Page 248 of The Missing Sister

‘You’re here!’ Star said from behind her, as CeCe and Chrissie stepped onto the deck. Star put her arms around both of them. ‘It’s so good to see you both. Hi, Tiggy, and this is?’

‘I’m Charlie, pleased to meet you, Star.’ He shook her hand.

‘And you, Charlie,’ Star smiled. ‘This is Mouse, my other half. Now, have a glass of champagne and make yourselves comfortable,’ Star continued. ‘Rory, Mouse’s son, has been taken off by our first mate to see the bridge about twenty minutes ago, and we haven’t seen him since.’

The sun deck, with its comfortable canvas-covered soft furnishings, was suddenly full of milling people. Out of the corner of her eye, Ally spotted Jack and a young blonde woman standing slightly apart from the rest of the sisters and their other halves.

‘Okay, Bear,’ she whispered to the baby fidgeting in his papoose. ‘Here goes.’

‘Hi, Jack, how are you?’ she said as she walked towards them.

‘I’m good. This is Mary-Kate, my sister, and...?’ He looked down at Bear, surprise in his eyes. ‘Who is this little guy?’

‘My son, Bear. He’s just about four months old.’

‘Hi, Ally,’ said Mary-Kate, ‘nice to meet you. Jacko’s told me a lot about you. And oh,’ she said as Bear continued to wriggle, ‘he’s sooo cute! Isn’t he, Jacko?’

‘He is, yeah. Very.’

‘He’s getting hot and bothered in his papoose,’ she said. ‘Could you lift him out for me, Mary-Kate?’

‘I’ll do it.’ Jack reached his big hands into the papoose and pulled Bear out of it. ‘There you go, little one. That’s better, isn’t it?’ he said as he gave Ally a quizzical look over the top of Bear’s head.

‘Jacko’s very good with babies, aren’t you, Jack?’ said Mary-Kate. ‘He had a summer job as a manny to one of our neighbours when he was eighteen.’

‘Yeah, I did, for my sins,’ he said, ‘and I detect a familiar pong from this little guy. Which, from my expertise, I deduce belongs to a full nappy,’ he chuckled. ‘Here you go, Mum,’ he added, handing him back to Ally.

‘Thanks. I’ll take him downstairs and change him. Maia?’ Ally called across the deck. ‘Come and meet Jack and Mary-Kate.’

With her sister taking over the helm, Ally walked into the main salon, where the bedroom plan was always pinned to a cork board inside a metal case.

Deck Three, Suite Four, she read and went down a flight of stairs to find it. Having changed Bear and given him a quick feed, they were just leaving her cabin when she saw Georg walking along the narrow corridor towards her, still dressed in a suit and tie. He was on his mobile and looked agitated. Spotting her in front of him, he said something in German, then ended the call.

‘Ally! How are you?’

‘I’m well, thank you, Georg. How are you?’

‘I’m... well. Many apologies for having been absent in the past weeks. I had matters to... attend to.’

Ally studied him, thinking he looked suddenly older. His skin was grey and there was a gauntness to his face that suggested he’d lost weight since she’d last seen him.

‘I’m glad you’re here, Georg. You look exhausted, if you don’t mind me saying. Hopefully you can take off your suit and tie and start to relax.’

Just as she and Bear were about to ascend and join the others, Georg put a hand gently on her shoulder to stop her.

‘Ally, may I have a word? In private?’ Georg indicated the door that led into what they called the Winter Salon, which was a cosy lounge used when the weather was bad.

‘Of course.’

Georg opened the door into the salon, and both of them moved to sit on a couple of sofas placed on either side of a low drinks table, with lovely views through the portholes onto the sparkling Mediterranean Sea.

‘What is it, Georg?’

‘Well, I have met both Jack and Mary-Kate upstairs on deck, but I hear that Mary-Kate is not the “Mary McDougal” you originally thought she was?’

‘No, she’s the adopted daughter of her mother, who is also Mary McDougal, or Merry, as she’s more commonly known.’

‘Atch!’ Georg said in frustration. ‘We –I –did not foresee such a thing. All I’d heard was that Mary had been located and had agreed to join us on our cruise.’