up, in bullets and bombs.’
‘Yes, those were fine old days. Bullets and bombs.’ He grinned a while before growing sombre once more. ‘I suppose the world was a lot easier to figure out then . . . I need your help, Kathryn.’
‘You need
‘Yes. What’s happened to Hank affects a lot of people, not just you. But you’re in the best position to help all of us, not just yourself.’
This was what she had been expecting. ‘And how’s that?’ she asked.
‘You can be a voice.’
‘A voice? And what would I say?’ Antagonism was slowly starting to surface in her. Father Kinsella could see it in her eyes and played her carefully.
‘Kathryn. I’m not asking anything of you other than to let people look at you. Let them know what’s happened. Your husband, Hank, the father of your two beautiful little girls, was used by the British as a political tool, and you’re both paying a price.’
‘They said it was a mistake. Whoever kidnapped him thought he was a Brit.’
‘Then where is he? Why haven’t they let him go? Listen to me, Kathryn. I know what I’m talking about. Don’t be surprised if the Brits even find a way of turning it around and making it Hank’s fault.’
She wasn’t worldly enough to argue this with him.
‘Look at it from another point of view for a moment,’ he went on. ‘The IRA are not terrorists. They’re freedom fighters. That’s not just a play on words. Terrorists want to destroy a way of life. All we want is our country back. We don’t want to destroy the Brits’ way of life. For God’s sake, it’s our way of life too. But the Brits want to deny us our freedom and so they play name games and call us terrorists. The whole world is against terrorism, and me included, I might add. And so if you want the world against someone, call them a terrorist. And to make the Brits’ case even stronger it would suit them nicely if the Americans were seen to be helping them against the IRA because it would make them look all the more like terrorists. The Brits have duped the Americans, the Irish and you.They sacrificed your husband. Do you see what I’m saying, Kathryn? Doesn’t it make sense?’
Kinsella had taken the fight out of her but he had not pushed her far enough, not yet, not as far as he needed to.
‘I don’t know enough to argue against anything you’ve said, Father. And you could be right. But I don’t see what I can do.’
‘You mean to say that if you believed the Brits had used Hank as bait, risked his life for a political manoeuvre, that wouldn’t make you angry?’
‘Of course but—’
‘Then there’s one thing you’d better be clear about, Kathryn. And if nobody has suggested it yet, then I’m sorry to be the one to have to say it, but you had better be prepared for the possibility that you may never see Hank alive again.’
She looked into his eyes searching for the lie, but, surprisingly, all she saw was sincerity.
‘Why would they . . . why would anything happen to him?’
‘It’s a game they’re playing, Kathryn, but not a child’s game.’
‘But surely, being American, the best thing the IRA could do is to send him home.’
‘Yes, they could do that. But that might not be the most advantageous way to play the card that’s been dealt them.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘There’s a lot you don’t understand.’
‘Explain it to me,’ she suddenly snapped, wanting him to get to the point.
‘I’m not saying executing Hank is what they’re thinking of or what they plan to do. I’m just making you aware of their options.’
Her glare remained fixed on him, inviting him to explain.
‘Struggles like the one in Ireland need support, and not just local support and a bit of help from patriotic Irish Americans. It needs to be shown to the world. The more the world hears of the injustice, the louder it will call for its end. Britain doesn’t care what Ireland thinks, but it cares what the world thinks. A situation like this, Hank being kidnapped, is something the world would take notice of. They have to take advantage of that interest before it goes away.That’s why Hank hasn’t been released yet and why he’s not likely to be in the immediate future.’
‘But you said he could be killed.’
‘I’m getting to that . . . At the end of the game, when all the publicity has been had out of the kidnapping, when the world is getting tired of the news, to make the most of it, to squeeze the last drop from it, there has to be a change in direction, and a dramatic one. It can’t go on for ever. And so the question has to be answered. Will Hank come home or not?’
‘You make it sound like a TV soap.’
‘Sadly, the entertainment industry has taught us a lot about selling a story.’
‘But I don’t see why it would be an advantage for the IRA to kill him. Surely they’d look good if they let him go back to his family.’
‘It would seem that way, but history has taught us something else. The happy ending might be the best way to end a movie, but in the real world, sadly people only sit up and take notice when all they are left with is horror. Mercy does not live as long in memory as does horror. And the world will call even louder for the Troubles to end . . . The IRA won’t back down, so it will be up to the Brits to. History tells us they will. They’ve already started. Now they need to be pushed back even harder.’
It was as if Father Kinsella had been talking about another world. Kathryn was suddenly overcome with fear for Hank and loathing for everything else to do with the British and the IRA. She had never seriously considered that Hank would not return alive. Now all of a sudden, looking at it through Father Kinsella’s eyes, it seemed certain he was going to die.
‘You think they’ll kill him,’ she said, a tremor in her voice. It was not a question.
‘No, Kathryn. That’s why I’m here. If we can provide the IRA with the grandstand they want from this it will satisfy them. Don’t you see? If we point the finger at the Brits, and the American government too, tell the world they’re playing with the lives of our loved ones, making them pay the price for their political games, trying to paint a grand body of freedom fighters as terrorists, then the godfathers will benefit more by releasing Hank. Do you see it, Kathryn?’ He reached out and squeezed her hand. ‘Now do you see why we can’t just sit back and do nothing?’
She pulled her hand away and looked at him coldly. ‘Is it them telling you or you telling them?’
The priest dropped his gaze, but more in an effort to control his anger than hide any guilt. He then looked at her. ‘Whatever you think of me, or my beliefs, or how I deal with the rights and the wrongs of the world, I came here to help you save your husband. I’ll tell you straight, Kathryn Munro, I don’t think it will be easy, but I’m willing to try.’
He stood up and straightened out his jacket. ‘Now,’ he said, ‘before I walk out that door I want to know one thing. Are you going to help me save Hank’s life or not?’
She did not trust him, but he had her trapped. She despised him more that moment than ever before.
‘Well. What’s it to be?’ he demanded.
‘What do I have to do?’ she asked quietly.
‘Nothing more than what should come naturally to you. Whoever asks, newspapers or anyone else, just say you miss your husband and want him to come home to his family, and that you don’t trust anyone from the British or American authorities. We’ll talk further tomorrow.’
Father Kinsella walked to the front door and out of the house. It was only after he had closed the door behind him that she remembered he had not seen her mother or children. She sensed eyes behind her and looked around to the kitchen door where her mother was watching her. Before she stepped back into the kitchen, Kathryn thought she detected a look of guilt on her face.
Hank sat on the floor of a dark, damp room with his hands tied in front of him around a pipe running vertically
