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funny!’
    ‘You know my name!’
    ‘You told me yesterday. It’s like the band called “Travis”, that’s why I like it. I looked it up on the internet; it’s French, and it means “toll collector” at a bridge, or “to cross over”. My name means “Earth mother”. I like looking up people’s names, to see if they match their personalities.’
    I haven’t a clue what she’s talking about, but that’s a good meaning for my name. I have crossed over – from another time.
    ‘Come on,’ she says, ‘race you to that rock!’
    I’m still a bit dazed and woozy, so I follow her through the water at a slower pace, before eventually picking up speed. I reach the rock first. We lean against it, laughing as the waves wash over us. I look up at the cliff, and spot a massive hole dug deep into the side of the rock, like an entrance without a door.
    ‘Look at that!’
    ‘It’s only an old cave. We have loads of them on the island. I haven’t seen that one before, though.’
    We run over to investigate. Her voice echoes eerily.  ‘Spooky, isn’t it?’
    ‘It’s massive.’ I’m spellbound. ‘Look up. You can’t see to the top!’
    ‘Come on, Travis,’ she says nervously. ‘It’s cold in here. I want to go back to the farm. I need a shower, and get this suntan off. Would you like to come? We can go for a walk when I’ve changed.’
    I shake my head. I don’t want to leave the cave now I’ve found it.
    ‘Oh.’ She’s disappointed. ‘Well, can I see you again?’
    I shrug. I don’t even know her name.
    ‘Tonight?’ she says. ‘We can go for a walk along the prom.’
    I smile. She’s keen. Normally I would be chuffed to have a pretty girl taking an interest in me, but things aren’t exactly normal right now. I close my eyes, seeing Jenna. I wish I could speak to her, tell her how much I love and miss her.
    ‘I – don’t know where I’ll be tonight,’ I stammer.
    Her face drops. She puts her sandals on quickly.
    ‘All right.’ I can’t turn down a pretty face. ‘I’ll meet you on the beach, where we were just now.’
    She smiles. ‘Great. What time?’
    ‘I don’t know.’ I don’t have a watch or a clock. ‘I’ll meet you here, by the cave.’
    ‘OK. I’ll be here at six.’
    A beeping noise comes from her bag. She tuts, takes out a small, black object, presses a button, and speaks into it. I hear a voice saying, ‘Demi?’
    ‘Yes, Mum,’ she says flatly.
    I hear more words, but can’t make out what they are.
    ‘Yeah, all right,’ snaps the girl. ‘I’m on my way back now.’
    She flings the object back in her bag.
    ‘Mum wants me to go to the market for her.’ She giggles. ‘Here, I’ll give you my mobile number in case you get lost tonight.’
    She takes out a pen and piece of paper from her bag, and writes down a word and some numbers. She hands me the slip of paper, steps forward, and kisses me quickly on the mouth, making my spine tingle.
    ‘See you later,’ she says shyly, and runs off down the beach.
    I glance at the paper. ‘D-e-m-i’: her name. The numbers mean nothing, and I sure as hell don’t know what a mobile is.

4. Cave
    I wander back to the cave. I like the dark, the shadows, and the solitude. I feel safe in here. It’s strange that Demi knows who I am, because I don’t know her.
    Bits of memory from my old life flash in my head, and I relive the moment I’m flying through time and space. If this is the year two thousand and nine I’ve travelled back ninety years!
    Out at sea, something bobs on the horizon. A boat; I know about boats. I’ve seen them in the picture books, too, but not the big silver metal birds with wings, the ‘planes’. I’ve never seen one of those before now.
    ‘Wow! He’s done it! He’s actually set me free!’
    No guards, no droids: Alexander’s right. This place, Barrasay Demi calls it: the open air, the sea, the people, the laughter, is heaven compared to the institution. I’m a fish out of water here,