Chapter Sixteen

Finally, we are allowed to light the proper Bonfire Night bonfire, well away from the caravans themselves and once we’ve checked there are no hedgehogs or other creatures hiding out in it. We draw lots for who gets to do it and I’m beyond gutted that I don’t win.

I’m still spinning from the session I had with Enfys in the café. My mind is reeling with images of birds in the wild and the different books she brought along for me. My first book is about a condor and I’m itching to get going on it.

Mam is doing really well today. She’s chatting to Dad and helping Snow with a sparkler. Snow is all wrapped up in multiple scarves because Mam thinks she has flu.

It’s only just gone seven and the sky has already been dark for hours but there’s a brilliant full moon above us and I’m grateful for it. Lorelei asked if we could try bobbing apples again and then had to apologise to JTI who she practically drowned last time.

‘Ready?’ Leila-J’s mam lights the wick of a rocket, everyone claps and we are all told to move even further back by nervous parents. It’s pretty beautiful as it shoots into the sky and splinters into white-blue stars in front of the yellow moon.

There are a few more less successful rockets, some Roman candles, which are pretty dull after rockets, the obligatory Catherine wheel that won’t spin, followed almost immediately by one which spins off the fence and chases us all around, which is hilarious and a total highlight. As gasps of delight turn to boredom, the younger kids are taken to bed and we are left to do our own thing.

‘I’m going to take a nature walk, Mam.’

She is busy bundling Snow up the steps into the warmth. I’ve chosen my moment wisely.

‘I want to study the behaviour of owls under a full Harvest moon.’

‘You’ll have to wait for another night then. That’s a blood moon.’

I shudder. It doesn’t look like a blood moon to me. It’s creamy and pock-marked and appears to be smiling at us.

‘Even better. Owl activity is known to increase significantly under a blood moon.’ Total lie.

‘Fine. But be careful. And, Lark?’

‘Yes?’ I’ve already got a few paces away.

‘Check on Mam-gu on your way past, will you?’

‘Okay.’ Gah. Why do I always have to do everything?

Snow gives me the smirk of ultimate smugness before she’s pushed inside the caravan. I walk towards Mam-gu’s caravan while Mam can see me and then switch direction and hurry away.

Gwenni is waiting for me as arranged underneath the oak tree. She’s rubbing her head.

‘What’s up?’

‘Have you ever been attacked by falling acorns?’

‘Come on.’ We start off towards the sea.

‘Whose stupid idea was it to go sailing in the middle of the night?’

‘It’s hardly the middle of the night, is it? What time do you usually go to bed?’

‘I think you are missing the point there, Lark.’

‘I know. I was being funny.’

‘No. You were trying to be funny. There’s a difference. I brought provisions.’ Gwenni has brought crisps and bottled water.

I’ve never seen the tide so high up the beach. The moon-path really does look like a glistering lane of undulating gold. ‘I mean. Come on. That’s pretty amazing.’

‘It is. And also, amazingly pretty.’

We watch the silken fluidity in silence as we wait for Lorelei and JTI. Bats flit in front of the moon and swoop inches from our heads. The sea breaks on the pebbles and tries to drink the world back with it. Some owls really do use this moon to hunt. I can hear them call and screech.

‘Mam says it’s a blood moon.’

‘Aren’t they meant to be red or something?’

‘Apparently not.’

‘Lark, are you scared?’

‘Of what?’

‘Everything.’

‘Yes.’

There are the twin circles of a couple of flashlights coming towards us along the path. To be on the safe side we duck to the side, even though we are relatively sure who it will be. The flashlights stop close to us and Lorelei attempts to imitate an owl hooting. Gwenni can’t resist the urge to jump out at her, making her shriek and swear. I can’t really blame Gwenni. Lorelei had it coming.

‘Right, we are all here.’ Stating the obvious is my forte. I keep my voice hushed even though I’m pretty certain no one else can hear us.

‘Well, let’s hope that the ghost can’t swim,’ JTI pipes up. Lorelei clouts him with her phone. I feel a bit sorry for him. In fact, I feel a lot sorry for him.

I switch my torch on and then back off again. With the moon it might as well be daylight. I check around. Still no one about. We have the November evening cold to thank and the ongoing Guy Fawkes stuff.

‘Shall we get on with it then?’

‘Fine by me.’ Lorelei leads the way and Gwenni visibly sulks. ‘The boat is moored in the harbour.’

‘Are we nicking it?’ JTI looks quite excited by the prospect. ‘I’ve hot-wired Wiley Riley’s car before. Only when he asked me to, but still…’

‘We aren’t stealing anything. It belongs to one of my new acquaintances, so we are allowed to take it. Also, it’s not that sort of boat.’

‘Oh.’

Lorelei clocks him one again. She has a serious problem with violence and he appears to have low self-esteem. I feel bad for calling him Jake the Idiot all the time and make a vow to myself to call him Jake from now on.

I feel bad for not checking up on Mam-gu too. I’m sure she was staying in with Marple because she doesn’t like fireworks, but I should have given her a knock all the same. I couldn’t because she would have known I was up to something just by looking at me. To her, I’m a window, completely transparent.

We get to the harbour soon enough. The seventeenth-century plot to blow up Parliament is on our side: there is a huge firework display on at a town a few miles away and the entire local population seems to have gone.

The hulks of boats fill the water, their cables sounding like bells as they hit their masts in the wind. Reeking of fish and seaweed, it’s all lobster pots and slimy ropes and buckets.

‘OK.’ Lorelei is pouting and arranging her hair for a selfie. I swear the girl has the attention span of an un-popped corn. ‘It’s called Water Music. He said it’s written on the keel. And seriously, can we find it, because it smells absolutely vomit here.’

‘From the fishing boats, do you think maybe, Einstein?’ Gwenni takes gulps of air to prove that she isn’t afraid of the rotting fish.

‘I think this is it.’ Jake has spotted it. It’s small. A rowing boat with oars. It’s a bit bashed about, which doesn’t fill me with confidence. Neither does the inch or so of water reflecting on its floor. It has got life-jackets in it though, which makes me feel like someone knows we’re using it.

‘That’s it? That?’ Lorelei’s jaw drops so far it might hit the bottom of the harbour wall. ‘How are we even supposed to get into it? Jump?’

‘Erm. I think we use the ladder.’ Gwenni indicates the metal rungs built into the wall. ‘But feel free to jump if you like.’

Not waiting for a response, she hauls herself over the drop confidently.

When she gets into the boat, we follow. Jake next, then Lorelei, me last. It’s harder than it looks to climb down. The rungs are icy cold. The water slaps the last one, slippery with seaweed.

Finally, we are all in.

Lorelei holds her nose so her voice sounds like she’s swallowed helium from a balloon. ‘Can we just get on with it before I throw my insides up?’

We should know better but the full moon makes us reckless. Jake picks up the oars and we plash into its reflection, shattering it into a million twinkling lights.