His grip tightened on the wheel and he started to think of locations where the two youngsters could pull it off. His experience had been in the girl’s garden shed. Her parents had put a comfy sofa in there for the kids to go in and take their friends to play. And play they did. His grip tightened further. Then he saw her. As he drove into the car park, the minibus was unloading and he saw her beaming and fresh, as if she’d had the time of her life.

Without thought, she spotted him and bounded over to him.

‘Dad! That was amazing! We abseiled forwards too! I can’t wait till Friday.’

‘Can I come this time? I want to watch you.’ They hugged. He looked over her shoulder and saw Callum helping with the unloading of the equipment.

‘You’ve got dirt on your nose,’ he said, wiping it. She laughed and recoiled at the same time. ‘Come on, I’ll help you.’ They walked to the bus and the instructor, Kev, shook Johnny’s hand. He was a part-time mountain rescue colleague, and they’d been up plenty of hairy rock faces together in the past. They chatted about how the kids had done and the arrangements for Woden’s Face on Friday. The exam would be as soon after school finish time as possible and so they had to be here ready to go at four p.m. sharp.

‘You been on duty recently? I haven’t seen you?’ Johnny asked Kev.

‘It’s been quiet, mate. They only call me when you guys are stretched. They keep me busy all winter, which is perfect for me so I can concentrate on this in summer.’

‘Good plan. How did she do?’

‘Josie? She’s a natural, like her old man.’

‘Can I come along on Friday? I’m on call but I’d love to see her if that’s all right.’

‘Course, mate, take a ride with me. Get here by four and we’ll sort it, you can help me out and do me a favour by belaying, it’ll speed things up.’

They shook hands. Johnny had been climbing for most of his adult life and he could remember when they had to learn to tie a Tarbuck knot; there were no rock boots back then, and harnesses were slung around your waist (and if you fell you knew about it); and ropes were numbered one to four denoting 1000 lb breaking strain and so on.