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Jessie giggled, but Pearl gave her a very knowing look.
    ‘What?’ Kate demanded.
    ‘Oh, nothing,’ said Pearl. ‘Happy now that you’ve seen him though, are you?’
    ‘I can’t think what you mean,’ Kate said airily. ‘My goodness, would that wind off the river not cut right through you? You wouldn’t think it was April, would you?’ Pearl gave her another look, one which a twelve-year-old certainly shouldn’t have been capable of.
    Robbie was a friend, that was all. There had been no repetition of what had happened at Hogmanay. In her more honest moments, Kate didn’t know whether she was happy or sorry about that.
    The noise level around them ebbed and flowed. The wind was cold but it was a beautiful spring day, with a blue sky above them - a good omen for the launch of the Irish Princess . The men had laid her keel last summer and they were bringing her in well on time, although the launch of a ship was far from the end of the story.
    Almost as soon as she hit the river, she would be tugged back into the fitting-out basin for the interior work to be done. There was a lot of carpentry involved in that - internal bulkheads and panels for the cabins, the making of the furniture - beds, tables and chairs.
    Destined for the Glasgow-Dublin run, the Irish Princess wasn’t a big ship, but she was a bonnie one, small and neat with nice lines.
    Kate said as much to her father. ‘What’s that, lass?’ He angled his head to hear her better over the hubbub, rising now in anticipation of the imminent launch.
    ‘Aye, you’re right there. Lovely lines.’ Neil smiled at his daughter. ‘I wish the whole family could have been here.’
    Wee Davie was thick with the cold. For one awful, selfish moment, Kate had been scared that Mammy would make her stay at home to mind him, but Lily had declared that she herself would do it, Granny being no longer fit to be left in charge of a baby.
    ‘Never mind, Daddy,’ said Kate. “There’ll be plenty of other launches they can come to.’
    ‘Aye, lass.’ The two words were said without much conviction.
    She could have kicked herself. It had been the wrong thing to say. There was no guarantee that there would be plenty of other launches. There was another ship on the stocks, a cargo steamer, but once she was complete there was little else on the order books.
    Like many men, her father could and did take his skills to other yards along the river, but it was the same story there.  Time-served though he was, a riveter to trade, Neil Cameron had been laid off  twice in the past two years. That had been terrible. Kate had nearly had to leave school then. There was dole money, but it didn’t go far - and a family didn’t get it at all until the Means Test Inspector had been to the house, poking and prying and trying to prove there was money coming in to the house from somewhere, that they were lying about what they needed to get by.
    Kate’s cheeks burned still at the memory of those humiliating visits and the spectacle of her father being forced to put his Highland pride in his pocket in order to beg for the money to keep his family going until he was back in work.
    Trying to think of something to say that would lift the frown creasing his forehead, she was interrupted by Mr Crawford, one of the managers, coming round handing out sweets, a launch-day tradition.
    ‘Take a couple, lassies. There’s plenty.’ Encouraged by his smile, Jessie shyly did as she was bid, dipping her hand into the crumpled paper bag and extracting two sweets, brightly wrapped in coloured paper.
    ‘I’ll save one for Davie,’ she told Kate.
    ‘So will I,’ replied her sister, smiling her thanks to Mr Crawford in his dark suit and bowler hat, the badge of his office.
    ‘Well, I’m going to eat both o’ mines myself,’ said Pearl, tossing her golden curls.
    ‘You would,’ said Kate and Jessie in unison. Arthur Crawford moved on, making his way back through the crowd, seeking out the men who