Enniskillen

Enniskillen is a border town where Ernestine and Kit’s failed attempt to abduct a child gives way to a renewed opportunity. In their journey through the town, crowds, a festival, and the border crossing shape both the women’s movements and their calculations about escape.

A Border Route

After their attempt to take Allie fails, Ernestine and Kit drive far beyond the speed limit through Sligo and into Leitrim and Cavan. They cross into Northern Ireland at the bridge between Blacklion and Belcoo, and only then begin speaking again. The crossing is a planned safeguard: the women anticipate failure as well as success, and use the separate jurisdiction to complicate the consequences of being pursued.

Once in Enniskillen, they consider stopping at Asda for wine. The town is busy because a festival is drawing crowds to the Erne; barbecue smoke hangs over the water, and the heat is intense. This public, crowded setting interrupts their retreat into the quiet of their bungalow and brings them into view of another family travelling with a small child.

A New Opportunity at Asda

At Asda, Ernestine and Kit fill a trolley with wine, frozen mince in five-kilogram packages, and kitchen towel. Their day has been marked by failure, but as they near the customer-services desk they hear that a panicked toddler has been found and the child’s parents should come forward. They seize the announcement as another chance.

Ernestine rushes to the desk and throws herself toward the child, with Kit close behind, keeping watch. Kit thanks the staff, while Ernestine presents herself as comforting the upset toddler. The scheme depends on the confusion of a public help desk and the appearance of concerned adults; the child’s distress gives their performance a plausible explanation.

The family remains intact, and the women leave without the child. They reach the car park just in time to escape in their Toyota. The father appears in the rear-view mirror too late to stop them, and the vehicle’s false plates, fitted that morning, make identification more difficult. The episode ends not with a successful abduction but with another narrowly avoided capture.

Significance

Enniskillen’s importance lies in the contrast between its role as a route of escape and as the setting for a fresh attempt. The border crossing offers Ernestine and Kit a jurisdictional advantage after their first failure; the town’s festival crowds and Asda’s customer-services announcement then create the conditions for trying again. Their movement through the place is tactical, turning roads, borders, and ordinary public services into parts of a recurring plan.