Nor was she willing to sit quietly to talk. As soon as they arrived at her office she was off again with the three of them in tow, asking and answering questions as she left the building to cut across a soggy lawn and continue on around the north side. There she stopped, where they could talk while she watched the construction workers fitting windows and laying roof tiles to what looked like a new chapel.
This time it was Sister Mary Augustin who told the story of the Russo children, so concisely that Jack suspected she had written it out beforehand and memorized it.
“You’re looking for two boys who went missing a little over a month ago, on the Hoboken ferry docks, do I have that right?” Sister Irene was looking at Anna.
“Yes,” Anna said. “I realize that the chance of finding them is slim, but I made a promise.”
“Promises made to children are rarely taken so seriously.”
“Nevertheless,” Anna said. “I will persist.”
“For how long?” asked the nun.
“Until every reasonable avenue and most less reasonable avenues are exhausted.” Her tone was matter-of-fact, without any defensive edge. Jack had the idea that she respected Sister Mary Irene and that her admiration was founded at least in part in their similarities. They recognized something in each other, much in the same way he had understood Oscar from the day they had been introduced.
“Come along, then,” she said. “And we’ll see.”
? ? ?
ANNA WAS SO accustomed to disappointment that at first she didn’t really take Sister Mary Irene’s meaning, and had to ask her to repeat herself.
“I believe the younger boy was here.” She stood over a ledger that lay open on a lectern. “He was brought in by a patrol officer on Easter Monday, no identifying papers of any kind. Abandoned, it seemed at the time. I expect somebody picked him up in the confusion on the dock.”
“Is the patrolman’s name in the record?” Jack asked.
“Officer Markham,” she told him, her gaze still running over the written page. “There’s no mention of his precinct here, and I haven’t come across his name before. But I assume you will be able to track him down.”
Sister Mary Augustin spoke up. “You say he was here?”
“Yes.” She spared a smile for the younger sister. “We had him for just two days before he was transferred to Father McKinnawae’s care. I remember the case now. A pretty child, very robust compared to the babies we see every day.”
Anna said, “Who is this Father McKinnawae?”
“His name is on the list Brother Anselm gave us,” Jack reminded her. “He built that newer home for newsboys on Lafayette, we went there in mid-April, I think.”
She did remember. The Mission of the Immaculate Virgin was a new building, larger even than the newsboys’ lodging on Duane. All ten stories were overrun with boys without families or homes. They hadn’t met Father McKinnawae but one of his assistants, who had been polite but less than welcoming. It was then that Jack had told her that they would have to postpone visiting Catholic institutions until they had credentials that would open the right doors, which it seemed they did, now. Just before he was to leave for Chicago.
“The Mission of the Immaculate Virgin,” Anna said. “Yes, they were helpful. But there was no sign or record of the Russos.”
Mary Irene said, “If Father McKinnawae took responsibility for the boy, it was because he had a family in mind to adopt. That’s something you’ll have to ask him directly. I have to warn you, though, that he’s unlikely to be helpful if that’s the case.”
“Would we find him at the mission on Lafayette today, do you think?” Anna asked.
“Unlikely,” said Sister Mary Irene. “He bought a farm on Staten Island and he’s building dormitories, getting it ready for the orphans. I suggest that you write to him first and explain your situation. Make sure he understands that the children were lost during the confusion on the ferry dock. And I have to remind you, it’s possible that this is not the boy you’re looking for. We took in fifteen abandoned infants that week alone, and we are only one institution.”
She looked at Anna over the rim of her glasses. “I believe that’s as much as I can do for you, Dr. Savard.” To Sister Mary Augustin she said, “I am glad to hear that you are doing so well at St. Patrick’s, but we felt your loss and still do.”
Anna saw Sister Mary Augustin swallow and then nod, unable to respond in words.
? ? ?
MOST OF THE way back to the city they debated whether to share this new information with Rosa. Jack thought it would be better to wait until they had confirmation; Anna swayed back and forth between agreeing and disagreeing. Many people withheld information from children out of a misguided understanding of what they most needed. She knew this from personal experience.
Mary Augustin said, “Are you going to write to Father McKinnawae, or go to see him?”
“I’ll write first.”