He watched for another minute or two, then he stepped out of the car. It was still rocking; he moved onto the path and surveyed it from there. No, it’s not me imagination or me eyesight, that thing is moving. Then it stopped and he stopped dead in his daughter’s driveway; now he was playing chicken with the caravan. What am I doing? Then it started to sway again, gently rocking, tilting, stopping . . . The bricks looked secure enough, there wasn’t a puff of wind. There’s someone in there! He picked up one of Bernard’s stray hurley sticks leaning against the garden wall, raised it above his head and made a slow approach, so slow his grandson and his girlfriend had time to finish up, get dressed and open the small caravan door to be greeted by an old man shouting the word ‘halt’ and swinging a broken hurley.

‘Granda?’

‘Stephen?’

‘Yeah, it’s me, and this is Charlene,’ he said about the girl hiding behind him.

‘Oh now, I’m terribly sorry, I thought a vagrant had taken possession of the van.’

‘It’s all right, Granda, give us a minute,’ he said to Charlene, who just nodded. It was hard to make out what she looked like, it being so dark and her being terrified and hiding. Stephen jumped out of the caravan, took the hurley and flung it aside, then put his arm around his Granda and escorted him back to his car.

‘You’ll give yourself a heart attack, Granda,’ Stephen said.

‘Not if you don’t give me one first, and what’s wrong with bringing the girl into the house?’

‘Charlene likes the caravan.’

‘Why on earth?’

‘Our own private little place – I have a few fairy lights, a blow heater and some smelly candles.’

‘Does your ma know?’

‘She’d rather I did it in the caravan instead of in the house with the boys.’

Jack sat into the front seat of his car. Stephen sat into the passenger side.

‘I saw the boys go inside over an hour ago. You been sitting here since?’

‘Just thinking.’

‘About what?’

‘Everything and anything. There was a stand-off between the Noonans’ ginger cat and a fluffy white fellow.’

‘Who survived to tell the tale?’

‘Dunno – the rocking caravan distracted me.’

‘Ma missed you tonight.’

‘How was she?’

‘She’s relieved it’s over. She’s in pain and out of it – you know, the way Rabbit used to be, all right one minute, talking shite the next. She asked Ryan if he had wings.’

Jack shook his head sadly. ‘Why?’ he mumbled.

‘Granda, she did it so her kids wouldn’t have to see her go through chemo and death. So forgive her, because if you don’t she might never forgive you.’

Stephen got out of the car.