Eduardo and Kylie were sitting on 'Mina's bench', looking out on the view over Whitby's East Cliff. Unlike when they had been there the previous November, the untamed East Pier was somewhat spoiled by the presence of a car and a van bearing medical insignia, while the larger and safer West Pier was covered with fairground attractions.

'We should've known there'd be something all over the West Pier at this time,' said Kylie. 'We'll have to come again one October, after the summer but before the Goth Weekend.'

'Aren't you enjoying yourself?' asked Eduardo.

'Yeah, I am,' said Kylie. 'I've enjoyed climbing the hundred and ninety-nine steps again, and I've enjoyed hanging out on the beach, where it's nice and quiet.'

Eduardo laughed. 'I know, right? Everybody pays to run around in those hamster balls or get on that ride that seems like it'll throw you off the cliff, but nobody just wants to sit on the beach.'

'Except us,' said Kylie. 'And obviously I'm enjoying spending all this time with you, sweetie. I'd just really like to visit Whitby at the best time someday. It can't be for a while, of course – we're stretching our budget for the next ten years or so as it is!'

'Yeah, and it's so hard to get here. Going to Newark Airport, then getting a plane, then a bus, then a train... I wouldn't want to do it too often.'

'It seems to be pretty hard to get to anywhere in this country. Well, except for London.'

'Is that where we're going next?' Eduardo asked.

'No, not yet. We're going to Haworth.'

'Where the hell is that?'

'West Yorkshire.'

'And we're in North Yorkshire now, right?'

'Right,' said Kylie.

'So,' said Eduardo, 'it shouldn't be too hard to get there, right?'

'Well,' said Kylie, 'we have to take a bus to Scarborough, then a train to York, then another train to Keighley, then we could go to Haworth by bus but I thought it might be fun to go on the tourist railway.'

'What's the difference between a tourist railway and a regular railway?'

'A tourist railway is run by volunteers, and the trains are steam trains.'

'Okay, so... we're going bus, train, train, steam train. These Brits don't make it easy, do they?'

'No,' said Kylie, 'but we're spending one night in a cheap hotel in Scarborough to break up the journey. I thought maybe we could see Anne Brontë's grave while we're there, but I don't know if we should really bother.'

'Who's Anne Brontë?' asked Eduardo. 'Is she someone whose grave you want to see?'

'Well, kind of,' said Kylie. 'You remember Jane Eyre from our Gothic literature class?'

'Yeah, more or less. Did she write it or something?'

'No, that was her sister Charlotte, and Emily Brontë wrote Wuthering Heights. Anne wrote two novels of her own, but I've never actually read them – they're not as famous, and I think they're generally not considered as good, but some people like them. If I read them someday and ended up loving them, I'd wish I'd visited Anne's grave when I had the chance, wouldn't I?'

'Let's do it, then,' said Eduardo. 'Now, shall we make a move? I'd kind of like to take another look around the town, since we won't be able to come back here for a while.'

'Yeah?' said Kylie. 'Is that because your hoping Whitby Books will have gotten in more copies of the new Harry Potter since yesterday?'

'I don't guess they will've,' said Eduardo, 'but I'll look anyway.'

They were staying in the same cottage they had used on their previous trip to Whitby. When Eduardo arrived back there, he found Kylie in the kitchen with the washing machine going and something cooking on the hob.

'Smells good,' said Eduardo.

'I'm making a courgette frittata out of what we had left apart from breakfast cereal,' said Kylie. 'It'll be good not to have to do our own catering at this cheap place in Scarborough, won't it?

'If it's cheap, does that mean it's no good?'

'I don't think so. It's part of a huge chain, and they've just packed loads of identical rooms into a big building, so they're making a lot of money by being cheap but nice. I wish Haworth had a place like that. And Whitby.'

Eduardo gave her a searching look. 'You're not worrying about money, are you?'

'Not at our first port of call, no,' said Kylie, smiling at him. 'And I'm sure I won't start; we've pretty much been as sensible as we can about this.'

'Well, that's all your doing,' said Eduardo. 'Anyway, I got you a present.'

'What? Why?'

'Because it was there, and it would've been so stupid not to get it for you.'

'What is it?'

