The Hidden Legacy: A Dark and Shocking Psychological Drama by GJ Minett

Author:GJ Minett [Minett, GJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction
Published: 2015-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

February 2008: Ellen

The photos turned up almost immediately. They were lying near the top of the first box they opened, the frames wrapped in tea towels for protection. Ellen uncovered them carefully and studied each in turn, sitting on the floor in the spare room with Kate alongside her.

The first one was the most recent. Ellen instantly recognised the playground on the sea front, which had been like a home from home during her two brief spells on maternity leave. It was pretty much the highlight of the day, a chance to get away for an hour or so from the never-ending merry-go-round of domestic chores and baby paraphernalia that threatened to drown her. It was like a reminder that somewhere out there was a life, waiting for her to reclaim it.

She examined the photo more closely to get a sense of when it might have been taken. Harry was strapped into Megan’s old pushchair, which meant he couldn’t have been more than six to nine months maximum because she’d bought a brand-new one not long afterwards. The wretched thing was more trouble than it was worth – one of the wheels had a habit of locking without warning, causing it to pull suddenly to the right. And Harry had hated it, created hell for as long as he was trapped in it. He developed this less than endearing habit of arching his back every time she tried to fasten the straps, then went stiff as a board, his features screwed into a furious scowl. If she managed to get one arm in, he’d yank it free the moment she turned her attention to the other one. It was easier with Jack there but he rarely came to the playground. Writing time, he always used to say, the moment she reached for their coats. Only chance I get. You have a nice time, you hear?

And Megan certainly hadn’t reached her third birthday yet, she decided. She was still wearing the Barney jacket which they somehow contrived to leave behind at the Adventure Warehouse after her party and never saw again. That must make it early 2000 then.

So who was it, no more than twenty feet away, taking the photo without her even realising? Ellen knew instinctively that she hadn’t posed for it. She wasn’t keen on that sort of thing at the best of times, but in this photo her hair had been blown into oblivion and her mouth was wide open, probably just calling innocently to the children but looking for all the world as if she was screaming abuse at them. She might not be photogenic but she could do a whole lot better than that with a bit of warning. Maybe it was Jack after all, she conceded. He might have taken it on one of his rare forays into concerned parenting but if that was the case, why had she never seen it till now? And how had it ended up here, wrapped in a tea

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