‘It was gas gangrene. The bacteria in the wound releases a gas into the tissues and is possibly the worst type of wound infection. The mixture you gave to Matron and me to clean him up, along with the opium for the pain, will only last long enough to get him to a hospital. The chances of his surviving for long are very slim. He won’t make it to a court, let alone a prison, and I’m afraid all the money in the world can’t save him.’

A hush descended over the room. Nola blessed herself and Bee stared at her. ‘I have to,’ Nola said. ‘I don’t forgive him for what he did, scaring the life out of our Mary Kate, and if he walked in here, I’d kill him meself, but we will have to pray for his soul if he does depart, we all know that.’

‘Like hell I will,’ said Keeva as she hung up her coat.

‘Matron, are you ready to eat?’ asked Mrs O’Keefe, holding out a plate of steaming pork with crispy crackling and fried potatoes. ‘You must be starving.’

Matron smiled at Dr Gaskell and wondered, would anyone in St Angelus believe a word they said if they told them about their trip to Ireland to recruit new nurses.

*

Mary Kate woke to find herself in her old bedroom above the shop. She shuffled to the end of her bed, leant on the windowsill and stared down at the river. She knew it would be the last time she’d do that for a long while. She’d made a decision. The cave had been horrible and scary, the darkness, not knowing what was going on, but she’d not really taken her captors seriously, had never doubted that the money would be paid and that she’d get safely back home. Knowing almost nothing about her granddaddy, she’d believed that because he was her own flesh and blood he would never hurt her. The kidnapping hadn’t frightened her into making her decision; she just knew that coming back to Tarabeg had been the wrong choice.

‘Are you all right, Mary Kate?’ She heard the rustling of bedclothes as Dana sat upright.

‘I am.’ She turned onto her side and leant her back against the wall. ‘I can’t sleep – there’s too much going round in my head. I spent last night in a cave, and tonight you’re here, sleeping on my bedroom floor. I can’t believe you’re here.’

Dana sprang to her feet, sat down on the bed next to Mary Kate and tucked the eiderdown around both of them. ‘I can believe it,’ she said. ‘Do you not get that feeling sometimes that you knew you were meant to be somewhere? Have you not had that thing when someone has stepped into your life from nowhere and suddenly become massively important to you, even though you just can’t explain how or why?’

‘I have,’ said Mary Kate. ‘I met Mrs O’Keefe by chance on the boat from Dublin and I’ve seen her every day for the last two years. She’s been the hugest part of my life. And Nicholas… he came to see me as a doctor, and that was it! I fell in love the moment I laid eyes on him.’