‘I was six and your mother was ten, four years older than me. We’d only been here three years when our parents decided to return to Ireland. So they went, but they let me stay behind with my father’s brother, Tim Kennedy. He didn’t have any children, and he and his wife Kath loved me. They begged for me to remain with them.’

‘And ye stayed, I know that. And glad about it, sure I am. Ye have been successful, and I bet Tim Kennedy was proud of ye, the way ye built up his company.’

‘He was indeed! He trained me religiously, night and day, months on end, year in and year out. He never stopped instructing me. And that’s how it’s going to be with you, Blackie, and I hope you will also achieve your dream … of being a builder.’

Blackie looked at him in surprise. ‘So ye remembered … that I want to build houses.’

‘Sure an’ I did, my boyo,’ Patrick responded, allowing his Irish accent to surface. ‘And here we are, at Tower Lane, and just ahead of us is my shop. It’s part of this warehouse. Let’s go inside, and you’ll see for yourself.’

It was one large room, with a small office at the far end, and was filled with natural daylight. This came from the many windows on the two long side walls. Underneath some of the windows were workbenches, with tools on top.

Two young men occupied the room, and they turned around and stared at him for a moment. Blackie offered them his widest smile.

Patrick said, ‘Morning, Benny, Alf. This is my nephew, Shane O’Neill, come to work with us here. And by the way, everyone calls him Blackie … Black Irish, as you can well see from his hair and his eyes.’

The two young men grinned, came forward and shook hands with Blackie, and remembered, a split-second later, to greet their boss.

‘Blackie will start on Monday,’ Patrick explained. ‘I just brought him in this morning to meet you and see the shop. Where’s Tom? Over at Thompson’s, I suppose.’

‘Aye, he is, Mr Kennedy. He said ter tell yer he’ll finish the final work on them doors by ternight,’ Benny answered.

Patrick nodded and looked at Blackie. ‘As you can see, the lads work at the benches for sanding and polishing the different woods.’ As he spoke he beckoned to Blackie, and went on, ‘I keep the planks down here. You can see they’re different sizes and heights. We make a lot of tables and bookshelves at the moment, oh, and headboards for beds and matching chests.’

‘It sounds as if the business is thriving,’ Blackie said, realizing there were various pieces of unfinished furniture in the warehouse. ‘I think I might have come just at the right time.’