Maura shuddered. ‘Paddy, I’ve only been this close to a rat before when I was trying to clobber him with the end of the mop.’ She was keen to begin her search of the Nolans’ house for clues as to where Peggy might be. ‘Now I’m just going to check the fires upstairs, so you take Max back to his own house now, I’m sure he will be more comfortable in there.’

‘Ma might be back now,’ Paddy said hopefully. Maura smiled, but in her heart, she was not convinced.

‘Maybe, Paddy,’ she lied. ‘Off you run now, boys, and I’ll follow you in five minutes.’

*

As she made her way up the scrubbed wooden staircase, pleasure at the warmth of her house quickly replaced her anger at finding Frank the Skank in her kitchen. She could not fault the efforts of Shelagh and Deirdre – there was nothing at all for her to do and so she did what she had wanted to do for so long. She went into the children’s bedroom and there it stood, the old oak wardrobe and Kitty’s bed. She turned the key in the lock, the sound as old and as familiar to her as any, and reaching in, she removed Kitty’s dress, one she had never washed. Pulling it towards her, she held it to her face and inhaled deeply. The smell of Kitty assailed her senses, her eldest daughter, her best friend, her heart. She stood for a moment and let the fabric of the dress absorb her tears that fell every day without fail as she whispered, ‘I’m home, Kitty, I’m home…’

Chapter Twenty-six

Maggie had finished her second port and lemon far quicker than she had intended as a cheer rang out around the pub.

‘Jesus, are my eyes deceiving me?’ A voice rang above the cheers and Eric swivelled around in his chair and looked behind him to see who it was.

‘What’s the commotion about?’ asked Maggie.

‘I have no idea,’ said Eric, ‘but what or whoever it is, the entire pub is moving towards the door.’ Eric looked knowingly in the opposite direction, towards the back door. ‘I’m guessing that this would be a good time for anyone who wanted to, to leave and not be seen?’

His question hung on the air and Maggie made her decision in a heartbeat. She stood, and feeling like a woman she had never met before, said, ‘Can you pass my coat, please? It’s behind you.’

Eric, feeling like the man he had always wished he had been, picked up a bright green coat and said, ‘This one?’