She gave me a sudden grin. ‘I had a hat with a bow on it. I loved that hat.’
She put her hands on her head like she was putting on a hat, and I watched, feeling strangely disappointed. I liked the idea of the Blitz spirit and everyone being nice to everyone else. I had thought the war was all singing songs and eating powdered egg and huddling together in the tube. But times were tough back then. Perhaps people did what they had to do to get by.
Nan leaned forward and patted my hand. ‘The horses all died,’ she said.
I blinked at her, not knowing what she meant. ‘Which horses?’
‘In the dairy. The horses all died when the bomb fell. Lying there on the cobbles, they were.’ Her eyes glazed over. ‘I cried and cried.’
‘I’m not surprised, Nan.’ I wished I hadn’t asked. ‘That’s awful.’
‘I had a hat with a bow,’ she said again.
‘Sounds lovely.’
‘Where’s Max?’ she asked suddenly. ‘Is he coming to see me today?’
I shook my head, feeling sad. ‘He’s busy, Nan,’ I said.
*
I stayed with Nan for a while, and I chatted about the flowers in the garden and the rain and everything that wasn’t Max’s whereabouts, and then I went to find Finn.
He hadn’t been exaggerating when he said that he had a cupboard to work in. His cubicle, which was off the reception area of Tall Trees, fitted a tiny desk and that was it. He was surrounded by boxes, because clearly he was sharing his space with Cyril who was using it to stash supplies of loo roll and cleaning products and a broom.
I tapped on the door lightly and Finn, who was bent over a book with his back to me, turned round and smiled.
‘Stevie,’ he said, closing the book. ‘Perfect timing.’
‘Are you sure I’m not disturbing you?’
‘Not in the slightest.’ He gathered together some papers and a thick folder. ‘Shall we go into the lounge? I can spread everything out on the table in there and the residents quite like seeing the pictures. It gets them talking and I love to hear their stories.’
I nodded, thinking how nice his enthusiasm was. It seemed a long time since I’d been so enthusiastic about anything. ‘I was asking Nan about the Blitz earlier. She told me some things she remembered. She could tell me more about the bombs than she could about yesterday. But she was so young – she wasn’t even at school when the war began.’
‘There aren’t many people left who were there,’ Finn said, handing me a bundle of papers. ‘Can you take those? That’s why I love hearing these stories now because in a few years there will be no one left alive who can remember.’
‘It’s important,’ I said, meaning it. ‘We need to write this stuff down.’
We walked along the corridor to the lounge. Inside a few of the residents were watchingCash in the Attic, and a couple more were reading, or chatting quietly.
‘Hello, Finn,’ a resident called Kenny bellowed as we walked in. He was deaf as a post but he hated his hearing aids. ‘How’s that book on Millwall coming along?’
‘Slowly,’ said Finn. ‘Very, very slowly.’
‘Too busy writing about Charlton’s glory days are you? Mind you, that won’t take you long.’
‘Rude,’ Finn said mildly. Kenny chuckled in delight and I looked at Finn questioningly.
‘Kenny’s a Millwall fan,’ he explained. ‘And I’m Charlton.’
I grinned. ‘You’ve found something in common,’ I said. ‘Like me and the teabags.’
‘You’re right.’
Finn put his papers down on the table and I did the same, then we both sat down and I looked at him expectantly.
He didn’t disappoint me.
