‘From when? Is this the Troubles? Another bomb?’
She stares at the photo. ‘No. Look at the plane and what they’re wearing. Fuck – I think this might be the Belfast Blitz.’
She might be right. The regular paved street is overlaid with grainy cobblestones. I can see one modern lamp post but beside it, twisted and smashed on the ground, is an old gas one. And the plane looks like the kind I’ve seen in history books and old films. A German bomber with a black cross on a white background on the underside of the wing.
‘The Belfast Blitz was bad,’ says Meg. ‘Nearly a thousand people died.’
I try not to focus on the body on the ground.
‘Why would Dad have this?’
Meg shrugs. ‘Itiswar photography, I guess.’
‘But who is that woman?’ My skin crawls at the sight of her. I turn the photo over and set it face down on the carpet.
But I can still feel her eyes on me through the paper. Through time.
Outside, a car drives past the house, wind rustles the trees and a crow calls. Nanny Bet is cursing at Fergal in the garden.
‘We could ask my nan. See if she knows who she is.’
Meg shakes her head.
‘What is it?’
‘I…’ She chews her lip.
I frown. ‘What?’
Meg fiddles with her necklace. ‘OK, don’t hate me.’
‘Okay…’ I ready myself to look neutral.
‘So, the camera was hidden, right? Well, who would your dad have been hiding it from?’
My mind is blank for a moment. But as I follow Meg’s gaze towards the window and the garden, the answer crystallises. I let out a breath.
Nanny Bet.
Chapter Nine
‘Why would Dad hide his powers from my nan?’
Meg shrugs. ‘Who else would it be?’
I want to argue, but it does kind of make sense.
‘Maybe he just didn’t want to worry her,’ I say.
‘Maybe, yeah.’
There’s a weight in my stomach. Poor Nan. I know they had a difficult relationship. Was this the cause of it? He kept a huge secret from his mum.
I push away the thought of the secrets I keep from mine.
‘You OK?’ asks Meg.
‘I feel bad for her. She didn’t really have anyone else after my granda died, Dad ran off as soon as he could and he hid this whole side of himself.’
