We sit in a circle, passing round the last of the bottle of pop. Catrin has some this time.

‘It’s thirsty work, running for your life,’ Tam says.

‘We made it though, didn’t we?’ Jinx grins. ‘Look at it now, all annoyed it can’t get to us.’

The bull watches from the fence.

‘It can’t, can it?’ Catrin asks. ‘Get to us, I mean? Like, what if it goes back and charges … could it break through the fence?’

‘Probably,’ I say, putting the empty bottle into my rucksack. ‘But I doubt it’s bearing a grudge.’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Tam says. ‘Look at the way it’s staring at us, like it’s thinking up an evil plan.’

We laugh. But get up very quickly and jog through the meadow, away from the bull. Just in case.

Jinx reckons this detour will add about half an hour so we need to keep moving. He speeds ahead, the bobble on his hat jiggling about.

I glance up at Top Road. Yeah, got to keep moving.

We don’t stop till we get to the picnic bench Jinx was on about. We sit on it, all in a row, looking out across the valley to the mountain on the other side. Me and Catrin share our sandwiches with Jinx and Tam. She opens a packet of ready salted, peels off the top layer of bread and puts crisps all over the ham.

‘What are you doing?’ Jinx asks.

‘Improving my sandwich,’ she says.

I make a face. ‘Spoiling it more like.’

Jinx watches her like she’s performing some sort of delicate operation. She puts the top layer back on, pressing it down, and the crisps crunch.

‘What’s it like?’ he asks.

‘Try it,’ she says, offering him the rest of the packet.

He has a funny look on his face, like he’s torn between curiosity and not wanting Catrin to think he likes her. But he takes the crisps and copies what she did.

‘Really squash it down,’ Catrin says.

He obeys. When his sandwich is ready, he lifts it slowly to his mouth. ‘Geronimo!’

I once watched Catrin’s baby cousin eat a rusk for the first time. This is a bit like that. Jinx frowns. He chews. He smiles. He nods. He opens his mouth in wonder so we can all see the mushed-up mess inside.

‘Aww, this is lush!’ He swallows. ‘Boys, you have to try this – it’s mind-blowing!’

Me and Tam roll our eyes.

Catrin takes another big bite of her sandwich, looking very, very pleased with herself.