Page 175 of The Missing Sister

‘You will find out very quickly if he is, Mary; we both know how everyone knows your business there before you do. And the young woman I once knew you to be was brave and strong, and would face her foes head on. Besides, surely now there is another reason to travel there?’

‘What?’

‘The fact that it’s the only place to discover your original birth family. As I explained yesterday, you couldn’t have been more than a few hours old when we found you on the doorstep, Mary, so your birth parents must hail from somewhere very close to the priest’s house in Timoleague.’

‘I suppose so,’ I sighed, ‘but I’m not sure I want to find them. My head’s so full at the moment, I hardly know which way to turn.’

‘I’m sure you don’t, Mary, but my belief is that in the end, we must all go back to where we began in order to understand.’

‘Yes, you’re right as usual,’ I smiled.

‘One thing I must ask you is what happened to that nice young man you were seeing before you left? Peter, wasn’t it?’

‘I...’ For some reason, I blushed, simply at the sound of his name. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Right. He also came to see me after you’d left. He seemed distraught – he said he hadn’t received a reply to letters he’d written to you in London.’

‘Did he?’ My heart began to thump again against my chest. ‘Well, I certainly didn’t receive any. Actually, he...thatsituation is something else I wanted your advice on...’

I arrived back at the hotel and was handed a message at reception from Jack to say he and Mary-Kate had gone on a wander into the city and would be back in time for a late lunch.

Upstairs in my room, before I could even begin to process the conversation I’d just had, I did as Ambrose had suggested. I went to a leather folder on the desk, drew out some hotel notepaper, found my pen from my handbag and sat down to write.

‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph!’ I murmured. ‘What on earth do I say?’

In the end, I decided that less was more, and what did it matter, as the chances of finding the other ‘him’ were tiny anyway?

I read it through once, then signed it and sealed it in an envelope before I lost my nerve. I quickly packed my suitcase and threw some essentials in my holdall, then stood up to leave the hotel and give the letter to Ambrose before I changed my mind.

‘If you could store my suitcase for me until I’m back, that would be wonderful,’ I said to Ambrose as he met me on the doorstep. ‘And here’s the letter,’ I added.

‘Right,’ he nodded. ‘I will do my absolute best to locate him, and will let you know if I do.’

‘Thank you, darling Ambrose. Oh, and I brought you Nuala’s diary to read. I’m afraid the writing isn’t very clear and the spelling is sometimes phonetic rather than accurate,’ I said, handing him the small, black exercise book.

‘Exactly what I need to keep my brain active,’ Ambrose smiled. ‘Now then, Mary, go with your children and try to relax. As Jean de la Fontaine said, a person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it. Or she, in your case. Please keep—’

‘...in touch,’ I parroted as I walked down the steps. ‘I promise, Ambrose, truly, I do.’

Then, seeing I had just enough time before the children were back, I headed for the Dublin records office.

‘Hi, Mum, sorry we’re late – we got lost in a few alleys off Grafton Street,’ said Jack as he and Mary-Kate appeared in the hotel lobby a few minutes after me.

‘Oh, don’t worry, I had bits to do myself.’

‘Well, I’m starving,’ Mary-Kate announced.

‘Then let’s go and grab a quick sandwich in the lounge, shall we?’ I suggested. ‘The train leaves at four,’ I added.

‘The train to where?’ asked Jack.

‘To West Cork, of course. The county where I spent my childhood. You said I should go back, Jack, so we are.’

Jack and Mary-Kate glanced at each other as we sat down on a free sofa. ‘Okay,’ they chorused.

Once we’d ordered, I saw Mary-Kate give Jack a small nod.

‘What?’ I enquired.