Once on the little street, Meg turned to her sister. “What is all this mystery?” Wondering what Annie wanted from her made her nervous. It could be anything and Meg had been taught by her older sisters’ example to yield to Annie’s desires and whims, as well as her tantrums. Walking on eggshells, they yielded to Annie the abandoned, Annie the damaged. They would never be able to make it up to her. All so terribly true.
Annie patted her thick black hair, swept into a new hairstyle with wings and pinned swirls. “It’s Ned. He wants me and you to go with him and his brother, John, to Donegal.”
“Donegal! Why on earth?” asked Meg, stunned.
“John is very sick and the doctor said a trip to the sea would do him good.”
“The sea? Haven’t we enough sea right here in Belfast?”
“It’s for the good ai
