Clogs, what are we going to do when the money runs out altogether?'

I tried to think. My brain wouldn't work. I never knew what to do when Mum turned on me. 'Maybe it won't run out for ages if we're careful,' I said. 'We could move to a smaller hotel. And eat sandwiches. And not go to the aquarium.'

'Yes, but then what? Are we going to sit in doorways and beg? What happens if the police catch us? They'll want you and Kenny back in school, won't they? They'll send you home to your dad . . .'

I started crying. Mum started crying too. She put her arms round me.

'I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean it. Of course you won't get sent home.'

'We won't any of us have to go home, will we, Mum?'

'No way, darling. We can't go back. Your dad was always quite clear what he'd do if I ever tried to leave him.' Mum was shivering in her thin nightie.

'I'm scared.'

'Me too, sweetheart.' Then Mum took a deep breath. 'No, sod it, I'm not going to be scared. I'm Lady Luck now, right? And my luck's changed. Hey, maybe I'd better buy some more scratch cards? That's what we'll do, buy a whole load of scratch cards every day and eventually we'll get lucky again.'

I didn't know if Mum meant it. It seemed a crazy idea but I couldn't come up with anything better.

We went back to bed and it took me ages to get to sleep. Then I swam among sharks but when I awoke Mum was already up, dressed in a new blouse and skirt and her white leather jacket. She was pacing the floor in her new high heels.

I wished I could walk properly in mine. I'd tried to wear them out and turned my ankle so badly the heel snapped straight off the shoe. Mum said we could take them back and get a replacement.

'Can we see about my shoes today, Mum?'

'Maybe. If we've got time.'

'We're not going boring old shopping again, are we?' Kendall said, sitting up in bed. His hair stuck up like dandelion fluff. 'Can we go and see Big George being fed, Mum?'

'Perhaps, pet. But we've got a lot else to do today. We're going to start getting organized, right? I'm going to get a job. And find us a place to live. And get you two into schools. Simple!' said Mum, laughing.

Kendall thought it really was simple and laughed too.

I knew it wasn't simple at all. I was so worried I couldn't eat much breakfast, though Mum told us to tuck in. Mum didn't eat anything at all. She just had cup after cup of tea, going sip sip sip. Her voice still sounded dry and croaky when she asked for our bill at the reception desk. She went white when she saw how much it was, but she counted out the five-pound notes as nonchalantly as she could.

Then we went upstairs to pack. We had to nip out to the shops for another suitcase because we'd bought so much.

The nice fat maid was hoovering the corridor when we came back. Mum told her we were going, and tucked a couple of five-pound notes in her pocket. 'Thanks for looking after us so well,' she said.

'It's been a pleasure. I shall miss you lot ever so,' she said, stooping with difficulty to give Kendall a big hug. She put her arm round me too and cuddled me close. 'You're a lovely girl, Lola Rose,' she said. 'Have you enjoyed your holiday?'

I looked at Mum.

'We're not exactly on holiday,' said Mum. She raised her eyebrows significantly.

'Aha,' said the maid. 'I get you.'

'We're going to make a new life for ourselves,' said Mum. 'I'm going to need to find some work. There aren't any maids' jobs going here, are there?'

'Well, I could find out,' she said. 'But it's a rubbish job, dear, especially for a pretty little thing like you. The money's lousy, and very few people give a handsome tip like you did. You could get a good office job somewhere really smart. What are you trained for?'

'I'm not trained for anything. I used to do a bit of modelling-'

'There! I said you were pretty,' said the maid.

'But I've gone off a bit. I couldn't get that sort of work now, not after having the two kids. And I'm not that great at computers or figures or stuff. I don't think I could work in an office, I'd just get in a muddle.' Mum nibbled at her thumbnail.

'Well, it strikes me office work would get boring,' she said comfortingly. 'You seem like a people person. Maybe shop work might be more in your line? Showing off pretty clothes?'

'Well maybe,' said Mum, still biting her thumb. 'There's the tills though. I don't know how you work them. Honestly, I'm just so thick.'

