But these rides—these were more than watching a horror film. It was stupid, and she felt she was making up for her childhood, but it was the wind in your hair and, in fact, the view you got, even when the ride paused for only a little bit at the top—it was like a double-edged sword, and everybody else was screaming their heads off with delight or horror.

She, by contrast, liked to try to hold the sight in her head; it was the best view she had had of the absolute vastness of the loch. It seemed to go on forever, and even though the day was still bright, the center of it was pitch dark. No wonder, she thought. No wonder they thought there was a monster in there. It was magical. She almost forgot to scream as they plummeted like a stone, until it looked like they would hit the ground, then just in time brushed past it and were on the rise again, and the view would unfold like a magnificent carpet, and she could see farther and farther as she turned her head: the rolling roofs of the little cobbled village, undulating over the fell; the neat layout of the farmers’ fields stretching ahead; the long line of the railway with a dark red train hurtling down its tracks; and the great body of water. She felt like she could touch the clouds. She wanted to stay up there all day.

Jake thought he’d have to put his arm around her—it was, he was finding, a very intense ride indeed, particularly when you’d just eaten three Scotch eggs and four Penguin biscuits, as pressed upon him by the good ladies of the St. John’s Ambulance. He felt distinctly queasy and wished the damn thing would stop. He shut his eyes to make it pass.

Lissa, meanwhile, couldn’t have enjoyed it more and wished it had lasted longer. She was absolutely blown away by the beauty and drama of the landscape; the ride had made her feel as high as the mountaintops, as close to the birds that circled in the updrafts. She sighed with something perilously close to happiness.

“That was amazing,” she said, when they finally got unclipped and rejoined the music and flashing lights and commotion of the fair at ground level. “I’d be happy just to be up there all the time!”

Jake couldn’t answer; he was very busy simply trying not to throw up and wiped the sweat off his brow.

“Are you okay?” said Lissa.

Jake nodded, wishing he could sit down.

“Do you need . . .” Lissa smiled. “Do we need to go back to the St. John’s tent?”

The thought of more Scotch eggs was simply too much for Jake. He held up a finger and charged off into the woods.