‘You are not as you seem, young lady. The past has a hold on you. Do not ignore it, you might need people from back then.’

She puffed on her pipe then turned back towards the empty hearth.

CHAPTER 30

Chapter 30

2015

Fiona watched Jamie saunter along the path, his knee socks as usual down at his ankles. He stepped onto the grass, kicking the autumn leaves into a golden flurry. Beneath the magnolia tree, he picked up a stick and started jabbing around on the ground.

He was several weeks into the first term at his new school, and seemed to have settled in well. Fiona was so relieved, the guilt she had felt at uprooting her son somewhat abated.

She knocked on the window and beckoned him inside.

‘What were you digging for with that stick, Jamie?’

‘The summer house. Remember, Pa said it used to be at the back of that tree. There must be foundations or something.’ He shrugged off his blazer and dropped it over the back of a chair. ‘Pa’s going to give me a spade from round the back and I’m going to dig. Ben Conti said his grandpa found treasure in their garden back home.’

‘I’m not sure Granny’ll be too pleased if you start digging up her lawn while she’s away, so make sure you don’t make a mess.’ Fiona poured him a cup of tea. ‘Come and have a drink. Granny’s left some rock buns. D’you want one?’

Jamie nodded and sat down at the table.

‘Here you go. She placed a plate in front of him. ‘How was the school trip today then?’

‘It was cool. We saw where the train fell into the sea!’

‘I’m not sure that’s cool, there were a lot of people killed that day.’

‘Yeah, they’ve got this memorial thing – well, it’s three slabs of stone – on the riverside.’

Jamie ran over towards the kitchen dresser, opened the drawer and brought a pad of paper and his coloured pencils over.

‘I’m going to draw the Tay bridge.’

Fiona helped herself to a rock bun from the cake tin, grateful that her mum had baked them before they had left for their holiday up north.

‘So, this is the other side, Fife it’s called. And the train started here,’ said Jamie, drawing an outline of a bridge and a river. ‘And it got this far, here where I’ve drawn these tall pillar things, and then it just fell off. Amazing. Everyone drowned!’ His eyes lit up.

‘I know why you find it so fascinating, Jamie, but there were a lot of people dead that night. There was something on the news recently when the memorial was put up – there’s about sixty names on it. That’s pretty sad, isn’t it?’

Jamie nodded. ‘What do drowned people look like, Mum?’

‘I don’t know. Bloated, I suppose, with all the water.’