It was then that Sammy, aiming to comfort Katie, told her that his father had asked him to talk to her. Having had a private weep in his bedroom, Sammy went across to Katie's room and told her just that, that he had been bidden by his father to talk to her because she was lonely. And it was strange that Katie should be grateful to him, for, if not bitter enemies, they had been antagonists for some years, ever since Willie, Katie's younger brother, became attached to Sammy Love, a common, loud-mouthed, swearing, brash nine-year-old. The association had disrupted the family, and upset Willie's mother, Fiona. Fiona was of the middle class and, naturally, she did not wish any of her children to associate with such as Sammy Love, an urchin from Bog's End, whose father had done time in Durham jail. But this wily youngster had proved himself of some worth when he saved Bill Bailey's life, and thereafter had been welcomed into the family circle, as, in a way, his father had. Davey Love, a big, seemingly gormless Irishman who made everyone laugh each time he opened his mouth, had become so beloved of the family that he had been brought into their home to spend his last days.
