Wait, what did I see? It’s still gone. I close my eyes and think back, me on the ferry. Wind through my hair. A light and then… ‘I can’t remember.’
She rubs her temple. ‘I need another coffee.’
We’re back in the cafe. It’s quiet and I suspect they’d hoped to close early and not have to serve two teenagers. The woman from before eyes the clock over the counter as she sets our drinks down.
‘Thank you,’ says Meg, smiling her away. ‘OK, tell me everything.’
I take out my phone and set it between us. ‘There’s not much to tell.’ I clock Meg’s raised eyebrows. ‘Well, I mean apart from the obvious.’
‘How did it happen?’
‘I got this pain in my head and saw this flash of light, sort of like a massive column of light shooting up in the air. Or maybe shining down from above? Anyway, I knew I had to see what was in the light. It was shining on the hotel.’ I point at my phone. ‘Like a spotlight. For a few seconds, I could see the curtains blowing in the bombed-out windows. There was glass all over the ground. It was so real. I could see the world around me too. I could see people from the past, but also people from now, walking by. They clearly weren’t seeing what I was seeing, just like you couldn’t. And then it sort of faded away.’
My stomach twists as I say it all out loud. It sounds stupid.
‘That’s incredible,’ says Meg.
‘What?’
‘You can see the past!’
‘Shh.’ I glance up at the counter, where the woman is glaring at us.
‘She’d never believe us. Nobody would.’ Meg’s head tilts at an angle. ‘There’s one thing that doesn’t make sense.’
I set my cup down. ‘Just the one thing?’
She rolls her eyes. ‘Well, yeah. I still can’t work out how you were able to photograph something that wasn’t there.’ She lifts my phone. ‘It’s definitely not an app or AI?’ I shake my head. She turns it over. ‘And this isn’t some sort of enchanted phone? Did you steal it from a dragon’s hoard or outwit a sphinx?’
I laugh. ‘No, my mum bought it.’
‘From a mysterious old woman in exchange for a terrible secret?’
‘At Argos.’
She grins. ‘Seriously though. I believe you, that you can see these things, but how can your phone see them?’
I shrug. ‘Add it to the list of things that make no sense.’
‘That’s getting to be a big list. OK, next question. You said it happened yesterday? What did you see?’
‘I told you, I can’t remember.’ I close my eyes again. There’s something there, but it’s like I don’t have the right key to unlock the door, and I don’t even know if it’s a door I’m looking for.
‘Nothing?’ she asks.
‘No, I only know that something happened. I fainted on the ferry and I remember seeing a light. And then earlier today at my nanny Bet’s…’ What was it? ‘I blacked out, but I think maybe I saw something. My head hurt like it does now.’
What did I see?
A face flashes in my head for a second.
‘Dad.’
Meg’s mouth falls open. ‘You saw your dad?’
I squeeze my eyes shut and try to grasp at the memory but it’s gone. ‘I don’t know. I think so. Maybe.’
‘Wow. OK, do you think this is all linked to him?’
