Maura hugged Nellie and held her close, the girl as precious to her as one of her own. ‘I was just going to do the same thing myself. Was big Paddy home, then?’

Once more all three shook their heads.

‘Have the kids gone to bed?’ asked Alice and all three nodded.

‘Except little Paddy,’ said Harry. ‘He’s going to sit up until his mam gets home – Ma, can I sit with him?’

Maura frowned. ‘Harry, it’s been an exhausting day and journey; I think I’d rather you stayed here, where it’s warm.’

Harry lifted his face to her. ‘Oh, it’s boiling in there! Shelagh and Mrs Keating and Deirdre have all been in with buckets of coal – you would have said it was as busy as Lime Street, Ma. Shelagh said no one’s going to be going to bed until they have seen you with their own eyes. They all knew you were here because Seamus came back for his pipe and told Shelagh that Tommy was in the pub. Deirdre has brought sheets in and is making the beds and Malachi says I can be in charge of the ball all day tomorrow.’

Kathleen looked concerned. ‘Well, isn’t that just grand? Plenty of heat now in Peggy’s and they will have your house warmed through and sheets aired in no time, Maura, different altogether to next door. At Peggy’s the lights are on and the kids have full bellies but they have bare feet, God love them.’

Alice walked over to her mother-in-law. ‘Why are you looking so worried, Kathleen?’

‘Because, Alice, I think we have a much bigger problem. Every bingo in Liverpool ended almost an hour ago so I think something awful is wrong; Peggy should have been long back by now. That feeling I had, Alice, all day, it must have been this.’

Alice was already lifting coats down from the back of the door. ‘Maura, would you let Harry go back, so that little Paddy isn’t alone if he needs help? Girls, will you stay here and look after Joseph and the others? We must all go and look for Peggy because, Kathleen, I’ll put money on Paddy being in the pub, otherwise, he would have been back at his house or called into ours to let us know what was happening. He’s been waylaid by the taste of the Guinness.’

‘He will have seen Tommy and stayed with him, for it will be a right old lock-in with Tommy and Conor both home,’ said Kathleen. ‘I have a better idea, though: let’s knock on with the mop, see who we can get around to help. That way we can decide who is looking where. It’ll need more than two of us, Alice – I think we need a search party.’

‘Shall we call the police?’ said Alice.