'It's only second-hand,' said Eduardo, going out to the hallway, and then reappearing with a small plastic bag. 'It's from Whitby Books.'

'Oh, I see,' said Kylie. 'No luck with Harry Potter, then?'

'No, but I can get that just about anywhere else. I think what I came away with might be a find in a million.'

Kylie reached into the bag and pulled out a fairly small book with a flexible dark blue cover. It had no title on the front, but gilt lettering on the spine read The Tenant & Agnes Grey – Anne Brontë.

'Oh my gosh – I don't believe it!' said Kylie. 'This is both her books! Why are they the wrong way round chronologically?'

Eduardo raised an eyebrow. 'That's the thanks I get?'

'Sorry, sweetie,' said Kylie, and gave him a kiss. 'Anyway, I'm not criticising, just wondering.'

'Well, I have no idea,' said Eduardo, 'but the woman in the book store seemed to think The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was better.'

'I'll read that one first, then,' said Kylie. 'Thank you so much, sweetie. You're the best.'

Some time the next morning, Kylie and Eduardo alighted from a bus that had just pulled into the forecourt of Scarborough Station, each wearing a large hiking backpack.

'We're not allowed to book into our hotel until three,' said Kylie, 'so we'd better put our stuff in left luggage. Actually, you do that and I'll get our train tickets for tomorrow, so there'll be no hassle when we're leaving here.'

'Okay,' said Eduardo, and they both went into the station building. When they came out, they had no luggage except for a canvas bag on Kylie's shoulder, and Eduardo was holding a fold-out piece of paper.

'So,' he said, 'it says here that Anne's grave is in the churchyard underneath the cliff with the castle, and we can see that from here, so I guess we head in that direction.'

'I guess so,' said Kylie.

Eduardo folded up his map and they started off, holding hands. They walked past various shops, pubs and cafés, until Kylie spotted a shop that made her stop in her tracks.

'Ooh, a Waterstones!' she said.

'What's that?' asked Eduardo.

'It's the biggest book retailer in the country. I think. Anyway, they should definitely have a copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.'

'Oh, cool,' said Eduardo.

'I'll get it for you,' said Kylie, 'since you got me the Anne Brontë book.'

'That didn't cost very much. Harry Potter's probably quite a lot because it's only out in hardcover.'

'That doesn't make any difference. Anyway, there was talk of it being a birthday present, wasn't there? It won't hurt to have it a little early. Wait for me out here if you want – I won't be long.'

She went into the shop, and Eduardo found a bench to sit on, where he opened up his map again and began studying it. A few minutes later, Kylie came out of Waterstones with a large hardback book in her hand, which she handed to Eduardo.

'Would you look at the size of it?' she said.

'Where have I heard that before?' said Eduardo.

Kylie laughed, and smacked him on the arm. 'Is that the thanks I get?'

'Gracias, mi hermosa querida,' Eduardo said, rising to his feet and kissing her. 'Now maybe we should stop buying each other books – we don't want too many to take home.'

'I don't want to think about home yet,' said Kylie. 'Come on, let's go to the castle and the grave.'

Anne Brontë's headstone was very nearly as tall as Kylie, and elaborately carved with a long epitaph and a swirly, angelic image above it.

'I hope you're thinking about The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,' said Eduardo, as they stood looking at it. 'You seemed to be enjoying it last night.'

'Yeah, it's really good,' said Kylie. 'I can see why almost everyone likes Jane Eyre best, but I think The Tenant is at least as good as Wuthering Heights. So far, anyway. I'm so happy you gave me that book, Eduardo – now this really means something.'

'I'm thinking about when people in my family were getting their headstones,' said Eduardo. 'They're all a lot smaller than this one, and did they charge by the letter in eighteen forty-nine?'

'I don't know,' said Kylie, 'but Charlotte could afford an expensive headstone. She'd made a lot from Jane Eyre. I don't think she'd written her other novels yet, though.'

'There were others?'

'Yes, but they're even less famous than Anne's.'

'You wanna read them?'

'Maybe not on this trip,' said Kylie, 'but some time, yeah, I guess I'd be interested.'

'Poor Charlotte,' said Eduardo, looking at the dates on the headstone, 'having to bury her twenty-nine-year-old sister. Which one was older?'

