Murphy's Law (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #1)

It was pure bluff. I hadn't even dared to think how I was going to approach an unknown Mr. Seamus O'Connor when I arrived in New York. What if he took one look at me and cried, "That's not my wife, it's an imposter!" Well, there was nothing I could do about it now. I'd just have to take my chances and play it by ear.

I looked up as young Seamus materialized beside me. He was crying and holding a handkerchief up to his face. Behind him was the youth whom O'Malley had teased. "The young lad got into a bit of a fight," the youth said, an apologetic smile on his sweet, boyish face. "He wound up with a bloody nose."

"They took my marbles," Seamus said, sniffing and wiping away the blood. "I won them fair and square and then they hit me when I tried to take them." He glanced up at the young man. "He helped get them back for me."

"Thank you." I smiled at the young man. He smiled shyly. "I know what it's like to be bullied," he said. "I was youngest of seven. I had more than my share." He squatted on the floor beside me. "I saw what you did to that man O'Malley. Wouldn't I like to have done the very same thing. But if I'd tried it, I'd have probably wound up flat on my back with my teeth knocked out."

"That man is a troublemaker," I muttered. "My advice is to stay well away from him."

"I've been trying to. It's not easy." "No, it's not. Sometimes I think he's just lying in wait, ready to pounce every time I come into the room."

He grinned. "He'll not be so ready next time to pounce on you. That slap must have been heard way up there in first class." He held out his hand. "The name is Michael. Michael Larkin. From Plumbridge."

"Another one?" I asked. "Is the whole of county Derry emptying out?"

"You have connections with the place, too?"

"Family connections," I said, not wanting to go into detail. "And I understand that O'Malley comes from there, too. Did you know him, then, before we sailed?"

He shook his head. "There's something about him seems familiar to me, but he must have moved away long ago. There were no O'Malleys in the town when I was growing up."

"Lucky for you," I said. "So what brings you to America?"

"There's nothing in Ireland for me." "No family?"

He looked down at his feet. "My dad was killed when I was eight and my mother died right after of grief. An auntie raised me but she had sons of her own and couldn't wait to be rid of me. And there's no jobs. I hear they're building so many skyscrapers in New York that they can't get enough men to work on them."

"Skyscrapers?" I was unfamiliar with the word. "Buildings so tall they reach to the clouds."

I laughed. "Get away with you!"

He smiled too. "Well, maybe not all the way to the clouds," he admitted. "But tall. Taller than church spires. Twenty floors high, that's what I hear."

"Twenty floors? Holy Mother, have you no fear of heights?"

"Me? No. Not after living where we do." I realized that I had no idea where Plumbridge was--mountains or sea or bogs. What if they asked me questions when I landed in New York? It would be so easy to catch me out.

"So tell me about what it was like, growing up in Plumbridge," I said.

We spent the rest of the afternoon together. He played with Seamus and even got Bridie to smile. He was such a sweet innocent of a boy with the face of an angel--I could see he wasn't going to have an easy time in New York, especially not among the tough men who built skyscrapers.

We were getting close now. People murmured that sometimes the Majestic did the crossing in six days, if the seas were favorable. That might mean by tomorrow we'd be in New York Harbor. I felt the anxiety rising. Tomorrow I would have to bluff my way past the inspectors and meet a strange man I had claimed was my husband.

There were so many things that could go wrong, so many ways for me to be discovered and sent back.

I tried not to think about it, but Michael Larkin, sensitive as he was, sensed that something was wrong. "Are you worried about facing the inspectors at Ellis Island?" he asked. "You've no need to be. As long as you're healthy and you've got the twenty-five dollars, they let you in."

"Twenty-five dollars?" I blurted out. "You have to have twenty-five dollars in your pocket before they'll let you in," he said, his face full of concern. "Surely you knew about that?"

"No, I didn't." Had Kathleen known?

I thought not. Maybe she had counted on Seamus meeting her with the money in his hand. I couldn't count on it. "Is it a fee you have to pay to get in?"

"Oh no, they don't take your money. It's just to show you've got enough to take care of bed and board until you get settled. They don't want a lot of beggars, do they?"

"What are we going to do?" I asked. "Will they send us back if we don't have the money?"

He looked concerned. "Maybe it's all right if your husband shows up to collect you, but I'm not sure about that." A big smile spread across his face. "I tell you what," he said. "I've got five pounds in my pocket, which is twenty-five of their dollars. Here. You take it."