“Look,” Mary said, turning from east to west and back again. Rocks at either end of the long beach, saltwater carried by the wind to spray around them, small islands to the north, perhaps a mile offshore. Close to them, to the west, perched on top of the rocks, an old white-painted building with the word Arcadia proud upon it in blue lettering. Gulls squabbled overhead. A few bodyboarders rode the waves. Further along the beach, an elderly man threw a stick for a yelping dog.

“Listen,” Mary said, closing her eyes.

Sara did the same, hearing the ocean rumble and sigh.

“I always wondered what it would sound like,” Mary said. She inhaled through her nose. “Can you smell it?”

“Yes,” Sara said, “I can.”

“Such a thing,” Mary said. “You know, when I was a wee girl, I used to imagine if you stood on a beach, you could see the rest of the world. You could see England and France and America and Africa and all those places if you looked hard enough. But all you can see is the waves and the sky. And that’s enough, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Sara said. “It is.”

A movement on the water caught her eye, almost as far out as the islands. There, another. Black darts leaping from the distant waves and disappearing again.

Sara pointed. “Look, did you see?”

“Aye,” Mary said with a giggle. “Are they . . . ?”

“Dolphins, I think,” Sara said.

Mary laughed and clutched Sara’s hand to her breast, squeezed it hard. “Thank you,” she said, breathless. “I think I need to sit down now.”

Sara turned back towards the car park. “Of course, we’ll head—”

Mary sat herself down on the sand, shifting her rear to make herself comfortable. Sara lowered herself to join her, going slow to keep the pain to a minimum.

“Are you hungry?” Mary asked.

She reached into her pockets and pulled out the fruit she’d taken from the reception desk. Sara realised she was indeed hungry and gratefully accepted a banana and an apple. They ate in silence and watched the dolphins until they’d moved too far from the shore to be seen.

Sara glanced back over her shoulder, to the car, and wondered how long before the police found it. It was a valuable car, and she believed it had some sort of tracker device fitted. Only a matter of time before they would come for her, possibly arrest her for what she’d done to Damien. She would tell them everything, hold nothing back, and bear the consequences. But for now, there was nothing but the ocean, and Mary, leaning against her. Sara put her arm around her, felt her shiver.

“You’re cold,” she said. “We’ll have to go soon.”

“I don’t mind the cold,” Mary said. “I never have. Tell me something.”

“What?” Sara asked.

“Can I ever go home again? To my house?”