Page 17 of The Edge of Always

‘What a fantastic idea, Luna. We might even see a puffling while we’re there.’ Her dad nudged her with his elbow and winked. ‘You always liked them.’

‘Hopefully,’ she played along. ‘Hey, would it be okay if me and Mae went and played outside for a bit? We’ve been inside all day and in the car. I think some fresh air would do us good.’

He waved them away. ‘Of course, go, go, you girls have fun.’

They made a dash for it, only stopping when their dad called, ‘What time did your mum say that you needed to be back?’

‘Nine!’ Mae answered, not missing a beat, even though it was definitely eight.

‘See you at nine then. Have fun!’

They quite literally ran out of the door, down the path in front of the cottage and along the pavement that took them to the centre of Bamburgh. Luna’s jaw hurt from smiling. She held out her arms as she ran. Here, she felt taller, unburdened. And in this instance, her extra height felt like a gift rather than something to be ashamed about.

They ran faster still, breathing in the salty sea air and laughing.

Bamburgh was tiny, so it took no time at all to reach the red telephone box. That’s where they always met, and there was Emmett.

Luna might come and go from Northumberland, but he was always here. So much so that Luna wasn’t entirely sure where Northumberland ended and Emmett began. They slowed to a walk, her smile so big that her face was at risk of splitting in two. Emmett was wearing a faded T-shirt with a small rip by the hem, and his trousers were slightly short, but he was smiling too.

Luna was relieved. All she ever wanted was for Emmett to be happy. It was her deepest desire. She found it almost painful when he’d sometimes have his darker moods. The ones he described as like looking at the world from behind sunglasses, just a little bit dim.

‘Hi,’ she said, coming to a stop in front of him.

‘Hi.’ He smiled back.

‘And hi to me too.’ Mae stood next to them both, almost forming a circle.

‘Nice glasses, weirdo.’

‘Nice T-shirt, freak.’

And then they were laughing, and Luna felt so light that she could float off into the sky, like a feather caught by the wind. She’d feel this way for the whole summer if she was lucky. She’d try and bottle it and take it home with her.

‘Come on, Earl’s desperate to see you, and the others,’ Emmett said, taking off towards The Edge. Since Emmett lived here all the time, some of his school friends had become Luna and Mae’s friends too.

‘How’s his work?’ Luna asked as they walked to the caravan park where he and Earl lived. Her mum had once said that living in a caravan park all year round was against the law, so Luna didn’t know how Emmett and his mum and Earl managed it. Or any of the people who lived on The Edge all year. But they did. It was Luna’s favourite place in the world.

‘He sold a piece in February, to that London buyer. But nothing since then. Gregor says it’ll pick up.’

‘It always does,’ Mae and Luna said together. Mae called ‘Jinx!’ and punched Luna in the arm.

Bamburgh had a massive castle on the cliff by the beach, but mostly it was just cafés in the centre. A couple of people, putting tables and chairs away at the end of the day, called to say hello. Even though Luna and Mae were only here for six weeks of every year, they knew everyone. Louisa, who ran a bakery, gave them a paper bag of scones with fat, juicy currants. ‘They’re going off – try and get your mum to have one, eh?’ she told Emmett.

‘I will, thanks Louisa.’ Emmett held the bag close to his chest and then, as they walked away, started eating one straight away. Luna and Mae pretended not to notice the fact that he barely seemed to breathe between bites.

‘So, tell me everything about what’s been going on,’ he asked around a mouthful of food.

‘Well, I had my first kiss.’ Mae started talking really fast. ‘And my second, and third. I think I’m getting way better at it.’

Emmett stopped walking. ‘No way, Mae – you’re too young to be kissing anyone.’

She pushed on the back of her sunglasses so that they lifted up to look at him directly.

‘I’m twelve – it’s perfectly acceptable to be kissing at twelve. It’s another world of tragedy if you haven’t kissed anyone and you’re, I don’t know, thirteen.’ She said ‘thirteen’ in a really exaggerated way and Luna went bright red, as if she was being filled with cherry aid at lightning speed. Emmett just laughed.

‘Plus, I got my period already,’ Mae carried on. ‘I’m practically of childbearing age.’

It was Luna’s turn to laugh now, as Emmett basically choked on his scone.