‘Well I don’t know what they normally eat, but it’s not going to be sheep, is it? And whether that, down there’s, a giant jellyfish who’s grown too big because of climate change, or whether it’s a sea monster that’s been hiding forever, it’s not behaving like it normally would now, is it?’

‘So?’ said Lana.

‘So . . . so I suppose it just shows that things are different,’

said Kate. ‘We have to be different now too, because the world has changed.’

‘We’re not going to kill the stupid thing tonight anyway,’ said Lana. ‘So shall we have another look at all our clothes? So we can see each other’s?’

Our rucksack was completely full now, fuller than it had been with just those petrol cans inside. As Lana pulled the zip open, the clothes that had been stuffed inside spilled out.

‘Oh, we do have some brilliant stuff,’ said Kate, turning away from the sea and smiling again.

Lana pulled out pants from the side pockets. There were maybe thirty pairs, all brightly coloured and scrunched up small. ‘These are great, aren’t they?’ she said. ‘We’ve got bras as well, but I only got a few. We can go back for more if we need them.’ She unzipped the main compartment. From there she pulled out another few pairs of jeans, and some leggings, but then she paused. With a dramatic flourish, she pulled out a gold dress. It was sequinned and flashed in the dying light of the sun. Then she pulled out a green one with delicate, wispy material. Finally, she pulled out a beautiful soft pink dress, shiny and perfect.

‘I’ve got some shoes and stuff in here too,’ she added.

‘And James has all his survival stuff in the bottom,’ said Kate.

‘Yes, but just a few things like knives and torches. We wouldn’t let him bring really big stuff. He wanted to bring a blow-up boat, but we told him that was pointless as we were never getting back in the water.’

We three looked at each other then and smiled. It wasn’t a happy smile, obviously, but it wasn’t exactly a sad one either. From where James was lying in his new sleeping bag, the pile of water pistols at his feet, there was a little rustle as he turned away from us and pulled the covers over his face.

‘Whoop!’ said James, loudly. ‘Game’s up, people. Time for some jellyfish-killing action!’

‘What?’ For a moment, waking up there on the grass, it felt like the world was rocking gently back and forth, and back and forth; that there were waves beneath the surface of the earth moving us up and down as we drifted in the middle of the calm ocean. But then one of the sheep gave a loud bleat and the ground felt solid again.