'Anne was the youngest,' said Kylie, 'then Emily, then their brother Branwell, and they all three died within a year of each other. Charlotte was the oldest of the four. There were two older sisters as well, who both died when they were children.'

'Wow, that's rough.'

'Think of their father – he outlived all six of them. Charlotte died too before she was forty.'

'You know what feels kind of weird?' said Eduardo. 'Here we are, standing at the grave of this woman we never knew, talking about her and her family, and I haven't visited my own father's grave in like ten years.'

'Well,' said Kylie, slipping her hand into his, 'that's different. We've talked at length about remains and souls and all those things, haven't we? You don't feel the need to visit people's remains if you knew them and you remember them. But we only know the Brontës through what's left, and one of the most tangible things is this grave. Well, I say we, but you're really just here for me, aren't you? Is there anything in particular you'd like to do while we're on this trip, sweetie?'

'Oh, I don't know,' said Eduardo. 'Barcelona's on the list, isn't it? That's where my Captain Gaspar ancestor was from, or at least his ship sailed from there... so I'm told.'

'Cool,' said Kylie. 'We're taking a boat out of there; you'll be sailing from the same port as he did.'

'I don't honestly know if I'll feel that much of a connection,' said Eduardo, 'but I guess we'll see. Kevin will be interested to hear about it, anyway.'

Some hours later, in their hotel room, Kylie was sitting up in bed reading The Tenant of Wildfell Hall while Eduardo was pushing back her hair and nosing around her neck. She raised her hand to block his advances, saying, 'I'm not doing anything with you until I finish my chapter.'

'How long is it?' Eduardo asked, reaching over to leaf through the pages, much to Kylie's annoyance. 'Aw, man – the print is so small!'

'Well, read another chapter of Harry Potter.'

Eduardo looked dubiously at the book on the small shelf beside him. 'I don't know.'

Kylie looked at him sharply. 'Aren't you enjoying it? I'm enjoying the book you gave me!'

'It's not that I'm not enjoying it,' said Eduardo. 'It's just that it's taking a while to get started.'

Kylie frowned. 'You don't like it.'

'I do! I love it – it's the best present I've ever gotten.'

'Well, read it, then.'

'All right, I will,' said Eduardo, and he picked up the book.

Ten minutes later, Eduardo was reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and trying to hold Kylie at bay, saying, 'Hold on, Ky, I just gotta finish this chapter.'

'Sex in the morning – that's the answer,' said Kylie, as she extricated herself from Eduardo's arms and made for the bathroom.

'Where are you going?' he asked peevishly. 'Checking out time ain't 'til twelve.'

'The last tourist train to Keighley is at three forty-five,' Kylie called from the bathroom.

'Well, how long does it take to get there from here?'

'About two hours.'

'But...' Eduardo did a few sums in his head. 'That gives us more than an hour to spare, even if we get a train around twelve thirty.'

'Yeah, I guess so,' said Kylie, 'but if we start making a move now, we can get the two oh-five steam train to Haworth and give ourselves a cushion in case anything goes wrong.'

'What could go wrong?'

'Lots of things, I'm sure.' She reappeared in the bathroom doorway with some of her clothes on. 'You know what's really annoying? We don't have any access to fresh drinking water here. What am I supposed to fill up my bottle with?'

'There's mineral water in the vending machine,' said Eduardo.

Kylie scowled. 'Water is supposed to be free. I am not spending eighty pence on a bottle of water.'

'You could ask them to fill your bottle at reception.'

'Oh, I don't want to do that – it's too much hassle. I'll just have to use the bathroom water.'

'Really?' said Eduardo. 'Bathroom water's not really supposed to be drinking water. Some people have a fit if they think their kids have swallowed bathroom water.'

'Well, luckily those people aren't here,' said Kylie. 'Anyway, it can't be that bad. We had it in our complimentary tea and coffee, didn't we?'

A few hours later, a steam train chugged into a quaint little station bearing an old-fashioned station sign that said Haworth. Several people alighted from the train, including Eduardo and Kylie.

'That was fun,' said Kylie.

'It was okay,' said Eduardo.

'Just okay? Why weren't you all excited, like those kids who were pretending to be on the Hogwarts Express? Oh, I know – it's because you're not enjoying the book I gave you.'

