They were both steeled for the fact that there would be no beds aired in their own house and that they would struggle to get warm for a couple of nights until the bricks of the house had warmed. It was months since the fire was lit and the house would be damp through.

Harry was the next to wake up and in an instant had his mother’s attention. ‘How are you feeling, little fella?’ she asked him.

‘Are we here?’ He asked the same question they had all asked repeatedly since they had left the Talk of the Town.

Tommy ruffled his hair. ‘We are, lad, look out of the window.’

Harry leant forward and rubbed the window with his jacket for a clearer view. ‘Da! There’s the docks and there’s two ships in. Oh, I’ve never seen that one before, it has two funnels. I’m going to be a sailor, Mam, when I grow up,’ he said to Maura.

‘Oh no you are not, Harry, you are never going to be out of your mam’s sight for that long, I can tell you.’

Tommy gently nudged Harry away from the window. ‘I’ve no idea what that ship is,’ he said, ‘but Maura, Captain Conor’s is next to it and you know what that means?’

‘There’s the Anchor, Da,’ said Angela, and as they coasted alongside the pub, someone walked out of the door, throwing a light out onto the yard in front.

Tommy rubbed his hands together; he hadn’t felt happier since before Kitty had died. ‘Aye, aye!’ He leant closer to the window. ‘Maggie Trott’s walking into the Anchor with Cindy and Reg – things have changed around here, Maura, since we left.’

Maura sat bolt upright and pushed Angela out of the way. ‘Mind, let me see,’ she said as she peered through the window. ‘It is, and she’s wearing heels and where did she get that coat from? I have never seen Maggie in the pub ever!’

‘Well, maybe she was just waiting for us to leave before she let her hair down. Turn right here, pal,’ Tommy called to the taxi driver.

Maura’s eyes never left Maggie Trott. ‘She’s been mourning her husband that long. I never thought I’d see her in the pub in a month of Sundays, maybe she has a new fella?’

‘I’ve no idea, Maura, but I’d find out and come back and let you know if you let me go for a pint…’ The taxi driver caught Maura’s eye in the rear-view mirror; they all knew Maura would not be able to resist that line. ‘I’ll catch up on with what’s what, all the gossip like, and I’ll be back in no time to tell you it all. Go on, Maura, you know you’d be in there yourself to find out if it wasn’t for the kids.’