Johnny was sobbing in shuddering gasps, telling me his small tale of woe, that the world was suddently different, and that he wanted me to make it better, right now please." --Liadan's interpretation of her baby's cries.

With courage and hope, we can conquer our fears and do what we once believed impossible.

Even in that time of utter darkness, somewhere deep inside me the memory of love and goodness had stayed alive.

But I believe we all have an inner goodness; a little flame that stays alight through the worst of trials.

After a while, footsteps sounded on the flagstones outside and there was a gentle tap at the door. Of course, one of them would come. So close were we, the seven of us, that no childhood injury went unnoticed, no slight, real or imagined, went unaddressed, no hurt was endured without comfort.

My daughter," I said blankly. "I see. Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought it took a man, as well as a woman, to make a child. Is this infant's father to be a crab, or a seagull maybe? Or were you planning to shipwreck some likely sailor on my doorstep, so I can make convenient use of him?

I should have realized, when Cathal kissed me in the hallway, that my response was the first raindrop heralding a storm.