By morning, as she made her toilet, as she washed and dressed, as she set about her tasks, Joy had put the conversation out of her mind. As she swept ashes from the living room fireplace, she did not think of children watching from the corners. As she gathered wood from the yard, she did not concern herself with dark eyes in pale faces. She had never seen them from the corner of her eye, not ever, no quick movements that made her turn her head only to find nothing but folded shadows. And if she had ever seen such things, she would never admit it, not even to herself.

All she cared about now was the phone call that George was going to make later that morning. After breakfast, he was going to walk into the village and use the telephone box on the main street to call the estate agent in Portadown. Little else entered her mind apart from the children, whom she banished as quickly as they appeared.

As she and Noreen gathered dishes from the table, George stood and informed his father and brother that he was heading into Morganstown on foot to follow up on yesterday’s messages. He wouldn’t be very long.

“You needn’t be,” Ivan said. “I want them cattle moved up into the top field. They’ve grazed the bottom field bare.”

“Aye, I’ll get it done,” George said.

He didn’t look at Joy as he fetched his coat from the back hall and walked out to the front. As Joy piled dishes in the sink, she watched him shuffle along the drive to the gate and the lane beyond. She felt a small spark inside, knowing that when he returned, he might have news that would change everything.

“You have to stop it.”

Joy turned to Noreen’s voice, then looked around the room. Ivan and Tam had left them alone in the kitchen. She turned back to the sink, and the dishes soaking there.

“I told you, there’s no stopping it.”

Noreen put her hand on Joy’s arm. Her voice trembled.

“Please, Joy, please stop it. They won’t let him go and they’ll kill you for putting the notion in his head.”

“I have to try,” Joy said. “For me and Mary.”

“They’ll kill her too. And me. They’ll kill us all.”

Joy said, “It’s done. That’s all there is to it.”

Noreen came in close, hissing, “Then I’ll stop it.”

Joy turned to her, their eyes inches apart. “What?”

“I’ll tell Ivan. You’re a bloody fool if you think he doesn’t see it anyway, but I’ll tell him, and I’ll make sure he knows I had no part in this. You get yourself killed, get the child killed, but not me, right? Not bloody me.”

“You wouldn’t,” Joy said.

“Wouldn’t I?”