She wore skinny jeans and a cropped top with words emblazoned on the front. Over that she’d casually thrown a fur jacket; it replaced the one she’d left in the field near Castlerigg. The exact details of the visit to the stone circle still hadn’t come back to her, and it sat uneasy under her ribcage. She possessed a laptop computer and watched the news, but she kept it from her parents, who were less inclined to partake in modern technology, seeing it as an indulgence. The computer had been bought with her own money and she’d worked out how to connect to the internet via an old cable under the house. It took a phone call and a bank card (stolen) to get the connection working again.

She’d seen her picture online, as well as her clothes, when she’d googled the incident, but the fuss was beginning to die down and no news channels ran the story any more. She figured that with lack of evidence – or a person – the case had fallen flat. She was just a woman wandering round, probably drunk or lost, who’d decided she didn’t want to be found. Simple. The police had other more pressing things to investigate, such as the recent murder of that woman.

She approached the notice board and looked at some photographs of kids enjoying themselves climbing. They smiled at the camera and larked about, hanging off ropes and giving thumbs up to the photographer, whoever that might have been. It was an advert for fun. She peered at the facial expressions: they weren’t the type that she usually saw. Wide grins, fresh faces and sparkling eyes were alien to her. It unsettled her and she felt vulnerable, and out of her depth. She couldn’t imagine being surrounded by such joy. And noise. She searched the faces but Callum wasn’t among them. Perhaps he was a new member.

‘Hi. You looking for something?’ A young man stood next to her wearing the familiar light blue T-shirt of the club with its logo on his breast. She looked at his name badge: David. Her senses jarred at the cordiality.

‘Hi. I’m thinking of joining.’ She managed to speak convincingly well.