Jasmine and Felicity walked down towards the town together, having waited until eight to venture out, hoping all the smaller children would be gone from the fair already. It was still warm even though the light was turning, the twilight sky a furious pink as they approached the park. They might even make it to the fair in time to watch the sun sink into the sea, those last angry stripes lingering in the sky as it disappeared. It was better at the fair in the dark; it felt like more of an experience, more value for money. Frank had given Jasmine thirty quid to spend but she wasn’t great with heights so there were only a few rides that she would go on. Once Jasmine had tried the Ferris wheel, which wasn’t even a big one, but she’d freaked out and screamed until they let her off. It was the way the seat swung, making her think she might fall out of the back. Her dad hated fairground rides – he had never told Jasmine why – and so when she was little it was only ever her mum who brought her. Even though the fair came to town every year, Jasmine rarely saw the same workers twice, which seemed strange to her as the rides were always the same and it was always the same company. She wondered what happened to the people who left the fair.

As Jasmine and Felicity walked through the Byes, a park that ran along the river from Sidford right down to the town, they were hit with the smell of marijuana. Jasmine looked over to the willow tree that hung like curtains over the riverbank. Jason Evans and Hannah Torrence were underneath it smoking a credit-card-shaped hash pipe, trying to be inconspicuous but failing miserably as they both giggled uncontrollably, clearly stoned.

Jasmine tried not to stare as they passed them, noting she had never seen either of them smile before, both perpetually uncomfortable people who had black painted fingernails and long black woollen coats, even in this weather. Jasmine and Felicity exited the park and crossed the street to the ford crossing, a small road for cars to cross to get to the car park over the river without going through the town centre. Jasmine used to get so excited by it as a child, convinced they were driving through very deep water, but now that she was older she could see that it was only a few inches and never warranted the anticipation she had given it. Jasmine could see others from their class heading across the little bridge over the water. Not willing to make any rash decisions about who to hang with just yet, they all pretended they hadn’t seen each other and carried on.