BELFAST

Assumpta paced the hard floors of her tiny, draughty flat, hoping to find a spot where Michael's voice might overpower the noise from surrounding units. At the head of the bed, it was violin practise; near the door of the kitchenette, it was a crying baby. In the bath, it was the hiss of a neighbouring shower, and the echo of her own uneasy voice against the old yellow tiles.

"So, lay it on me," she said. "What's happened?"

Michael's voice came through, weary, mellow, heartbreakingly familiar. "You'll recall that when we arranged your...departure, you had one condition on which I ought to contact you."

Her breath caught in her throat. "Fionn."

"He's okay. Padraig left town some time ago to dry out, and Kevin's since moved in with his mother in England. Fionnuala says a goat's welcome but a dog - for some reason - is a no-go. Kevin remembered my asking that he phone me if he ever had to give him up, and..."

"And now's the time," Assumpta finished. "Where is he?"

"Well, the good news is, he's on his way over from London. An old friend's taking a car ferry, and they're transporting another dog anyway, so she's agreed to pick him up from the kennel."

Assumpta wasn't fooled. "And the bad news?"

Michael used his best poor-prognosis voice. "The friend would be Niamh."

"Oh, God," breathed Assumpta. "What'd you tell her?"

"That I'd explain when I saw her."

Assumpta whimpered, wishing her flask was at hand.

"If it helps, that's not the worst news."

"Doc, I'm not sure I have it in me-"

"You need to know this."

"Fine." She sat on the lid, braced her elbow on the wall, rested her head in her hand...

"It's Ambrose."

"Ambrose! What about him?"

"He...followed in your footsteps, a year or so later."

"What?!"

"Long story. And then a few months back, Quigley did it - without my help, I might add..."

"Doc..."

"Anyway, to bring us present, Ambrose's guilt seems to have got the best of him. He wrote a letter; I spoke to him on the phone and he's adamant." A pause on the line, then: "He's vowed to tell Father Clifford."

She tried to speak. She failed.

"Assumpta, I'll book a room here. How soon can you get into town?"

"Soon," she choked. "I need to figure things out..."

His voice got an edge of chill. "Tonight. Figure that out. We have to come clean."

BALLYKISSANGEL

Michael lowered the handset into its cradle, his guilt increasing. Why hadn't he had the stones to tell her just what her leaving had done to everybody?

Turning behind him, he saw the eerie stares of the untamed Dooley children in the doorway.

"I thought Assumpta was dead," Dermot sneered.

"Maybe it's a different Assumpta," Grainne countered.

"I don't like that name. Why would one family choose it, let alone two?"

Their mother appeared behind them now, flustered. "Sorry, doctor," she muttered. She looked at her children. "Haven't I told you to respect people's privacy!" The brother and sister scurried away. Oonagh looked at Michael again. "What's all this about the dead publican?"

Michael swallowed the impulse to point out her hypocrisy, and hoped his reflexive grimace came off like a weak smile. "Nothing, Oonagh. But my good friend Maire will be in tonight on a family matter; could I reserve a room for her?"

"Bit of a short notice," Oonagh chuckled.

Michael didn't chuckle back. "You'll manage, I'm sure."

LONDON

Niamh wrangled the spry old setter into the back of the wagon, praying the younger dog wouldn't drive him mad through the gate. Why would finding a new owner in London be so bad? she wondered. Why drag the poor old boy all the way back?

"Are we getting another pet?" Kieran asked.

"No, Kieran. We're just giving Fionn a lift to his new home."

"Where's that?"

"Same place we're going. Ballykissangel."

"Oh."

"Same place you were born."

"I don't remember."

She locked the tailgate. "Not a moment of it, really?"

"I remember Granddaddy a little."

"You remember your daddy?"

"Sean isn't my daddy."

"That isn't who I meant." God, what I'd give for a conversation with an adult!

"Then no. I don't remember."

It stung more than she had expected. A forgotten corner of her heart began to ache.

"Kieran?"

"Mmmhmm?"

"The dogs are getting a bit rambunctious at the sight of each other. Why don't you sit up front with me this next part of the trip?"

"Can't."

"Oh? And why not?"

"You said that was only for grownups."

"Special occasion, then. Come on."