It was not quite dark when he saw the cottage, right on the edge of the cliff. There was no smoke coming out of the single chimney. And it was a funny place for a cottage to be, somehow. The land seemed to be crumbling under its edge, and it was tilting ever so slightly seawards, as if it might fall down the cliff at any moment. But, it wasn't falling apart; it was tilting all together, like a tin toy cottage. It had no garden, and no sign of life. He crept closer. The windows looked funny, not right somehow. There were slates off the roof, and dusk showed through the rafters. Not much shelter from the rain there. But worth a look. He tiptoed up to it, silently as he could.

From 'The Kingdom by the Sea' by Robert Westall. Text copyright © The Estate of Robert Westall 1990.
Published by Mammoth 2000.