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We live on the island of Hale. łt's about four kilometres long and two kilometres wide at its broadest point, and it's joined to the mainland by a causeway called the Stand - a narrow road buiłt 3cross the mouth of the river which separates us from the rest of the country. Most of the time you wouldn't know we're on an island because the river mouth between us and the mainland is just a vast stretch of tali grasses and brown mud. But when there's a high tide and the water rises a half a metre or so above the road and nothing can pass until the tide goes out again a few hours later. then you know it's an island.

We were on our way back from the mainland. My older brother. Dominie, had just finished his first year at university in a town 150 km away. Dominids train was due in at five and he'd asked for a lift back from the station. Now. Dad normally hates being disturbed when he's writing (which is just about all the time). and he also hates having to go anywhere. but despite the typical sighs and moans - why cant he get a taxi? what’s wrong with the bus? - I could tell by the sparkle in his eyes that he was really looking forward to seeing Dominie.

So. anyway. Dad and I had driven to the mainland and picked up Dominie from the station. He had been t3lking non-stop from the moment he’d slung his rueksack in the boot and got in the car.

University this. university that writers. books. parties. people. money. gigs.... And when I say talking. I dont mean talking as in having a eonversation. I mean talking as in jabbering like a mad thing. I didnt like it.... the way he spoke and waved his hands around as if he was some kind of intellectual or something. It was embarrassing. It madę me feel uncomfórtable - that kind of discomfort you feel when someone you like. someone close to you. suddenly starts acting like a complete idiot. And I didnt like the way he was ignoring me. either. For all the attention I was getting I might as well not have been there. I felt a stranger in my own car.

As we approached the island on that Friday aftemoon. the tide was Iow and the Stand welcomed us home. stretched out before us. elear and dry. beautifully hazy in the heat - a raised strip of grey concrete bound by white railings and a Iow fóotpath on either side. with rough cobbled banks leading down to the water. Beyond the railings. the water was glinting with that wonderful silver light we sometimes get here in the late aftemoon which lazes through to the early evening.

We were about hałfway across when I saw the boy. My first thought was how odd it was to see someone walking on the Stand. You dont often see people walking around here. Between Hale and Moulton (the nearest town about thirty kilometres away on the mainland). there's nothing but smali cottages. farmland. heathland and a couple of hills. So islanders dont walk because of that. If they're going to Moulton they tend to take the bus. So the only pedestrians you're likely to see around here are walkers or bird-watchers. But even from a distance I could tell that the figurę ahead didnt fit into either of these categories. I wasnt surę how I knew. I just did.

As we drew closer, he became dearer. He was actually a young man rather than a boy. Ałthough he was on the smali side. he wasnt as slight as l'd first thought. He wasnt exactly muscular. but he wasnt weedy-łooking either. It's hard to explain. There was a sense of strength about him. a graceful strength that showed in his balance. the way he held himself. the way he walked....

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