Page 221 of The Missing Sister

‘Helen? Can I ask you a question?’

‘O’course, Merry. Ask away.’

‘I was wondering why you’ve never had children.’

‘Apart from never finding the right fellow, you mean?’ she chuckled. ‘I’ll let you in on a little secret: after I researched the mental illness that ran through my family, I’ve discovered there’s a genetic component that mostly affects the male line. So I’m glad I never did have children. The Noiro line will die out with me, and I’d have no regrets about that. Sure, ’twasn’t Bobby or my Daddy or our Great-Uncle Colin’s fault, but ’tis better to let the genes die with them.’ Helen gave a sad sigh. ‘Anyway, I’d better be off now, so. I’ve an early shift at the airport tomorrow morning. Nothing like the smell of whiskey at seven a.m. to turn your stomach.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘But ’tis amazing the amount of people who’ll take a free sample. Can we keep in touch, Merry?’

‘I’d love to,’ I said, as she put her arms around me. ‘If you ever fancy a trip to New Zealand, I’d be so happy to have you visit.’

‘Well now, being young, free and single and all, I might take you up on that. Bye, Merry.’

‘Bye, Helen.’

I watched her wander off towards her car and thought how I’d never have believed before a couple of days ago that communication, let alone a warmth and potential future friendship, could be established with Bobby Noiro’s younger sister. She’d said little about what she’d suffered because of him, and that made me warm to her even more. She was made of strong stuff – and I needed to take a leaf out of her book.

I heard a rousing round of applause as everyone cheered and stamped for my brother John to play his fiddle – the one that had once belonged to Daniel, the proud Fenian and the great-grandfather Helen and I shared – and I went inside to join the party.

I woke up the following morning with a thick head, which was all of my own making. I only hoped Niall had made it up in time to go and collect Ambrose from Dublin, because it had been past two in the morning when he’d picked us up from Cross Farm.

After a cup of tea and a hot shower, plus a couple of paracetamol, I called Katie on her mobile, wondering how on earth she was at work this morning. She answered after a few rings.

‘Hi there, Merry, ’tis all organised this end. I’ll be bringing him over to the hotel at two p.m. He’s very excited about meeting your kids.’

‘Perfect, I’ll speak to you later.’

As I ended the call, I saw I had a missed one, as well as a voicemail. Pressing the right buttons to retrieve it, I sat down on the bed to listen.

‘Hi, Merry, it’s Ally D’Aplièse here. You met my sister Tiggy in Dublin, and she gave us your number. Could you possibly call us on the home number at Atlantis? You’ve probably got it already, but if you haven’t...’

Ididhave it already, so I didn’t worry about writing it down.

‘There’s some new information that’s just come to light, so call us as soon as you can. Thanks, Merry, and I hope you’re okay. Bye.’

My mobile then rang again. I saw it was Niall the taxi driver, and answered it immediately.

‘Hello?’

‘The cargo’s on board and ETA is around two fifteen.’

‘Thanks, Niall. See you then.’

I sat there, debating whether to phone the Atlantis number back before deciding not to. Just now, I had more important things to think about than any tenuous connection to some strange dead man and his adopted daughters.

There was a knock on the door.

‘Hello, Jack, how are you feeling?’ I smiled as my son came into the room.

‘I’m upright, so that’s something,’ he said. ‘That was quite a piss-up last night. The Irish sure know how to enjoy themselves. Maybe a fry-up would help.’

My own stomach turned at the thought. ‘Maybe. Have you heard from Mary-Kate?’

‘Not yet. She was in a worse state than I was. Even you were a bit tipsy, Mum,’ he grinned.

‘I admit that I did knock it back a bit.’

‘Well, it was great to see you relax and laugh like you used to when Dad was alive. Besides, it’s known across the world that the Irish can drink, so we couldn’t really leave without participating, could we? Right, I’m off down to brekkie. You coming?’

I nodded and Jack led the way.