‘I said, is that clear, O’Flanagan?’

‘Yessir!’ said Kieran loudly.

Colby nodded curtly at him. ‘That will be all for now, O’Flanagan. Dismissed!’

Kieran stood there for a moment, looking stupefied. Then a look crossed his face, like one who remembers a task, a dearly cherished task, that lies in wait.

‘Oh, Niall!’ he called turning around, his voice all saccharine and honey. Still, he somehow managed to make it sound menacing, like a bird of prey screeching as it swoops. ‘Oh, Niall …’

Colby turned to Albert, grinning. ‘Our work here is done. Let’s go.’

Albert looked at him admiringly. ‘I’m impressed. I didn’t know you could sound so … so … harsh.’

Colby winked. ‘Tricks of the trade, my friend. You don’t make captain without learning how to flex a little muscle now and then.’

‘What’s a dress uniform, by the way?’

‘Oh, that. It’s the punishment uniform. What you wear when you’re in disgrace, you know. Ugliest thing there is. And it helps keep discipline better than ten stints on the clean-up crew.’

‘Really? It must be ugly.’

‘Oh it is. But that’s the smart thing about it, and that’s why it works. Threaten a man with punishment and he still might defy you. But put him in a situation where his friends will laugh at him, and well, he’ll do almost anything to avoid that happening. What? Why are you staring at me like that?’

‘I’m still impressed.’

Colby laughed. ‘Let’s go.’

‘But where are we going now?’

‘To call on another friend.’

They set off back towards the stairs, but now they climbed even higher—to the third ledge. From here Colby turned left, away from the tents, climbing over the rocks and across towards a small stone bridge. Clumsily, Albert followed. Colby waited for him to get there, then led the way across the bridge and then onwards, through the mountainside. They seemed to be moving away from the tents, higher into the mountain.

‘Where are we going?’ asked Albert, looking down. They were a long way above the valley floor.

‘Well, he lives a little far out. But we’re almost there.’

‘Almost there’ included crossing another stone bridge, traversing another set of rocks, much looser and more treacherous than the first, and, finally, following a seemingly invisible and eminently serpentine path through the mountain, until they stood at the edge of a mossy clearing in the middle of the rock desert. In the middle of the clearing was a large, olive-green tent, covered with multicoloured patches.

They could hear a loud argument carrying on inside the tent. A man and a woman were shouting at each other. Or rather, the woman was shouting, while the man got a word in edgeways when he could.

‘All right,’ said Colby. ‘Let’s go in.’

‘Are you sure?’ asked Albert. ‘It sounds like—’