‘There’s always one.’ They all laughed. Johnny had no hands free and so Josie fished his phone out of his pocket and switched it on to silent. Kev carried on.

‘I’ll now demonstrate a fall and show you that I have complete faith in the belay system and my mate.’

Johnny prepared himself.

There were gasps as Kev fell off the face from about ten metres up, but he soon came to a stop and dangled in the air above them. It didn’t require much effort to get his footing on the face again and he straightened up, thanking Johnny.

The group expressed awe and nodded to one another. Callum couldn’t wait to get up there. Josie stood next to him and they smiled with pure excitement. He heard Johnny’s phone buzz again.

Kev was almost at the top now and the kids became increasingly animated at the prospect of showing off their own skills. Some of them discussed sticking points and tricky grips, others watched in wonder, gazing at their instructor, who made it look so easy.

No one understood what happened next.

Kids chatted to one another about who should go in what order. Callum offered to go first. All they heard was Johnny shouting like a maniac and the swish of air as Kev’s body fell away from the face and did not stop. He cried out and everyone knew that he wasn’t pissing around (not that he ever would). He was in danger and whatever was happening was not planned.

For some reason that he couldn’t explain later, Callum ran towards Johnny. It must have been some instinctive response to help, but no one could have done anything. The shriek that came from their instructor made everyone look up and Callum reached Johnny in time to watch as Kev slammed into the ground, head first. Only the sound of Johnny trying to stop his friend by pulling on the belay, and his biners clanking, could be heard. Kev didn’t even groan.

Someone screamed. Someone gasped. Time stood still and everything blurred. Callum felt his legs start to wobble. He heard Johnny’s phone buzz again.

A vision replayed in Callum’s head and it wouldn’t stop: the crack of Kev’s helmet hitting the ground and the puff of earth as he slammed into the earth, as the dust underneath his body wafted away in a cloud.

Still, Kev didn’t make a sound. A girl began screaming. Callum’s head throbbed. He looked at Johnny, who sprang into action, going to Kev and turning his body. He put his head in his hands and simply repeated, ‘No, no, no, no…’

There was no chance that Kev was still alive.