Page 73 of The Stolen Child

‘I don’t think so.’

‘It’s an international agency for the parents of missing children. Dad is one of their most active members. They help keep the names and photographs of missing children in the public domain. The members support each other as pictures of the progression of the new age are made.’

‘Ah! I remember now. Your dad spoke about an agency on the IrelandAM interview,’ Zach said. His nose scrunched up a little, and it caught Lily’s breath. There was a photograph at her mother’s house of Robert cradling Lily on his lap, and he had the exact same expression on his face. It was uncanny. She felt a flutter of excitement ripple through her.

‘Australia,’ Zach prompted.

‘Right. I’d almost finished my year in Australia, and as it was so much fun, I decided to stay on for another year. But then I got a call from Gaga. My grandfather. He’s Dad’s father, not Mom’s father, so he’d be your step-grandfather if you are—’

‘Got it,’ Zach said in understanding, sparing Lily from further over-explaining.

‘Well, Gaga is about the only one who can handle Dad when he gets into one of his spirals.’

Zach raised his eyebrows in question.

‘I’ll give you an example. I have dozens, but this is one of my favourites.’ Lily took another long sip of her wine. ‘One spiral happened when Dad heard about a sighting of a kid that matched your description in Germany. He booked a flight and began knocking on random doors, trying to find you. People thought he was deranged.’

‘When was that?’ Zach asked, his eyes wide as he listened.

‘1991. And the reason I remember it so clearly is because it was at the time of my First Holy Communion, which Dad missed because he was looking for Robert. And Mum missed it because she was so angry that he was looking for Robert that she went to bed with a migraine. I’d have been alone at the altar if it wasn’t for Gaga.’ Lily closed her eyes momentarily, thinking about her lovely Gaga who always saved the day for her, as a child, and still now when she needed him. ‘In the end, Gaga had to fly to Germany to drag him home.’

‘Oh, Lily. I’m so sorry.’

‘I got used to it.’ Lily sniffed. ‘Honestly, it’s fine. And it wasn’t all bad. I was loved. In an abstract, distant way.’

There had been many other absent moments in her childhood. She shook her head, refusing to allow herself to wallow in any self-pity. There were plenty who had it worse than her. She glanced at Zach. If he was Robert, well, he’d had it tough, no doubt about it.

‘Okay, back to Australia and that particular spiral. As I said, Gaga called me, worried about Dad. Reluctantly, I might add, because he didn’t want to ruin my trip. But Gaga had fallen and broken his hip, and he was snookered. Anyhow, a few weeks previously, a guy had landed on Dad’s doorstep and claimed to be Robert. Manuel, he was called. But everyone called him Manny.’

‘Jesus,’ Zach said, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

‘Yep. That name might be apt. Because his guy claimed to have had as many miracles as Jesus had had.’

Zach giggled and clinked glasses with Lily, who giggled along with him. It was nice that Zach got her sense of humour.

‘Manny said – wait for this; it’s a good story – that he’d been found by a fisherman, washed up in a remote Spanish inlet, half drowned. The fisherman took him home and cared for him, returning Manny to health. It took years for the fisherman to admit that he knew the kid was Robert from the cruise ship. But he’d hidden this, because he had nobody to take over his business. He wanted a son.’

‘This is wild,’ Zach said, taking another slug of wine.

‘Oh, it gets better! Dad became convinced that this Manny was Robert. And, to be fair, he was almost identical to the latest age-progression photograph.’

‘I get why you are so sceptical about them now,’ Zach said, shaking his head.

‘The stories I could tell. But, back to Manny, Dad moved him into his home and gave him money. Mum met him, but, to her credit, she was one hundred per cent certain he was an imposter. I mean, the story was too incredulous.’

‘For sure. How on earth did they think that Robert, at three years old, was supposed to have gotten over the railing and fallen overboard in the first place?’

‘Exactly,’ Lily said, spooning meatballs onto her plate.

‘What happened? Did they DNA test him?’ Zach asked.

‘Yeah, but the results took ages to come through back then. And that’s when Gaga called me in a panic because he thought Dad would be bankrupt before they found out the truth. This guy was draining Dad’s bank account daily.’

‘I’ve heard of romance fraud, but DNA fraud is a new one for me. Wow,’ Zach said, sitting back in his chair.

‘I’ve seen it all over the years. Trust me. Anyhow, I had no choice but to come home from Australia. First and foremost, to get rid of the fraudster. And then to pick up the pieces from his deceit. Dad goes up pretty fast, but, like a rollercoaster, he always comes crashing down afterwards.’ She demonstrated an explosive drop with her hands.

‘They are lucky to have you. Kimberly and Jason,’ Zach said. ‘I hope they know that.’