As we got closer, I could see it was definitely a child in a white dress. She was hanging down over the cliff, but while we watched, she hauled herself up and shot out of view.

‘We need to get to the top of that edge,’ I said. ‘Do you know the way?’

‘That path.’ Daniel gestured to our right. ‘But you’ll never catch her now.’

I was determined to try. My breath rasped in my throat as I followed the path towards the higher ground, Daniel behind me.

‘I have a bad ankle,’ I said. ‘I know your back’s not good but feel free to go past if you can.’

Daniel overtook and ran ahead, eventually reaching the edge where the girl had been. He scanned the landscape, and shouted, ‘No sign of her.’

I caught up, and he was right. She was gone.

The lone sheep was bleating louder. The sweep of Ladybower Reservoir was far below us now. In the distance jutted the peak of Mam Tor. I felt a stab of fear when I realised how close we were to the place where the ground dropped away into a cliff. I’d tried to work on my fear of heights but it hadn’t gone completely.

‘We’ve totally lost her,’ Daniel said.

‘Who was it? And what’s up with that sheep?’

‘Must have got separated from its lamb,’ Daniel said. ‘They’re buggers for getting themselves in trouble.’

I caught a glimpse of movement ahead. ‘That’s not her again, is it?’

Daniel looked where I pointed and we both ran a few steps before seeing it was the sheep.

‘She looks really upset,’ I said. ‘She’s too close to the cliff. What on earth’s she doing?’

The sheep was on a higher part of the rocky edge, bleating hysterically and shifting to and fro, approaching the edge and then backing away. Daniel scrambled up to get closer to her.

‘Oh God,’ he said. ‘It’s her lamb.’

I inched closer to Daniel. ‘What’s the matter with it?’

‘It’s fallen over, but it’s on a ledge. Quite a long way down, so it can’t get back up. And it’s quiet. It shouldn’t be quiet. I think it’s been there a while. It looks like a runt. It can’t be less than two months old at this time of year, but it’s small.’

‘Oh no,’ I said. ‘It’s not dead, is it?’

A faint bleat came from below.

‘Good,’ Daniel said. ‘It’s roused itself. Hang on, I’ll move away. I’m freaking it out.’