She expected him to find a hundred reasons why she couldn’t. Besides Michael and a handful of others, Captain Bob was one of the few in the village to have a car, and it was his new toy. Instead, he jumped to his feet.

‘Right, well, get my breakfast ready, woman.’ He grinned. ‘And then let’s get you behind that wheel. You can have your first lesson on the way to Bridget’s, starting today.’

*

Mary Kate woke in a cold sweat, with Peggy’s toes stuck in her ear. The cock crowed and she could hear him scratching about below her window. Her brow and top lip were covered in perspiration, and her hair was wet and clinging to her cheeks and the back of her neck. Her heart beat wildly as she wiped her mouth with her hand; pushing her hair away, she fought the urge to call out. It was the same nightmare she’d had the previous evening, and even though she was almost too afraid to, she attempted to recall its vivid details as already it was fading away.

‘Are you all right? Only you’re breathing funny.’ Peggy’s face loomed over her as she sat up in the bed. ‘A bad dream, was it?’

Mary Kate nodded, not trusting herself to speak as she committed the details of the nightmare to memory, knowing she would never share them with anyone.

‘Do you know, I’ve never had one of those in me whole life and I feel sorry for those that do. I asked Bridget about it once, and she told me no one in Tarabeg has nightmares. Sure, what does anyone have to worry about?’ Peggy swung her feet over the side of the bed. ‘I need a pee,’ she said by way of explanation. ‘Isn’t it grand, living in a house with a bathroom.’ She padded out of the room, her long nightdress trailing on the wooden floorboards, her dark hair hanging loose down her back, almost reaching her waist.

Mary Kate guessed that the over-large nightdress had been a donation, probably from the likes of Teresa, who always had an eye out for Peggy. The wintery light filtered in from below the curtains and cast a haze over the room so that looking towards the door after Peggy was like trying to peer through a piece of grey chiffon. The nightmare came back to her: her mother, a cave, a man in black, being unable to breathe; it felt real in the silence of the room, but the one thing she couldn’t recall was her mother’s words.

An hour later, Mary Kate had found her old bicycle from behind the shop and was ready to head off up to the farm to see her visitors.

‘You have a grand day,’ Peggy shouted from the shop doorway before getting on with stacking the new delivery of cigarettes onto the shelf.

Michael, Rosie and Finn left soon after Mary Kate.

‘Will I be seeing you for lunch, Michael?’ asked Peggy as she lifted the counter to let them through, her hand in the small of her back. ‘Is there anything you want me to do in the house, Rosie?’