Summary

The narrator describes of the Loney, "that strange nowhere" (3) an isolated coast in England where the narrator, Hanny, their parents, two members of their church — Mr. and Mrs. Belderboss — and their priest, Father Wilfred, went on a religious retreat. The Loney’s sudden tides were extremely dangerous and all locals avoided the area, except for the town drunk, Billy Tapper.

The narrator then describes an encounter he had with Billy, who was rumored to have worked as a schoolteacher before his alcoholism ruined his career. The narrator, Hanny, and their mother, whom they call Mummer, met Billy at a bus stop in 1973, when the narrator was 16 and Hanny was 12.

Billy, who was incredibly dirty, was slumped on the bus stop bench holding a bottle and a potato, talking to himself in his sleep. He woke up and warned the narrator and Hanny never to...