Will had nothing but fond memories of Marnie until the summer of Alice, when everything was soured. She used to be a mudlark, hunting for treasure at low tide. She found a few bones. She must have known deep down that they were the bones of sheep and seabirds, not T-Rex or Triceratops; still Will went along with the pretence that they were prehistoric, invaluable, priceless. He recalled her running along the shore in her rubber daps, leaving prints that soon filled up with water and were erased, having the whole expanse of mudflats, miles and miles of land exposed by the receding tide, to herself. It was her grey, windswept kingdom, the bones her sea-blasted fortune.

Will missed the days when Marnie was like his kid sister. Theirs had been the least complex relationship he’d ever had. Kind of inevitable that it was fucked up now too. Typical that it was his fault.

The phone vibrated and rang, making him jump.

It was Saoirse.

He wouldn’t answer. He’d let it ring out. He’d text her later and say he’d left the phone in the café. He’d call her back when he’d thought of what he wanted to say to her. It would switch to voicemail any minute now. It would stop ringing. Oh bollocks.

He answered.

‘Hi.’

There was a scuffle at the other end of the line.

‘Oh! Hi. I thought you weren’t going to answer. I was going to hang up!’

The moment Will heard Saoirse’s voice, he knew he shouldn’t have answered. He should have let her go quietly. His thumb hovered over the button. He could cut her off. He could pretend the signal had died, or the battery. It was, in fairness, a pretty crap signal out here. He could…

‘Will? You are there, aren’t you?’ Her voice still sounded thick with cold. Or perhaps she’d been crying.

‘Yeah. I’m here. How are you feeling?’

‘Like shit. I’ve been trying to call you.’

‘The signal here is terrible.’

‘Oh. That’s why Ciara got cut off?’

‘Yep.’

‘Did you see my text?’

‘Yes.’ There was a silence. ‘Saoirse, I…’ Will began but at the exact same moment Saoirse spoke. ‘You go,’ he said.

‘OK. I’m sorry about the text. You know me, I’m not one for ultimatums, but Ciara said I should send it. She said I needed to know where I stood.’

‘Where is she now?’

‘Outside, talking to Finn…’ She trailed off, then said in a quieter voice, ‘Severn Sands was on the news this morning. They showed the caravan place. It looks awfully lonely down there.’

‘You know me,’ he said, echoing her earlier words, ‘I like being on my own.’

‘… with your ghosts.’

‘Saoirse…’