I imagine a packed cinema like the one we go to on Saturday mornings, all the seats filled by Catholics, and wonder where I will go when I die.

The sun shone all day and it got late and Mary never came to have her picture taken.

Then my dad arrived home and told me to go inside as Mary wasn’t coming.

When I asked why, he didn’t answer. Just took me in the house, shouted on my mum and they went into the kitchen together and shut the door.

Standing outside, I heard my mum crying.

That’s when it all began.

3

The April sun was bright, but not strong enough to have made any difference to the temperature of the lochan.

In an attempt at bravado, Dougal had waded in already, wearing nothing but his trunks. Julie knew he didn’t like swimming anywhere other than a proper swimming pool, where he could see what lurked beneath him. A calm sea was also manageable provided he wasn’t required to venture out too far and he could see the sandy floor.

A dark-brown loch, on the other hand, was Dougal’s idea of a horror movie, in which he had a starring part.

So to get him to come here, Julie had had to agree to an evening doing exactly what Dougal wanted. Julie had no problem with that, since Dougal’s romantic plans for tonight pretty well matched her own.

Without a wetsuit, he won’t last long enough to enjoy the water, Julie thought as she watched him wade in cautiously. Once the tingling in his upper body moved from mild to severe pain, Dougal would be back on shore quicker than he went in.

Ready now, Julie walked in slowly, enjoying the sensation of the water entering her wetsuit to form a warm protective film against her skin. Launching herself forward, she began to swim, feeling the soft peaty water enclose her like brown silk.

Much as she loved swimming in the sea in all seasons, there was nothing to beat a freshwater loch whatever the time of year. Turning, she floated on her back and closed her eyes, enjoying the gentle slurp of water in her ears.

It was Dougal’s sudden shout that disturbed this dreamlike state. Julie turned over and took a look, assuming the cold had got to him by now. It certainly appeared that way. He was swimming, seemingly in a great hurry, back to the strip of sand where they’d undressed earlier.

‘Froze your balls off, did it?’ Julie shouted. ‘I warned you.’

Having reached the shore, he rose, swore loudly and pointed at the opposite bank.

‘What?’ Julie said, unmoved by his antics.

Dougal was a joker and he’d caught her out on numerous occasions, so her first instinct was to ignore him.

‘Fu-ck-ing l-l-look!’ he stuttered, his face white, his body starting to shiver.

He was putting on a fine performance, Julie had to admit that. Next, no doubt, would come the theme tune from Jaws. He’d tried that one during one of her wild sea swims.