A picture of a fluffy dog is a mystery. Jean always refused to have a pet and thought that Ruth抯 acquisition of two cats in her late thirties was a sign that she had, in her words, 慻iven up? Next there抯 a picture of an older Jean in a long white dress, like a nightdress. What on earth? Then Ruth spots the grim-looking building in the background. Her parents?church. This must have been Jean抯 second baptism, when she was 慴orn again? Ruth doesn抰 share her parents?faith and, when she was growing up, she had bitterly resented the church抯 influence on their lives. Finding God seemed to mean that her parents lost touch with everything else. For the truly righteous, religion is a full-time job. But the years have softened Ruth抯 stance and she was particularly glad that her father had the church抯 support after her mother died. In fact, the Christian Bereavement Group is where he met Gloria.
She shuffles through several adult baptisms until there抯 only one photograph left in the box. It shows three cottages surrounded by flat marshland. Ruth looks again. It抯 her cottage! Her beloved, inconvenient home, miles from everywhere, facing the Saltmarsh, inhabited only by migrating birds and the ghosts of lost children calling from the sea. Jean always disliked the house. 慦hy can抰 you live somewhere more civilised??she used to say, a south London girl born and bred. 慡omewhere with shops and a proper bus service??Why on earth would Jean have kept a photograph, a rather scenic one too, of the despised cottage?
But there抯 something wrong with the picture. The cottages are painted dull pink rather than white and are surrounded by a low hedge rather than a picket fence. The car parked in front of the last house looks boxy and strange. Ruth turns the photo over and sees, in her mother抯 characteristically loopy handwriting: Dawn 1963.
Ruth was born in 1968. She looks again at the picture, taking in the sepia tones and the rounded edges. There抯 no doubt about it. Her mother had a picture of Ruth抯 cottage, taken thirty years before Ruth ever saw the place.
Ruth takes the shoebox of photos into her room and puts it by her case. She抯 sleeping in her old childhood bedroom, barely big enough for a bed, bookcase and wardrobe. Kate has Simon抯 old room which was bigger because he was older and a boy. 態oys need more space,?Jean used to say, in answer to Ruth抯 regular complaints. But Simon, unlike Ruth, was a neat, contained creature and would have fitted comfortably in the box bedroom. Ruth remembers that he never expanded to fill his room in the way that Kate has done over one night, clothes on the floor, open books on the bedside table. Ruth picks up the clothes, though she knows she should make Kate do it herself. Kate is eleven, after all.
Ruth has packaged her mother抯 clothes into two bin bags, one for charity and one for recycling. There was nothing she wanted to keep. Arthur has already given Ruth her mother抯 gold watch on a chain and her diamond engagement ring. Ruth keeps these in a wooden box with Kate抯 pink hospital bracelet from when she was born （慓irl of Ruth Galloway? and a shepherd抯 crown, a fossilised sea urchin meant to bring good luck. This last was a present from her druid friend Cathbad.
Looking through her mother抯 belongings has made Ruth feel sad and restless. She needs some fresh air. The house is in a residential part of Eltham, rows and rows of Edwardian terraces and thirties?semis, slightly smarter than in Ruth抯 day but still presenting a rather grey and forbidding aspect. There抯 nowhere very exciting to walk, unless you make the trip to the park or the cemetery. Ruth decides to go to the local shops. It抯 a depressing little parade but it has a Co-op where she can buy a Guardian and a cake for tea. As Ruth walks, she thinks of taking this route with her schoolfriend Alison. When they were children, they went to the newsagents every Saturday to buy comics. Later, they both had paper rounds, slogging through the early morning streets delivering the South London Press. Later still, they lied about their age to buy alcohol from the sleazy off-licence on the corner. On impulse, as she passes this shop, now a Tesco Metro, Ruth takes a selfie and texts it to Alison. She抯 not very adept at doing this and cuts off half her face but Ali will get the message.
When she gets back to the house, Cathy, Kate and Jack have returned from the zoo. Kate is full of information about tigers, sloths and an okapi called Meghan. Jack is quieter but, in between mouthfuls of cake, tells them a quite frightening number of facts about spiders. Cathy shudders but Ruth says that Cathbad apologises if he disturbs a spider抯 web. 慣hey are great works of art,?he says.