Today, just after breakfast, he had sneaked away from home, his rucksack packed with a lunch, scraps of driftwood and soap and his pocketknife-ready to enjoy a day alone. Who needed older brothers anyhow? He was just grand on his own.

“I saw him go down here!”

Danny looked up to see his eldest brother, Kellan, standing thirty feet above him. He scrambled back to hide himself against the rocks, but he wasn’t fast enough. “He’s down at the bottom,” Kellan shouted.

“Go away,” Danny yelled. “This is my place and you can’t come down.”

“How did you get down there?” Kellan called.

“I jumped,” Danny shot back.

Riley appeared beside Kellan. It was now two against one, the typical breakdown between the three brothers. “Bollocks!” Riley said. “Tell us how you got down or we’ll tell Ma you were climbing on the cliffs.”

They wouldn’t go away. His older brothers were merciless. “Find the rock that looks like a duck,” Danny finally said. “The path is on the other side of that.” He watched as Riley and Kellan searched for the right spot and then slowly descended through the rocks. As they both leapt down onto the sand, Danny watched them warily.

“How did you find this place?” Kellan asked, looking around in wonder.

“I was searching for driftwood in the rocks. I just found it.” He cursed. “How did you find me?”

“We followed you,” Kellan said, a wide grin on his face. “We were curious where you were off to in such a rush.”

“What are you doin’ down here?” Riley asked. He pointed to the bar of soap that Danny held to his chest. “What’s that? Are you plannin’ on a bath, then? Tryin’ to smell grand for your girlfriend, Evelyn?” Riley laughed, jabbing Kellan in the side with his elbow. “That’s why he’s hidin’ out here. Danny has a sweetheart. Maybe she’s meetin’ him here for a bit of snogging.”

“You in love with Evelyn, Danno?” Kellan asked, circling around him.

“No,” Danny muttered. “I don’t have a girl.”