Katie looked at Barbara and then Peter. “About fifteen minutes?”
Barbara stuck her hands in her jacket pockets. “Sounds good to me.”
“I’ll fit in with what you want to do,” Peter added.
Steve nodded. “I’ll be back soon. Feel free to look at the other graves.”
After he’d gone, Katie sighed. “I expected to feel sad when I saw Patrick’s headstone, but the only thing I feel is empty.”
Barbara nodded. “It’s hard to feel anything when we don’t know if it’s our great-grandfather’s grave.”
Peter studied the headstones. “The inscriptions don’t tell us anything you didn’t know before.” Kneeling on the ground, he used his hands to scrape more snow from the base of Patrick’s headstone. “When my grandmother died, Mom added a few words to the granite at the base of the headstone. I don’t know whether anyone did the same—”
“Oh, my goodness,” Barbara exclaimed as she peered over Peter’s shoulders. “The snow’s hiding some other words.” Picking up the rag she’d left beside her, she handed it to Peter. “Use this. It might make it easier.”
Katie moved closer. Her eyes widened when she saw the words ‘m’anam, mo shaol’. “What does it mean?”
“I don’t know.” Barbara took her cell phone out of her pocket. “I installed an app a few months ago to translate some text for a client. All I have to do is type in the text and it will tell me what language it is and what it means.” After tapping in the phrase, she turned her phone around so Katie and Peter could see the translation. “It’s Irish.”
“My soul, my life,” Katie murmured. “Whoever added it to the headstone must have loved him.”
Barbara frowned. “I’ve heard the same words somewhere before. Does it mean anything to you, Katie?”
“Not that I remember.”
Peter checked the base of Johanna’s headstone, but there was nothing there. “I don’t think you’ll find any more clues here. We should check the other headstones to see who’s buried in the cemetery.”
Barbara wiped down the headstone beside Mary’s. “The date they died might help us, too. Especially if we can read the book about the Gregory family history.”
Katie solemnly looked at the other graves. “I feel like an intruder.”
“The people buried here won’t mind.”
She glanced at Peter to see if he was joking. He wasn’t. “I suppose you’re right, but we’d better hurry. Steve will be back soon.” Kneeling beside the grave closest to her, Katie used her gloves to carefully wipe the snow off the headstone. With Barbara taking photos of each grave, she gave the headstone belonging to Nellie Gregory an extra polish. Even though she’d died in 1902, Katie was sure she’d appreciate the gesture.
CHAPTER15
Peter had never been to Whitefish, but driving past the historic red-brick and wooden buildings along Central Avenue reminded him of other small towns he’d visited in Montana.
“The library isn’t far from here.” Katie looked up from the map on her cell phone. “Take the next right, then turn left.”
Fortunately, there wasn’t much traffic on the road, so Barbara was able to find the library without too much difficulty.
After they found a parking space, Katie slid her phone into her jacket pocket. “Whitefish always reminds me of a bigger version of Sapphire Bay.”
“How many people live here?” Peter asked as he watched a family walk into the library.
Barbara opened the driver’s door. “There are about eight thousand permanent residents, but the population doubles when everyone comes here to ski.”
“It’s a wonderful place to visit in the summer, too,” Katie said. “Penny and Barbara have brought quite a few of our guests to Whitefish to enjoy the lake and the hiking trails.”
“It sounds like I’ll have to come back another time.”
Katie pulled up the zipper on her jacket. “If you want company, I’ll come with you. All I need is a few days’ notice.”
“You’ve got a deal.” The grin she sent him made Peter’s heart ache. He wanted to make the most of the time they still had together. April would come around far too quickly and, before he knew it, Katie would be leaving for Los Angeles.
“Thank goodness for snowplows,” Barbara said as they made their way toward the library. “This is a lot easier than visiting the cemetery.”
