I drop my bag and step towards the boy. I cough at the overpowering smell of blood, smoke, earth and sweat. My limbs are heavy, like I’m walking through mud. The air shimmers. He’s angry. Screaming at the soldier. I can’t make out the words. It’s like tuning an old-fashioned radio.
‘…gone…hate you…’
I’m beside the boy now. He’s screaming. Pointing at the soldier.
‘Dad?’
I gasp as a hand lands on my shoulder.
‘Michael.’ Meg tries to give me the camera.
I push it away. I want to hear Dad. The visions have never been this vivid before. It’s like I’m actually there.
I step closer and his words take shape. His face is twisted in rage.
‘MURDERER!’
‘You need to take a photo,’ cries Meg.
I want to hold Dad. I feel like I’m more in the world of the vision than the real one and I don’t want to leave him. Even this past version of him is better than nothing.
‘You don’t want to forget this.’
Meg’s right.
I take the pinhole camera and step back to be sure I get Dad and the soldier in shot. The light is fading.
The soldier is saying something back, his eyes softening.
A voice comes from behind me. ‘What’s going on?’
The soldier looks behind me. As Dad turns round, his face is red, his chin trembling.
I follow their gaze and Nanny Bet is standing there, both in the past and the present. Younger her has long dark hair and her eyes are wide with fear. She speaks, but it’s just a jumble of sounds as the vision fades.
MyNanny Bet is standing beside her. Older, but with just as much fear written on her face.
Her mouth is pressed in a thin, hard line.
The light fades away.
A crow calls.
Nanny Bet takes a step towards me.
‘You can see them, can’t you?’
Chapter Seventeen
Nanny Bet and I stare at each other in silence.
‘What do you know about the visions?’ Meg’s voice is level and strong.
Nanny Bet takes a breath. ‘You need to go now, Meg,’ she says calmly, but her eyes don’t leave mine. ‘I have to speak to Michael.’
The hairs on my arms rise. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘You don’t have to apologise. You’ve done nothing wrong,’ says Meg.