'No, you're not, Mum,' I said, patting her.

It wasn't her fault. Dad never let her do anything. He kept on telling her she was thick thick thick as a brick and she believed him.

'Don't worry, pet, they'll teach you,' said the maid. 'They give you training. They even trained me how to make a bed, though I've been making six a day all my adult life.'

'Six?'

'My family. Well, there's eight now, because my Junie's here with my little grandson Marvin, bless him, though his little cot don't count.'

'So you don't live in the hotel?' said Mum. 'I thought if I got a job as a maid then they'd let me have a room for me and the kids.'

'You're not much more than a kid yourself,' she said. 'The staff don't live in here. They'd never let you keep the children here anyway. Look, maybe you should go down the social?'

'No fear! I'm not having them poking their noses into my past.'

'They won't. They'll help. Still, maybe you know best. Are you going to put yourself down on the housing list?'

'I don't see how we can. I mean, I lived in a council flat back home. I had to walk out, see. But they'll say I deliberately made myself homeless. And I'm scared they'd take the kids into care.'

'Well, try one of the special housing associations. They found my sister Elise a lovely place when she left her husband. Well, she's made it lovely now, her and her kids. Shall I give her a quick ring, find out the association address for you? It's a charity but they don't make you feel bad. And they'd never try to take your kids away. Anyone can see you're a brilliant mum.'

She was so kind Mum tried to give her more money but she wouldn't take it. She stowed our bags away when we got packed up and kissed us all and wished us luck. 'You're going to be lucky in life from now on, I can tell,' she said.

Mum's face lit up. 'Yeah, that's me, Lady Luck,' she said.

She took me by one hand and Kendall by the other and we set off. Mum sang all the lucky songs she could think of while we got the tube to the housing association place.

We were on the tube so long it was like we'd made a journey into the centre of the earth. When we emerged at last I pretended to Kendall that we were in Australia now and told him to watch out for koalas and kangaroos.

'And sharks!' said Kendall. 'They have sharks in the sea in Australia. Let's go to the seaside.'

'Will you quit winding him up, Lola Rose,' Mum snapped.

She was looking at the tacky parade of shops and the scattered French fries on the pavement and the boys goofing around outside the video shop.

'It's a bit of a dump, isn't it? Maybe it's a bit daft wanting to live here. There must be heaps of housing associations.'

'Yeah, but it's so out the way, Mum, it feels kind of safe. Dad wouldn't ever come looking for us here, would he? And yet all the time we're wandering around the West End you feel there's a chance he might come barging round the corner.'

'I want Dad to come round the corner,' said Kendall. 'I want Dad. I want to go home. I don't like Australia.'

'It's not Australia, you nut,' I said, laughing at him. 'It was just a joke.'

'Don't joke, Jayni!' said Kendall, and he started hitting me with his fists, with George, with his hard little head.

'Hey, hey! Ouch! Stop it, Kendall!' I said, scooping him up and whirling him round and round.

I could usually cheer him out of a tantrum that way. It didn't work this time. He just sobbed dismally.

'Don't, Kendall,' I said, shifting him onto my hip.

'I'm Kenny!' he wept.

'Poor little kid, he doesn't know who he is or where's he going,' said Mum. 'You shouldn't have got him all wound up with that Australia lark.'

'I know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Kendall.'

'Kenny!'

'No. Not any more,' said Mum, cupping his damp face and looking straight into his eyes. 'This bit isn't a joke, darling. You and me and Jayni, we've all run away. Run away for good. We've run away from your dad because he kept hitting me.'

'Because you were bad,' said Kenny.

'Mum's not bad, you stupid little boy!' I said, giving him a shake.

'Leave him be, Jayni. He's only parrotting your dad. He doesn't really mean it,' said Mum. 'Now listen, sweetheart. No one ever deserves to get hit. You shouldn't ever hit anyone. You're a good boy. And Jayni's a good girl and I'm not going to risk either of you getting hurt. So we're starting our new life and we're going to make it work, right?'