Sara listened and told Mary about herself. About the girl she used to be, the dreams she used to have, the woman she had wanted to be. How that woman had been stolen from her and she hadn’t even realised until it was too late. But it wasn’t too late, was it? Things were different now, and she would find that woman again, one way or another.

They reached the outskirts of Portrush before eleven, a golf course to one side of the road, sprawling caravan parks to the other. Sara missed the turn for the car park and had to drive in a circle to find her way back. The day was autumn-overcast and cool, and the town was quiet. She imagined it in the summer months, thronging with holidaymakers and day trippers.

At one point, she pulled up to a set of traffic lights at a tangled junction, a monument nearby, and a spired building made of red brick. All around them, ice cream shops, cafes. Ahead of them, Barry’s Amusements, apparently closed. Sara imagined the screams of delight she might hear had it been open. To their right, past the smaller outdoor amusement park, a glimpse of the sea, blue-green, stretching away to the hazy horizon. Mary saw it and gasped, took hold of Sara’s arm.

“Look,” she said. “Look.”

A few minutes later, they had circled the town and pulled into the car park. The ocean came into view, stretching as far as Sara could see, north, east and west. The car park was nearly empty, and she was able to find a space at its far side, next to the path that skirted the beach. She shut off the engine and they sat in silence for a few moments before Mary spoke.

“Look at it,” she said, giggling while she wiped a tear from her cheek. “Would you look at it.”

“Let’s go,” Sara said, unbuckling the seat belt.

Her back and shoulders ached, worsened by the ninety-minute drive, and the blisters on her hands stung from the steering wheel. But she didn’t care. It was worth the pain. She went around the car, opened the passenger door, and helped Mary out. They held hands as they walked down the gentle slope that led to the beach.

Mary looked down at her feet as the paved surface faded into sand and let out a laugh. They walked further, feet slipping as the ground shifted beneath them, down towards the water’s edge, stopping where the sand remained dry. The water came in shallow waves, in and out, breathing like deepest sleep.