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Sam’s freefall centre – about Sam – that made them do it, he wanted some of it for himself.
    He spent the next six hours and eight minutes dreaming of falling through the sky.

4
    ‘It’s for my birthday,’ said the middle-aged man at the counter. Ethan was taking bookings at the FreeFall reception. It was early in the morning and people were flooding in to head off into the sky. He wished he was one of them.
    Ethan had had a busy few days since taking the job and, with the week drawing to a close, was only now beginning to settle into the place, get a feel for how to do things – and for how to not sound like a total tit when anyone asked him what skydiving was all about. He could now tell people what happened, what the training involved, what the equipment was. Even his mum and his sister had been impressed – not just because he had a decent summer job, but because it was something out of the ordinary; something he really enjoyed.
    Ethan looked up and saw that the man’s smile refused to let go of his face. There were three other younger men standing behind him. The guy gestured to them. ‘They thought it’d be fun to throw their dad out of a plane for his sixtieth.’
    Ethan smiled as the man handed over a voucher for a tandem skydive, then turned back to his family. As Ethan logged the details into the computer, he listened to the guy chatting with his sons and a well-dressed woman – presumably his wife. They were all laughing and joking, as if jumping out of a plane to celebrate a birthday was a normal thing to do.
    He typed in the man’s occupation. And paused. ‘You’re a vicar?’
    The man nodded.
    During his first few crazy days at FreeFall, Ethan had seen plenty of people from all walks of life sign up to jump out of a plane, but never a man of God.
    The vicar winked at him. ‘At least I know where I’m headed if something goes wrong.’
    It was lunch time before Ethan had a break. He sat down on a tired picnic bench and pulled a magazine he’d found in the FreeFall shop out of his pocket. The cover showed a skydiver upside down and smiling.
    He flicked through, staring, between mouthfuls of bacon and bread, at the pictures. OK, so he didn’t really understand everything that was in the mag, but he was still fascinated by it. And with all the time he’d spent at FreeFall, he was beginning to wonder whether he could ever find the money to have a go himself.
    ‘I’ve still not made the front cover,’ came a voice from behind Ethan. He looked round to see Johnny pulling up a chair. He was in his skydiving suit and carrying what looked like a small surfboard.
    ‘Bit far from the sea, aren’t you?’ said Ethan.
    ‘I do freestyle,’ said Johnny. ‘And let me tell you, surfing through the air on this thing beats doing it on the sea.’
    ‘I’ll take your word for it.’
    Behind Johnny, Ethan saw the minibus pull up, fill up and drive off, taking another group down to the plane that waited just out of sight on the runway.
    ‘I need to get some binoculars,’ he said as the minibus disappeared. ‘I want to see what it’s like when people actually leave the plane.’
    ‘Only way to really see that is to do it,’ said Johnny. ‘How’s the job?’
    ‘Busy,’ said Ethan, lifting a can of drink to his mouth and taking a swig. ‘But fun. This morning I had a vicar in to do a tandem. Nuts or what?’
    Johnny reached over and ripped a chunk off Ethan’s sandwich. ‘Takes all sorts,’ he said, stuffing the sandwich into his mouth. ‘Speaking of which, what do you do when you’re not here – other than the joy that is school work and exam revision?’
    ‘Sod all,’ said Ethan. ‘You’ve seen where I live. Jumping off the roof seems like a good idea more often than you’d think.’
    Johnny laughed. ‘That bad?’
    ‘Worse.’
    Johnny didn’t press him, but Ethan continued – he couldn’t help himself. ‘Jo, my sister, she’s all right, and Mum’s your typical