Declan looked surprised. ‘That’s a bit harsh, Mary Kate. He’s going to be bringing jobs here for everyone.’

‘Oh, not you as well! Everyone in the village is smitten with him. I thought you at least might be on my side.’ She got up and went over to the fire. ‘Declan, I hope Cat is for you, and I will help, but right now I have to go to my bed. I’m exhausted.’

Sleep, however, proved elusive. Mary Kate tossed and turned for a long while. At one point she thought she heard a noise outside the window. She knelt on the bed and looked out through the gap in the curtains. She remembered her mother telling her stories of smugglers during the war, working from this part of the coast. On the clifftop she thought she saw a shadowy figure, but then it was gone, as though it had fallen over the edge. Maybe the smuggling was still happening, she thought, and that made her feel safer, knowing there were others around, albeit under the cover of darkness.

*

Jay pushed the toe of his boot into McGuffey’s side to wake him. McGuffey’s hand flew to his gun as he shuffled up against the wall of the cave. Jay settled down on a sandy patch of floor. There was a ghastly smell – he’d noticed it as soon as he’d arrived – and it was coming from McGuffey’s wound. His leg was even redder and more swollen than before, and there was some sort of discharge bubbling out of the wound. It stank and almost made Jay gag. ‘Here,’ he said, handing McGuffey a ribbed brown glass bottle. ‘For the pain. One swig at a time.’

McGuffey only just managed to unscrew the top, then took a deep pull from the bottle. ‘Where is she?’ he asked.

‘She’s up there, in the cottage. She was brought back by Captain Bob. Then Declan from the school called in, but he’s just left.’

‘Do it now,’ said McGuffey.

‘What, take her now?’

‘Yes. Do you have the twine?’

‘I do. And I have this too.’ He pulled another bottle out of his bag.

‘What is that?’

‘I don’t know, but if I put it on a rag and hold it over her mouth, she’ll pass out and it’ll be as easy as stealing a baby.’

McGuffey almost laughed. ‘Shona did enough of that,’ he said.

‘Shall I go back up now then?’

‘Yes.’ McGuffey was barely audible. ‘I might not make it if we wait.’

‘I’ve pulled the boat just inside. The motor’s next to it and I have supplies in the boat.’ Without another word, Jay grabbed the bottle, pulled a rag out of his bag, took one last look at McGuffey and ran out of the cave.

*

Michael and Dana chatted happily all the way back to Belmullet. ‘So, how do you find living in Liverpool?’ he asked. ‘And a nurse, you are? Will you be coming back to Belmullet or staying over there?’