Prologue

Letter from Catherine

129 Cedar Street
New York City
September 7, 1864

Dear Jane,

He found me. Michael sent a message that landed right in my lap, literally. It came in this morning’s newspaper. He placed an advertisement in the Missing Friends notices. Most people probably skip them, but we Irish always read them in the unlikely event we will see someone we know trying to find a lost relative.

After my name leaped off the page, I was so startled that I jumped up and paced around the kitchen. Thinking I must have imagined it, I ran to fetch my seldom-used pair of spectacles, to prove my eyes were not deceiving me. Once they were on, I screwed up my courage to look again. I held the newspaper close to my face. There was no denying what was before me. I copied the notice for you because it may take months for it to be reprinted in the Sag Harbor Corrector.

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