Alex turned to Marie and raised his eyebrows enquiringly. She shook her head. ‘This is our party, our tradition. Don’t you agree, Bruno?’

Bruno nodded without saying anything. Simon started strumming his guitar again.

‘We’ve got weed,’ the voice informed them. ‘Me and my sister would be happy to share in return for some food.’

Alex grinned. ‘Come on, Marie – it would be cool to meet some new people.’

‘You just want to get stoned!’ she snapped.

‘So what – you only live once. Isn’t that right, baby?’ He made another attempt to put his arm around Carina, and met with less resistance this time.

‘Sure, why not?’ Carina murmured.

‘What do the rest of you say? Shall we expand our horizons a little?’

‘No thanks,’ Marie said firmly. ‘And Bruno agrees with me.’

Bruno looked away.

‘Two for, two against,’ Alex said. ‘Simon, you have the casting vote.’

Simon glanced up; he didn’t seem to have been following the discussion at all. Marie caught his eye, frowned and shook her head. To her annoyance, Simon ignored her. ‘Whatever,’ he said with a shrug.

‘So, what’s the verdict?’ the man shouted. ‘Is it party time?’

Alex grinned at Marie. ‘Come on up – and don’t forget the weed!’

Simon carried on playing, beautiful, melancholy chords heightened by the silence that had fallen among the friends. A feeling of unease came over Marie, coupled with the humiliation of being voted down. She suddenly decided to go home. She stood up and brushed down her jeans. Took a few steps towards the tent and realised she was wobbling. She stopped, thought back and realised she’d drunk too much to be able to drive. Admittedly it wasn’t far to Kotorp, and the risk of being pulled over was very small, but what if something happened? People drove like lunatics up on the ridge, not to mention what her father would say if she arrived home in the car stinking of wine. A single mistake like that could cost Marie her entire career, before it had even started.

At that moment the two new arrivals appeared.

‘Hi, guys!’ The man holding the torch seemed to be a few years older than the rest of them. He was wearing a black leather jacket, a white T-shirt and jeans. He looked good; his hair was long and slicked back, and his face had a sharp, slightly dangerous edge.

‘I’m Joe, and this is my sister, Tanya.’ The beam of the torch caught the woman for only a second, but Marie noticed how Alex immediately straightened up a little. Back-combed hair, ripped jeans, high-heeled boots and a low-cut top under her leather jacket; Joe’s sister reminded Marie of one of those trashy but attractive girls from a rock music video.

‘Hi,’ Tanya said.

Alex went over, smiling broadly, and held out his hand.

‘Alex.’