Mary would have made sure everything was in order. That’s how she was, everything had its place.’

‘Well yes, but I came across something that just didn’t seem to fit.’

‘Are you waiting for me Kate-Anna?’ said Mairi, coming back into the kitchen. ‘I’ll drive you in the road,’ she said brightly. Turning to Cal she added, ‘Well, that seemed to go okay. You’ll have known most of the faces if not the names. That lady at the end, Mairead, she was–’

‘I was just talking to Kate-Anna here about Mary,’ Cal interrupted.

‘Best friends, weren’t you Kate-Anna?’ said Mairi.

Kate-Anna smiled. ‘My yes. We were girls together, and old maids together too.’

She was emerging more clearly from Cal’s memory, a regular presence in the house, a greeting over the phone.

‘You’ll know then. About Mary in Canada?’

Kate-Anna failed to hide her surprise.

‘Years ago,’ persisted Cal. ‘She stayed there for a while.’

‘Well now,’ began Kate-Anna, ‘I’m not sure about that at all.’

‘You don’t remember Mary being in Canada?’

‘Well you know a’ghraidh, it was a long time ago.’

Sensing the older woman’s unease, Mairi stepped in. ‘Oh Kate-Anna, maybe she wasn’t there. Who knows? Let’s get you in the road.’

Kate-Anna needed no persuasion and made to leave.

‘Goodbye. Thank you for coming,’ Cal said feebly.

As Kate-Anna moved to the door, she turned her head, but avoided eye contact with Cal.

‘She’s at rest now,’ she said pointedly. ‘At peace.’

7

‘SHE KNOWS SOMETHING and she didn’t want to tell us.’

Cal had remained at the table going over and over the brief conversation with Kate-Anna. As soon as Mairi stepped through the door on her return, he started talking.

‘What did she say to you?’

‘Nothing. Well, nothing about that.’

‘So what’s the big secret?’

‘Why does there have to be a secret, Calum? Maybe there’s nothing to tell.’

‘If there’s no secret why would Mary say nothing about living in Canada? You’d think it might have come up some time, but I never heard her say anything. Not her, not my parents, nobody. And then her lifetime pal, who must have known and who looks like she’s never told a lie in her life, pretends she doesn’t remember.’ Cal sat with his arms spread open, his case made and unarguable.

‘Suppose she was in Canada,’ began Mairi.

‘There’s no suppose about it.’

‘Just supposing she was,’ continued Mairi, mild irritation entering her voice. ‘Maybe she didn’t like it, maybe she had bad memories, or sad ones. What matters is that she didn’t want to talk about it. So let it be. That’s how she wanted it.’

Cal was too intrigued to notice Mairi’s exasperated tone.

‘What could be so bad that she didn’t talk about it? Ever. You’d think it might have merited a passing mention. Even the mere fact of it.’

‘Not everyone wants to blab y’know.’ Mairi was leaning against the stove, her arms crossed and her brow furrowed. ‘It’s the big thing now to tell everything about yourself. On daytime telly that’s all there is, people moaning about their troubles. Well, not everyone’s like that. Some prefer to deal with difficulties privately, in their own way. And I’ll tell you something, I think that’s more dignified.’ Mairi’s face was flushed.

‘Okay,’ Cal said in a conciliatory tone.

‘And anyway, maybe she did tell you and you don’t remember.’

‘I’d have remembered that. But then, why would she tell me? I didn’t even know she was ill.