'That's right – I hate it,' said Eduardo. 'Okay, so where now?'

'We have to walk up Butt Lane and, according to my map, the Fleece Inn should be right at the top.'

Eduardo looked at her. 'Butt Lane?'

'Yes. B-U-T-T Lane. Look, there's a sign to it.'

Kylie pointed out a green sign, outlined in white and shaped like an arrow. It directed pedestrians to cross a wooden footbridge with an image of a walking figure and the words Butt Lane, also in white. Eduardo sniggered, and said, 'We gotta take a picture of that to show everybody back home.'

'I think Garrett'll enjoy it most of all,' said Kylie, producing a camera, and she took the picture. 'Come on, let's go.'

They walked over the bridge, where a further sign pointed them towards a cobbled street going uphill, on a very steep incline. They had only gone a few steps when Kylie took a half-full water bottle out of her bag and began taking sips. When they were halfway up the hill, she said, 'Let's sit on the wall for a minute.'

'Good idea,' Eduardo said gratefully.

A low, flat-topped wall ran alongside the street to their left. They both sat down, and Kylie gulped at her water. After a little while, she lowered the bottle and said, 'Okay, I admit it – you were right.'

'About what?' said Eduardo.

'About this water.'

'Well, it was only a thought.'

'It was a correct thought,' said Kylie. 'I wasn't sure about it on the train, and now I'm definitely thirstier than when we started up this stupid hill! As soon as I can, I'm going to email that hotel and tell them guests should have access to free drinking water.'

'We'd better get going again,' said Eduardo. 'Then we can get a drink at this inn place of yours.'

Kylie nodded, and they got to their feet and carried on. At the end of the cobbled street was a crossroads with houses to either side, and straight in front of them, at the end of a street of yet more houses, they saw part of a building bearing a sign that said The Fleece Inn.

'Oh, thank God!' said Kylie. 'We're almost there.'

They carried on up the hill as the street curved round to the right, and soon found themselves walking laboriously and making very little progress. They both hunched forward when their backpacks threatened to topple them over, and eventually Kylie took hers off.

'Want me to carry that?' Eduardo asked.

'No, I can do it.'

'It'd be for me as much as for you. If I carried it in front of me, it might work as a counterweight.'

'You can't carry two big bags up this hill, sweetie,' said Kylie. 'Nobody could!'

'I guess not,' said Eduardo. 'What is with this hill, anyway? I think it's a one in one!'

'Stay strong, babe,' said Kylie. 'One last push and we'll make it.'

When they sat themselves down at a table in the Fleece Inn, they were both red-faced and sweaty. They had barely caught their breath before a waitress came over with menus, saying, 'Main menu's available all day, and today's soup is ox-tail. Can I get you any drinks for yourselves today?'

'Yeah, um... orange juice, thanks,' said Eduardo, taking his menu.

'Diet Coke,' said Kylie, 'or Pepsi – whatever you've got.'

'I'll just go and get those for yourselves,' the waitress beamed, and trotted off.

'Tell me something, Ky,' said Eduardo. 'Why did you want to come to the Land of Very Steep Hills in the first place?'

'Isn't that obvious?' Kylie asked in surprise.

'No.'

'The Brontë sisters used to live here.'

'That's not obvious.'

'Oh, didn't I tell you?'

'No.'

'Well,' said Kylie, 'they did, and now their house is a museum.'

'Where's their house?'

'At the far end of this street. Up another big hill.'

Eduardo stared at her for a moment, aghast. Then they both started laughing. Finally Eduardo calmed down, and said, 'But we're not doing that until tomorrow, right?'

'Right,' said Kylie, as the waitress reappeared with their drinks. 'Oh, thank you.' She took a long gulp of her diet cola.

'Are you ready to order?' asked the waitress.

'No, not quite,' said Kylie, opening her menu for the first time.

'I'll be back with yourselves in a few minutes,' said the waitress, and left.

'Polite service here,' said Eduardo. 'Too bad the orange juice is full of pulp.'

'You gulped it down anyway.'

'Of course I did – I'm dying here!'

'Yeah, me too,' said Kylie, laughing, and she took another long swallow of her drink. 'The hill we're climbing tomorrow can't be as bad as that last part of Butt Lane, surely!'