‘I’ll tell you what’s what, Mac!’ said Theo, skipping along happily, holding his hand. Having committed herself to the task, she launched into it with gusto. ‘That there’s where the soldiers an’ all hang out,’ she said, pointing at a long, unusually long tent, which looked suspiciously as if it had been made by sewing several tents together end to end.

‘An’ that’s where we grow food and stuff.’ Far on the right was a series of large, roughly rectangular green patches that, even from a distance, stood out from the mottled brown and rust hues of the earth and rock around. Men stood on some of them, digging, pouring water and doing all sorts of other things that he couldn’t begin to understand.

The names and directions came thick and fast. ‘That’s Jovan’s tent. He’s a blacksmith. He laughs really funny, too.’ She waved at the man—a portly, bearded individual—and he waved back, smiling.

‘That’s where the guys who do the rock-breaking and stuff sit. That’s where they make metal. That’s Crabby Carol. She’s the meanest old woman alive.’

Lost in the whirlwind of words, he walked on, looking around him, trying to take everything in. Ahead, to the right, was a massive open space within the valley. Further ahead there was a path, leading off from the main valley to another smaller clearing, set some way back. At the centre of the clearing was a sort of elevated mud platform, almost perfectly round. Four tall poles jutted out on four sides of it.

Albert nudged Theo. ‘What’s that?’ he asked.

She followed his finger. ‘Oh, that’s the Arena. That’s where they have the fights.’

‘Fights? What fights?’

‘Just fights.’

‘Who fights?’

‘Anyone who wants to.’

‘It’s just men squaring off against each other, trying to see who’s got the biggest muscles,’ said June. ‘It’s all quite pointless, really. But that doesn’t mean the fights aren’t popular. Sometimes half the valley’s there, if what I’ve heard holds true.’

‘Have you ever watched?’

She turned to look at the mud platform. ‘No. But I’ve heard enough.’

‘How often do they happen?’

‘You seem awfully interested in the fights.’

‘Well, they sound interesting.’

She turned her gaze away from the mud platform to look at him. ‘They’re not. They’re barbaric and brutal and bloody and I don’t understand why they’re even allowed, no matter how many people want them. A lot that’s wrong goes on at those fights if what I’ve heard is true.’

‘If that’s the case, why are they allowed?’

‘Father put a stop to them a while ago, I believe, but all the people protested. So after some time he gave in, saying that if everybody wanted them, he had nothing to say.’

‘That sounds fair.’