‘Did you get her?’ Betty asked. ‘How is she?’

‘I got Marina again,’ Sarah replied, frowning. ‘She said Camilla was away. Maybe she’s gone somewhere with George, although Marina didn’t mention him. I’m sure she’ll ring when she gets back from wherever they are. Let’s get back to work with all these pots of paint you have, littering up the place.’

Sarah’s birthday dinner took place out on the dunes at Streedagh. She had not wanted an expensive dinner in a fancy restaurant, and she knew that every farthing counted in the setting up of her parents’ new home and the surgery. Tim and Raphael built a bonfire, and they cooked wild salmon and baked potatoes in the embers. Several of the villagers from Grange joined them down on the beach, bringing fiddles, an accordion and a bauraun, and the music leapt up into the night sky with the flames and the notes of old songs. It was not until they returned to the house that Raphael brought out the gift-wrapped box, and they watched as Sarah opened it and took out the heavy body of the Hasselblad camera. She was so astounded by the magnitude of their gift that she could not speak, and she put her arms around each one of them in turn and hugged them with a fierce love and gratitude.

Two days later Deirdre came to join them. She had resigned from her nursing post in Dublin. In Sligo she worked tirelessly and with an efficiency that impressed them all. And she was kind. Her chief drawback was an irritating habit of dispensing unsolicited advice in her sing-song Cork accent. Sarah began to feel a grudging respect for her. She could see the bond of affection between Deirdre and Tim, but there was something lacking in their relationship. They were more like sister and brother, and Deirdre seemed reticent about setting a date for the wedding. Nevertheless, she was Tim’s choice. Sarah was more concerned about her father, noticing how he would run out of steam without warning, his colour turning chalky and his breathing erratic. He assured her that he only needed rest. Betty was not so confident. Reluctantly, Sarah cabled Dan Briggs to ask for more time. She was relieved when the post office delivered the reply. It was kind and understanding, and gave her an extension, up to early November. She realised that she would be going back during the period of the short rains, when travel and work could be slow and difficult, but there was no alternative.