‘Come on, Cat,’ said Shane, who had caught up with her. ‘Is this really what you want to be spending our time on right now? Leave them be.’

‘Leave what be?’ asked Cat, confused.

Shane opened his mouth and closed it again. ‘I … I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry. I forget what we were just talking about.’

So did Cat.

‘I feel like we were chasing something, but …’ she trailed off. She had a nagging suspicion there was something important they were meant to be doing, but for the life of her she couldn’t remember what it was. She looked around hoping to find an answer and was surprised to find herself standing in the middle of a field.

‘What are we doing all the way out here?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know,’ said Shane.

She decided not to worry about it. It was such a beautiful night to be outdoors. Cat felt peaceful and content, like she was a part of something bigger.

Shane must have felt it too because she could hear him humming softly to himself. A tune she didn’t know, but felt strangely familiar. Suddenly, she realised it wasn’t Shane humming. The sound was coming from somewhere else, passed along through the blades of grass and the rustling leaves of the trees. A feeling of total peace and relaxation washed over her and she wondered if perhaps she should lie down for a while and look up at the stars.

‘Cat?’ said a voice that came from far away.

‘Hmm?’ she said dreamily and turned to discover the voice came from a boy standing right beside her. Shane was his name … or was it Seán? She had completely forgotten he was there.

‘Do you feel … funny?’ he asked.

Now he said it, she did feel funny. She felt very funny indeed. She began to giggle. Shane joined in and soon they were both howling with laughter.

‘Tag,’ Shane said, poking her in the shoulder, ‘you’re it! Bet you can’t catch me!’

She watched as he tore through the grass like a rabbit loosed from a cage and for a moment there was nothing in the whole world but the field and the boy and the moonlight and the song. The song that seemed to swell until it was all Cat could hear. With a loud whoop she took off after Shane.

They ran for minutes or hours. Cat couldn’t tell. They ran until they both fell to the grass, gasping for breath.

‘Told you … you couldn’t … catch me,’ Shane huffed.

‘I was close,’ Cat said and closed her eyes. She couldn’t remember the last time she was this happy.

She lay there, feeling her heartbeat return to normal and allowing the song to wash over her. It had changed now, becoming more of a mournful ballad, and here and there she made out snatches of words.

‘Come with me, come with me,

And make your home, beneath the sea.