“But…!” the boy gasps.
“But nothing boy!” Mrs Postlethwaite barks as she grabs his head and starts rooting through his hair. “Your clothes were filthy and lice-ridden so you’ll have to make do until we get you some decent clothes of your own,” she says. “Your hair isn’t much better either!” she says as she begins pulling a fine-toothed comb through it.
Billy is eventually pulled from the bath, given a towel but isn’t granted the luxury of drying off by the fire. Instead, he and Alice have carted upstairs where Alice is sent to her room and Billy is taken to his. Billy’s room is small and dank. A wrought iron bed sits in the corner and that’s pretty much all there is in there.