He put his hand out to block Niall, to stop him from coming closer. He had to protect his more sensitive brother. But he’d not been quick enough.

‘Is that …’ Niall’s voice faded out.

Declan was stuck somewhere between horror and morbid fascination. Imagine if he, just ten years old, could be the person to find Kelly Doherty. If it was Kelly. The body in the water, now just a few feet from the boys, was face down. Dark strands of hair floated like weeds to the surface. Kelly had blonde hair. He knew that. He used to see her running around the playground with all of her friends. Screaming in that annoying high-pitched way wee girls do. This hair was dark, though, splayed in fronds on the top of the water. Maybe it was the water that was dark, he thought.

He wanted to step closer. To look more closely. But his legs didn’t want to move. The noise around him faded out, replaced with a buzzing in his ears.

He felt Niall take the stick from him. Watched as his brother stepped closer to the bank, his shoes sinking into the mud. Mammy would be raging, Declan thought, but Niall was undeterred. He waded into the water, gasping at the cold as the water covered his feet, his ankles, up to his knees. He reached out with the stick, caught it on the dress and pulled. The shape – the body – moved a little towards them and Niall turned back towards Declan. ‘C’mere and help me!’ he shouted, but Declan was frozen to the spot. He couldn’t even shake his head.

Niall swore and took another step towards the shape, getting a better hold of the dress. Then he heaved it towards him until it was close enough that he could grab the material with his hands and pull it to shore.

As her legs, her arms, her hands all became visible, Declan knew it had to be Kelly – it had to be – but she was face down, her features hidden.

He watched as Niall gently prodded at her prone body. He tried to tell Niall to step back, but his voice wouldn’t work, either. He knew they should get a grown-up. Niall turned and gestured to Declan to follow, but he didn’t, shaking his head. He still couldn’t move, afraid if he even tried, he might wet himself with fear. He knew Niall would say he was being a baby, and maybe he was, but right at that moment, he didn’t care.

His stomach clenched as he watched his brother poke some more. He didn’t expect there to be any give. He watched in horror as the stick pushed through an already shattered skull into the soft matter of Kelly Doherty’s brain.