I’d heard of crabs. The way Mummy Joy described them to me, I pictured them like big spiders with hands.

In the evenings, says she, we’d maybe go to the restaurant in the big hotel, what was it called?

There’s two, says Mummy Noreen, the Northern Counties and the Londonderry.

Whichever one, says Mummy Joy, we’d go for our tea. But you know what my favourite thing was? Going for fish and chips and sitting at the harbour and eating them out of yesterday’s newspaper. Salt that would dry your mouth out and so much vinegar it’d take the breath from you.

Stop it, says Mummy Noreen, in a big moan.

Says I, I want to go there.

You will, says Mummy Joy. Some day soon, we’ll get out of here, and I’ll take you to Portrush, I promise. And you can go to the beach and get fish and chips, then we can go to Barry’s Amusements and we can go on all the different rides, and then I’ll take you to the dance and you can have all the lemonade you want.

Says I, Will we go with Daddy George?

Everything was quiet for a while, then says Mummy Joy, Time to go to sleep.

34: Sara

34: Sara

Tony stopped at a Tesco supermarket in Lurgan and bought sandwiches and drinks for them both. They ate in the van, and Sara was grateful for the silence. When they got back to his house, she would switch on her phone and try calling her mother. She still wasn’t sure of her next steps, but she needed to hear her mother’s voice. Knowing she had a home to return to, even if that didn’t happen now, was something to which she could cling.

Should she call the police, tell them there were potentially bodies buried beneath the house? Mary’s words lingered: what good would it do to disturb them? She knew Damien and his father had a scorching hatred for the police and calling them would hurt her husband and his family. But she would not do it out of spite.

Tony drained the last of his bottle of Coke and stowed their rubbish into a nearby litter bin before returning to the van and setting off.

“You know, you’re welcome to stay as long as you want,” he said as they navigated the streets leading to his house.

“I’m not sure how your mother feels about it,” Sara said.

“Och, she’s fine. She’d be lost without some drama going on.”

His smile was infectious, and Sara felt it on her own lips, like recognising an old friend. “You don’t strike me as the type to cause much drama,” she said.

“Me? Aye, well, I have my moments. Maybe not in your league, but still.”