‘Jeez, no!’ Dawn retorted. ‘But you’re not going to get any more out of her now.’ She reached out and touched a strand of Morgan’s hair. ‘So, we may as well make the most of the time we’re here.’ Leaning forward, she removed Morgan’s glasses from her face.

At first, Dawn’s kiss was tentative, then firmer as she drew herself close. The candles flickered around them, the back door rattling as the wind gusted outside.

‘The storm’s picking up. We’d better go,’ Dawn said, as they parted.

Blinking, Morgan brought herself back to ground. She wished the moment could have lasted forever, as kissing Dawn had felt like the most natural thing in the world. She watched her fold up the Ouija board then shove it into her backpack, which had been sat on the ground.

‘I brought whisky,’ Morgan said, producing her father’s hip flask. ‘We don’t have to go yet, do we?’

‘Can’t,’ Dawn replied. ‘Dad will smell it on my breath.’

‘Wait,’ Morgan said, as Dawn blew out some candles. ‘What do you think happened to the Harpers?’

‘If I knew that, I wouldn’t be doing a Ouija board, would I?’

‘But . . .’ Morgan said. She couldn’t work the girl out.

She was plunged into darkness as Dawn blew out the last candle.

‘C’mon.’ Dawn returned her glasses. ‘Will you be OK to get back on your own?’

Morgan told her she would before drawing Dawn in for another kiss. She was so intoxicated by Dawn that she forgot what she had been going to say. The door swung shut as they left the church, the keys rattling in Dawn’s hand as she locked it behind her. The churchyard looked like something out of a storybook, the path covered in a bluish blanket of glistening snow. The mournful screech of a fox echoed across the landscape. Morgan was familiar with its cry, which sounded like a woman’s screams to the unaccustomed ear.

‘Bye then,’ she said, as Dawn enveloped her in a hug.

‘Bye,’ Dawn said, giving her a look that was impossible to read.

As Morgan negotiated the snowy path, she threw a last glance at Dawn, who was standing in the churchyard stock-still, staring at her.

As she walked down the snowy path, a smile graced Morgan’s face. The sun had risen in her life. It had been worth getting out of bed to escape her monochrome world. A jitter of laughter escaped her lips, followed by a sob.

‘You’re losing it, girl,’ she said beneath her breath, as she wiped the errant tear away. But her first kiss with another girl had been momentous. She finally knew her place in the world.