Becky handed him a mug of tea. ‘I’ve met a thousand Stephes at a hundred different events. Their flash and swagger don’t intimidate me one bit. But a decent, kind, hardworking and honest man? Luke sees straight through all that sales-pitch BS, he’s not interested. When I told him I got all As in my GCSEs he nodded politely before turning around and asking Monica Patchett if she’d like help finding her lost kitten. He’s not impressed by any of the things I’m impressive at. All he’s interested in is a person’s personality, and I’m not sure I’ve got a real one of those left. Luke Winter would want a woman ofgoodly character. Not one who made a living conning medical professionals into buying life-saving drugs at rip-off prices.’
‘How about one who walked away from all that?’ I suggested. ‘One who had the strength to admit that wasn’t who she wanted to be, and who sacrificed a successful career to start over with nothing?’
‘I have a lot more than nothing,’ Becky groaned. ‘The problem is I feel likeI’ma nothing.’
I pulled out a chair for her to sit down on. ‘Believe me, I get it.’ Boy, did I get it. ‘But don’t insult me and Daniel by saying you’re nothing. You’re our friend, and someone we think worthy enough to partner up with in building our dream. Do you think Daniel would trust his family home to a nothing?’
‘Okay,’ she sniffed. ‘But there’s a long way between not-a-nothing and a woman Luke would consider crossing over to the Old Side for.’
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake! This isn’t Romeo and Juliet! If Luke is such a good and decent person, he won’t care about an old feud.’
‘It makes it complicated, though. Old Siders are barred from the Boatman, Luke’s local. It takes forever to detour around to his side. Let alone the constant grief from family and neighbours and everyone else. They wouldn’t even serve him in the chippy if they thought he was sharing his fish special with me. What if we wanted to get married one day? We’d have to elope to avoid it becoming a mass showdown.’
I looked to Daniel for some rationality but he just shrugged. ‘Old wounds run deep. It’s not just Old Side and New Side to them. Ziva’s father-in-law died during the strike. He was so malnourished and rundown that when flu turned into pneumonia, he couldn’t fight it off.’
‘Luke’s great-uncle had a breakdown and left his wife and kids after the Old Side burned his bakery to the ground,’ Becky added. ‘This isn’t some silly old feud to us. It’s family, and neighbours. Lives changed forever, and every single one of them for the worse.’
‘Yes, but isn’t forgiveness and reconciliation the only way to bring healing to those who’ve lost so much? There’s a whole new generation who had nothing to do with it. And every Ferrington miner, whatever their side, from what I’ve heard, they all just tried to do what was best for their families. Surely continuing the feud means that no one wins.’
Becky twisted her mug round in her hands a few times as she thought about that. ‘Yeah. Maybe. Probably most of the younger residents would agree it’s time to start letting go. But easier said than done, to tell a man he has to forgive the people who watched his brother drown. To ask a woman, hey, isn’t it time you got over having to let your children go hungry?’
‘What if instead of focusing on what happened then, people had something new to concentrate on? Something that was good for the whole village, that would bring them together? Let each side see that the other side is simply other families, going about their business, trying to live their lives?’
‘I can’t imagine what.’ Becky looked at Daniel.
He shrugged. ‘Well, if Northern Ireland could reach a peaceful agreement, it doesn’t seem crazy to think Ferrington could manage it.’
‘Daniel, you’re a genius!’ I said, an idea exploding in my head. ‘Didn’t they have a peace bridge somewhere?’ I whipped out my phone and did a quick search. ‘Yes! Joining the unionist and nationalist sides of the River Foyle. Ferrington needs a peace bridge, and by getting everyone involved, we can bring the two sides together so once it’s built, they’ll actually use it!’
‘That’s never going to work.’ Becky shook her head. ‘No one will use it.’
‘Maybe Luke Winter will when he comes to pick you up for your first date.’
At the mention of Luke, Becky’s cheek flushed pink and she couldn’t hide the smile tugging at her mouth.
‘I get this is radical thinking to most Ferrings.’
‘Try potentially life-threatening,’ Daniel said.
‘But I’m going to do some proper research, look into successful reconciliation projects, find out what worked, put together an unbeatable plan and then I’m going to build a damn bridge from your front door to Luke’s and you can both thank me in your wedding speech. Now, didn’t we have a carpet to rip up?’
* * *
In the end, before starting my End the Ferrington Feud project, we had some more recent history to confront. That Friday I had taken a day off from renovations to babysit Hope. I took her to see Ziva and the bees in the orchard, then walked to the river, where we stopped and watched the February sunlight flickering off the water and I pictured the precise spot where a bridge might go. With me looking after her on the Friday, Grandma Billie agreed to have her for the whole day on Saturday. Daniel had an important task to complete, and it was best done without a baby to witness the emotions it would inevitably conjure up. We did ask Billie if she wanted to join us, but she politely declined.
I gave Daniel a head-start up the stairs to Charlie’s room. It wasn’t the first time he’d been up here in recent weeks – as well as using the bathroom during the retreat, he’d fetched clothes for me on the first day I’d arrived – but entering your sister’s room to fetch something and preparing to pack up her belongings for good are two very different things. I’d cried already that morning, and I hadn’t even got up the stairs yet.
Knocking tentatively on her bedroom door, I found him sitting up against the bed, feet flat on the floor, hands resting on his knees.
‘Hi.’ I moved a pile of clothes from her dressing table chair and sat down. He didn’t reply.
‘We could do this another time, or not do it at all. Have another look at the plans and come up with something else.’
He frowned, shaking his head. ‘No. It’s the only logical option.’
‘This is your family home, though. And Charlie’s. If you’re not ready…’
‘I’m ready.’
