We seemed to pass into a sort of strange bubble where time no longer existed at all, and it began to feel as if we’ d never get to the island. Until I started to become aware of the most awful, fetid stench. At 32first it was just a waft invading my nose for a moment or two before being swallowed up by the sea breeze. But soon enough it hung heavy and ripe in the air around us, so disgusting and strong that I thought the spray must have deposited a load of dead, rotting fish on the deck somewhere.

“What’s that gross smell?” I finally asked.

Jim glanced at me, and his mouth twisted into a half-smile. “That’s Bird Rock,” he said.

Rosie and I frowned at each other. The island wasn’t even in sight yet, so what could he possibly mean by that? But the next moment I realized that it had appeared – it was just difficult to spot against the cloudy sky. I’d read that the island was made of jagged black rock, yet the one before us was white. Surely Jim wasn’t taking us to the wrong place?

When I asked about it, he shook his head. “The island isn’t white. Just looks that way because of all the gannets. There’s thousands of ’em. Around one hundred and fifty thousand, to be exact. Their guano creates that smell.”

“What’s guano?” Rosie asked.

“Bird poo,” Jim replied. “Island’s covered in it.” He gave that half-smile again – a smile that didn’t reach 33his eyes. “Delightful, isn’t it?”

We could only stare at him in horror. When Mum had spoken of a bird island, I’d imagined something pretty and lovely, but if the smell was this bad out here on the open water then what the hell would it be like on the island itself? It made me want to gag, and suddenly I couldn’t bear the idea of staying at this horrible place, away from my friends and the rest of the world, for two weeks.

As we got closer, the island before us looked like it was nothing but rock. I couldn’t see any trees or flowers or beaches. There were a few stone cairns standing along the clifftop, but otherwise it was just jagged rocks and pale wings.

The boat drew closer and closer, and we soon spotted the gannets wheeling above us in the sky. They were startlingly huge – as big as geese – and I saw a few of them plunge down into the water head first with unbelievable speed. I’d never seen any bird move that fast before, and their shimmering white shapes beneath the rippling water looked strangely like human hands grasping for the surface. The birds’ raucous calls were loud, persistent and grating, and again I wondered how I would ever be able to stand 34two weeks here.