Harry stood next to her and pulled on her sleeve. ‘Mam, guess who we saw?’

Maura, distracted, looked about Peggy’s kitchen and her heart sank. Peggy’s pride and joy, her mother’s clock, had gone from the mantelshelf and the side of the fire, where Maura knew Peggy lined up the shoes each night, as Maura had taught her, was bare. Little Paddy knew what she was looking at and felt a sense of shame.

‘She took the blankets as well,’ he said.

Maura looked shocked. ‘The blankets? What have the boys got covering them upstairs?’

‘Da’s coat,’ said Paddy. ‘And I left their clothes on.’

Maura looked around the bleak and empty kitchen. Her own next door, which hadn’t been lived in for months, was warmer and more homely. She looked down at little Paddy and her heart bled.

*

‘It has to be unloaded tonight,’ said Conor. ‘The Morry’s in a bad way and the owner has said he’s going to come to the dock tomorrow to see her. I’m supposed to have ditched half of the load into the Indian Ocean, and we staggered home, didn’t we, Blinks? This one thought we were going to sink.’

Blinks looked shamefaced. ‘Ah, I never doubted you, skipper; I knew we would reach Liverpool.’

Jerry whistled. ‘We’ll have to work through the night if it has to be unloaded by tomorrow,’ he said.

‘We can get that organised,’ said Tommy, ‘we’ve done it before.’

‘Can you get it organised in half an hour?’ said Conor as he lifted his pint of Guinness to his lips.

‘Why half an hour?’

Conor wiped the foam of his beard with the sleeve of his jumper. ‘The harbour master told me – he has no idea why or how – there’s only one policeman on tonight but he’s the one to watch, a guy called Frank the Skank.’

Jerry whistled. ‘He’s the one to watch, all right.’ He turned to Tommy. ‘He’s supposed to be moving into your house.’

Tommy shook his head. ‘Not unless the dock board have changed the rules. We have paid the rent every week we have been away, they can’t move us.’

‘So, if he’s down there, why are we moving it tonight?’ asked Jerry.

‘Ah, well, there’s a method in me madness; a crate of rum is making its way back to the harbour master’s house right now – and in return, he has set up a problem ship due to come in on the bore down on the Clarence and asked Heartfelt to send your man to intercept stolen goods. Blinks took a second crate down to the Clarence and the gaffer down there is going to keep Frank the Skank busy until the early hours, when he is going to be informed the ship has moored up out at the bar.’

‘What ship is it?’ asked Tommy and Conor grinned.