Behind us there were two larger explosions, and lumps of jelly flew through the air, scattering into the water with little raining plopping noises; but they were too far away to reach us. As they fell, they sank straight beneath the water, disappearing beneath the calm, opaque, sea.

‘We’ve got this, haven’t we?’ I said. ‘We can really win.’

‘We’ve always had this,’ said James. ‘We’ve always been in control. It’s just taken us a while, that’s all.’

‘The stories don’t end like this though, do they? The ones with the mermaids and kraken and selkies and stuff,’ I said. ‘They end with people happily living under the sea, peacefully, with the enemy.’

Lana was standing on the seaweed-covered wall of one of the ruined houses. She paused and looked down into the room below, wrinkling her nose.

‘No, they don’t,’ said Kate. ‘You weren’t listening. They end with a wedding . . .’

James caught my eye for a second and started to laugh before looking away. He covered his mouth with his hand.

‘. . . and it’s a wedding between one of the sea creatures and one of the humans.’

‘Well I’m not going under the sea. And I’m not marrying a flippin’ krik,’ said Lana. ‘You can if you want, Kate. Actually, that seems like just the sort of man you’d be interested in.’

Lana kicked at one of the jellyfish, its flesh wobbling and wetly blubbery.

‘At least they’re big and muscular, Lana. And I bet they’re really nice underneath their shell,’ said Kate. Lana dipped her foot into the water and kicked a small jellyfish out on to the road. It didn’t seem to make a noise as it landed, and it spread out softly, its body sinking into the tarmac.

‘What happens after the wedding?’ said James, still smiling. ‘Do any of the stories say that bit?’

‘No . . . I don’t think so,’ said Kate.

‘Because I don’t think a krik would have great conversation skills. And . . . you know . . .’ He winked.

‘What?’

I think we all did know, but Kate tilted her face to one side as though she was really puzzled, and Lana looked at him with a frown, daring him to say it.

‘Well . . . I don’t know if you could have . . . erm . . . kiss a krik. Could you?’

‘Kate?’ said Lana.

‘How would I know? I don’t want to kiss a krik! Why are you even asking me?’

‘Actually, they do have a slit in their shell, in that bit that grows right over their face,’ said James. ‘Kate, you could kiss their shell slit and maybe touch their crabby tongue!’