Contents ( 57)
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by Sharon Gosling
‘Trudy,’ Rachel laughed, ‘this is your building. You own it, and everything in it.’
‘I know I do technically,’ the young woman said, ‘but I don’t want to come in here and throw my weight around. That’s not who I am.’
‘I know that,’ Rachel told her, still smiling, ‘and I appreciate it. But of course you must see upstairs. I’ll show you everything.’ She looked over the mezzanine railing to check that Gilly and Ron were coping and then took the key to her living space out of her pocket. ‘It looks as if things are quieting down. Let’s go up now.’
Trudy looked around the living quarters with genuine interest, but they both knew it was the camera obscura room that she really wanted to see. Once in her bedroom, Rachel pulled down the ladder and turned on the storm lamp, holding it out to Trudy.
‘You go up first,’ she said. ‘I’ll give you a few minutes to look around and then I’ll join you.’
Trudy hesitated for a second and then took the lamp.
‘Thank you,’ she said quietly, and began to climb.
It felt strange sending someone who didn’t know the space up ahead of her. Rachel watched as Trudy climbed the ladder. How many people had been in the camera obscura since it was built? It couldn’t be many. Fewer than ten. She waited until Trudy’s footsteps stopped moving about overhead and then went up into the loft space to join her.
Trudy was standing with one hand poised against the smooth white marble surface of the camera obscura table, gazing up at the hatch overhead. When Rachel appeared beside her, Trudy looked at her with a dazed expression.
‘It’s a little overwhelming, isn’t it?’ Rachel agreed. ‘For me, I think it’s the atmosphere. Not that I’m suggesting the place is haunted, or anything like that, but as soon as I learned about Eveline, I knew that what I was feeling up here was her, somehow. This is so absolutely her space.’
Trudy nodded with a faint smile. When she spoke her voice was hushed. ‘I think you’re right.’
‘Would you like to see the camera obscura at work?’
‘Please!’
Rachel went to the wall and operated the hatch, turning to watch the image appear on the plinth top. Trudy issued an audible gasp when the village came into view.
‘I had no idea it would be so clear,’ she said. ‘That’s amazing.’
Rachel slowly rotated the lens to show her the 360-degree view that the tower afforded. Trudy kept shaking her head, as if she couldn’t believe her eyes. Once the view had returned to where they had started, Rachel came to stand beside her and the two women regarded the view together.
‘I can show you some of Eveline’s papers, too, if you like,’ Rachel said, after a while. ‘Her notebooks and designs for the tower and this room. They’re amazing to see.’
‘I’d like that.’
Rachel closed the camera obscura hatch and got out a couple of the scrolls and one of the notebooks, explaining to Trudy what she was seeing and pointing out some of the notes Eveline had made in her tiny, tidy handwriting. Trudy said nothing more, just pored over everything Rachel showed her as if she were a student of history and architecture rather than medicine. At length Trudy straightened up with a sigh.