The Parting Glass. Emilie Richards
feed him, I guess, from the pubs at night. Crisps and things. But my father says somebody will carry him out to the country before too long, and he won’t be coming back.”
Peggy didn’t like the sound of that. “I guess there’s no organization in town to take care of homeless pets.”
“Just people who take them in if they can.” The girl looked up at Peggy. “You’re not from Shanmullin.”
“Ohio, in the United States.”
“I’m Bridie O’Malley.”
Finn’s daughter. Peggy hadn’t suspected, not only because the odds were against meeting this way, but because Bridie didn’t resemble her father in the least. She was as blond as he was dark. Peggy thought she had a good idea what Finn’s wife had looked like.
Peggy introduced herself. “Irene Tierney tells me you’re a good friend.”
“Oh, you’re the American who’s living at Tierney Cottage. I’ve heard about you.”
“Your father was kind enough to give me a ride up from Shannon Airport.”
“He was off work that day. I wanted to come, but I was in school.”
Peggy glanced at her watch. It was only one-thirty. “You’re off early today?”
“The teachers are talking to the parents this afternoon.” She made another face.
Peggy smiled at her. “Are you worried? I was always worried about conferences, even if I was doing okay.”
“Oh, my father won’t be there. He’s working in Louisburgh all day.”
Peggy hadn’t realized that Finn worked at anything besides his medical practice. She should have figured that out; after all, he and his daughter had to eat, even if he refused to see patients now. She stored this question away to ask Irene.
“I want to take Banjax home,” Bridie said. “I’d like to own a dog.”
Peggy heard an unspoken “but” in that sentence. She supposed it had to do with Finn. He seemed like a man who wouldn’t want any extra warm bodies to feed or care for. “You’re worried about him. Let’s think, is there anybody who might take him? Anybody you could ask?”
Bridie screwed up her face again. While the father rarely allowed thought or feeling to show in his expression, the daughter repressed nothing. “Granny ’rene!” She looked up. “You can take him home with you, Mrs. Donaghue.”
Peggy was the one to grimace now. “Bridie, I don’t think—”
“But Granny ’rene’s dog died last year. Pickles. A little yappy dog who nipped at my ankles every time I visited. Irene didn’t like him, either, but she said an old friend, even a nasty old friend, had to be protected. Well, Banjax was an old friend of Mr. McNamara’s, and now he has to be protected, too. And Granny ’rene’s the one who will do it.”
Against her will, Peggy felt herself sinking deeper into the conspiracy. Irene wasn’t well, and she was already dealing with two strangers in her house. A dog, a dog in urgent need of Prozac, at that, seemed like the ultimate imposition. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll ask her, and if she says yes—”
“But that won’t work,” Bridie insisted. “He could disappear tonight. What if he does? How will we feel? How will poor Granny ’rene feel if she’s decided she wants him?” She saw Peggy begin a protest, and she added quickly, “I saw some men pointing at him and shaking their heads before I went into the store. I really did. Please?”
Peggy supposed there was little harm in bringing the dog home with her. She could buy dog food to carry in the basket on the front of her bike. And with a little encouragement and a few dog treats, Banjax would probably lope along beside her. If Irene objected, as she surely would, Peggy could just bring him back the next time she came to town and hope someone else adopted him. Or she could send him back with Finn in the morning, if getting rid of him was important enough.
Bridie seemed to realize the odds were leaning Banjax’s way. “I can help you get him home. I’ll leave my father a note and tell him I bicycled out to Granny ’rene’s. He won’t mind. Really. And between us, we can get him there. I know we can.”
“How old are you, Bridie?”
“Eleven.”
“Once you’re fifteen, we’ll have a talk about the dangers of using those pretty green eyes to get everything you want.”
Bridie smiled up at her, and Peggy thought her new young friend had already figured out everything she needed to know about green eyes and a charming smile.
“A dog? And a big, ugly odorous dog at that?” Irene stood on the stoop and stared down at Banjax, Peggy and Bridie. “Well, I declare, Peggy Donaghue. What were you thinking?”
“I’ve been bamboozled,” Peggy said. “Tricked. My brain was turned inside out by a pair of lovely eyes, and not Banjax’s.”
Irene was trying to hide a smile. “Bridie, this was your idea, was it now?”
“He needs a place to hide, Granny ’rene. They were going to carry him out to the country!”
“So you did it before they could?” Irene couldn’t hold back the smile any longer. “Well, he can’t come inside, not ever. I put my foot down about that.”
“I’ll give him a bath,” Bridie promised. She had bought a bar of flea soap with her own pocket money when Peggy bought dog food. “Tomorrow after school. I promise. But he needs you. He really does.”
Irene looked at Peggy, and Peggy shrugged. “He’ll make a good watchdog,” Peggy said.
“And what will he watch for out here?”
“Crows? Butterflies?” Peggy couldn’t even add snakes to the list. St. Patrick had taken care of that.
“We’ll give him a try, poor old thing,” Irene said. “He can sleep in my shed if he likes.”
“I’ll make him a bed,” Bridie said.
Peggy heard a familiar wail from the direction of her bedroom. “Well, looks like my timing was good.”
Nora came to the door and stared down at Banjax. “I know that dog. As useless as a chocolate teapot, he is. He’ll eat and sleep and nothing more.”
That seemed to strike a chord with Irene, whose days consisted of much the same. “He can stay. We’ll see.”
Peggy and Bridie followed her inside. Bridie peeked in the direction of Peggy’s room. Peggy had told her about Kieran on the ride home. “May I play with him?”
Peggy tried to think of the best way of answering. Kieran didn’t play, not the way Bridie surely expected.
“I’m good with children,” Bridie said. “He’ll like me.”
She said it with such confidence that Peggy had to relent. “I bet you are. It’s just that Kieran’s not good with people he doesn’t know.” And even the people he did weren’t sure how to approach him.
“Oh, that’s okay. I’ll just watch at first.”
“Let me get him up. I’ll be right out. Why don’t you put some food out for Banjax?”
By the time she returned with a freshly changed Kieran, Nora had set a pot of tea on the table and a plate of freshly baked currant scones, and Bridie was digging in. She cooed over Kieran but was careful not to rush him. She continued to sit and watch him from the corner of her eye as she ate.
Kieran looked around the room with sleepy, suspicious eyes. As always, Peggy wondered what convoluted mixture of signals his tiny brain was sending. When he struggled to get down she set him on the floor, standing