It was that kind of night. To begin with, there was the usual phoney politeness. ‘Just a small G&T for me, Cora. I had far too much over the Christmas,’ and ‘Go easy with that brandy, Haulie. I’ve milking in the morning.’ As the numbers multiplied, Tom was called into action, filling drinks, finding ashtrays and carrying extra chairs from the back kitchen. He handed around sandwiches, cocktail sausages and little pieces of cheese on sticks. The noise rose from a low mumble to a babble to an all-out roar, like a class with no teacher. Party-goers asked Tom about the snow, what he’d got for Christmas and how he was getting on at secondary school. Then they asked if he had a girlfriend. Finally, they forgot he was there at all. For a short while, he listened in, in case he might learn something important. One woman had the big C, apparently. ‘Riddled with it,’ according to Mercedes Talty. Somebody else was in the family way (‘and not a boyfriend in sight’) while another neighbour was ‘inside, drying out’. Noel O’Grady told a story about New Year’s night when he’d driven home from Pilkington’s with a hand over one eye to stop himself seeing double.

‘You’ll know all about it if Flan Varley catches you,’ said Tom’s dad. ‘The guards are taking the drink-driving very seriously, these days.’

‘Leave Flan to me,’ replied Mr O’Grady, in a way that suggested he had few worries about the law.

Conor’s father was beside the window with Tess’s mother and Father Galvin. What they found to talk about, Tom didn’t know. Save for the fact that all three were on their own, they didn’t have much in common. He wondered if Mr Varley would ever find a new wife. Not that he’d say it to Conor. Even though he rarely mentioned her, it was obvious that Conor missed his mother. One day in religion, Miss Casey had been boring on about what happens when someone dies, and Conor had turned the colour of watery rice pudding, then barged out of the room. Seánie O’Grady said Conor was acting like a poof, but Seánie was a moron who stuck out his tongue when he read, so nobody took any notice of him.

When Tess and Nina did arrive, it was with a rat-tat-tat on the door, a burst of freezing air and a rush of apologies. Nina said it was her fault they were late. Her parents had hired a babysitter for her younger brother, and the sitter had insisted on watching Nina too.