Page 176 of The Missing Sister

‘MK has something to tell you.’

‘I do, but... well, I know you’ve had a tough time recently, Mum, and I don’t want to upset you any further,’ said my daughter, who could hardly look me in the eye.

‘Whatever it is, just tell me, or I’ll worry anyway,’ I said.

‘Well...’ She looked at Jack and he gave a nod of encouragement. ‘You remember we had that conversation after CeCe and Chrissie had been to see me?’

‘We had a few, so remind me which one?’

Again, I saw her look at her brother, who offered his hand to her.

‘The one when I asked if you knew who and where my birth family was.’

‘Yes,’ I nodded as I wondered how much more stress my soon-to-be fifty-nine-year-old heart could take. ‘I said that we’d talk about it when I got home.’

‘Yeah, well, the whole thing had obviously got me thinking, so I found the adoption agency you mentioned in Christchurch, and they had my details on file. I made an appointment last week to go and see the guy there who runs the records department. I explained the situation to him – that a woman saying I might be related to her family had turned up on my doorstep, and I wanted to know if she really was who she said she was.’ Mary-Kate eyed me, obviously trying to gauge my reaction. ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t wait for you to come home, but, well, seeing as it had come up, I couldn’t think about anything else, y’know? You’re not angry or anything, are you?’

‘Of course not; I’m just sorry I wasn’t there with you.’

‘Mum, I’m twenty-two – I’m a big girl now. Anyway, the guy was great. He said I’d have to fill out some consent forms if I wanted to trace my birth parents and they’d have to be asked as well, assuming they could still be found.’ Mary-Kate let go of Jack’s hand and put hers on mine. ‘I swear, this will make no difference to the way I feel about you. Or Dad. I mean, youaremy mum and always will be, but what with all this missing sister stuff, I just want to know who my birth family is and move on, y’know?’

‘Of course,’ I nodded. ‘So, what happened next?’

‘Well, I filled in all the forms, then I faxed them a copy of my birth certificate and passport. The guy – Chip – said it might take some time, so I wasn’t expecting to hear anything back any time soon, but...’

‘What?’

‘I got an email a couple of days ago. They’ve found her! I mean, they’ve found my birth mum!’

‘Right,’ I nodded, instinctively wanting to cry, because those two words hurt my soul so much. ‘And?’ I said lamely.

‘I typed out a quick email to her as Chip had asked me to do, saying I’d like to get in touch, and guess what?’

‘You got a reply,’ I said.

‘Yeah. Last night, when I was at Heathrow airport. Obviously, it’s all going through the agency at the moment, but I know her name is Michelle, and she’s going to email me back. She wants contact. Mum, is that okay with you?’

‘That’s great, yes, great,’ I replied, not having it in me to step up to the plate and look happy for my daughter.Mydaughter... The waitress appeared and I was relieved that the sandwiches had arrived to give me something to concentrate on. ‘These look good,’ I said as I picked one up and took a bite, even though I felt sick to my stomach.

‘I think what Mary-Kate means is that at least, if this woman does email back, maybe we can get to the bottom of this whole missing sister thing,’ Jack said gently.

‘Completely. We all want to know whether I’m related to those girls in some way. One thing I have thought about, Mum,’ Mary-Kate said between munches, ‘is whether there were other people trying to adopt me. Chip mentioned that there’s not usually many Kiwi newborns going spare in the region. I wonder whether this dead father – Pa Salt, or whatever silly name those sisters call him – applied to get me and lost out to you and Dad. Or something,’ she shrugged.

‘That’s certainly another theory,’ I nodded, trying to look enthusiastic. It wasn’t Mary-Kate’s fault that I felt emotionally conflicted about this news, as well as just about every other thing in the current maelstrom of my life. ‘So, have either of you seen Tiggy this morning?’

‘Yeah, she came down to breakfast after you’d left, so she joined us for a tosh around the city,’ explained Jack.

‘Where is she now?’

‘I think she went up to her room to pack. She’s on the afternoon flight back to Scotland.’

‘Right. You have my credit card, so would you pay the bill for all of us, Jack, and ask them to get a taxi to pick us up in twenty minutes?’

‘O’course, Mum.’

‘You come with me, Mary-Kate,’ I said as I signed for lunch, then made for the lift as Jack headed for reception.

‘Are you okay about all this, Mum?’ Mary-Kate asked me tentatively.