Greg went missing a few days before the wedding. Already having to deal with the fact that their mother had broken up the family and was marrying another man, the boys—because they were still boys then, Jack not yet twenty, Sean almost eighteen—had to then deal with their father running off. What must that have done to them? I lost my mother and my sister, but they didn’t leave me voluntarily—they were taken. But Julia and Greg…how could they?

“Look, I get that you and Julia have all sorts of unresolved stuff going on, but she doesn’t have much time. She wants to see you now,” I say. “Seriously, if I had the same opportunity—to see my mum or sister again…”

“I’ve already said I’m going to see her.” He shakes his head and kicks the box away from him. “Fuck it—I don’t want any of this stuff.”

“Will you come now?” I ask. “Please. You can’t stay here—you’ll get ill, the state of the place.”

He stares at me for a long time and I wonder what he’s looking for in my face. Is he seeing what Max saw—the ghost of Bella?

He nods once. “Okay. I’ll come.”

I turn away, planning to wait out on the lane, wanting to be farther away from the house, when Sean calls me back. “I found something I wanted to give you.” His voice trails off as he holds out another box. “I thought it was Dad’s.”

I open the box and hold my breath at what’s inside. It’s Bella’s camera, the one Greg gave her, and a book.

“It’s Dad’s book,” Sean says as I take it out. “He’s written on the inside.”

I open the book. To Arabella, who sees the world in a special way. Love Greg.

“She was friends with him,” I say, stroking the cover of the book, not looking at him. “He gave her the camera.”

“So why was it back in Dean House?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she gave it back to him. She stopped using it.” I stop and blink. Wasn’t Bella carrying the camera the night before the wedding? That strange night she brought me here?

“There’s still film in it,” Sean says, and we stare at each other.

It stops my breath, the realization that on this film are the last photos Bella took. Could I still develop it after all this time? I clutch the box to my chest. I can try. I can get the film developed, see if…see if there’s some memory of my sister trapped on there, some precious moment I can get back.

Do I hear a whisper or is it just the rustling of trees? For a moment, it sounds like my sister whispering, yes yes yes.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11