The dinghy isn’t the only thing that lurches as it drops into the mass of swirling, churning water. Fran’s stomach cannonballs between her lungs as she frantically paddles, beating the water with her oar as Evan roars, ‘Go! Go! Go! Go!’ As the dinghy tips to the right, it lifts Fran’s side into the air whilst Phoenix, Kate and Renata dip closer to the water. Phoenix squeals with excitement and paddles harder while Kate, teeth gritted, repeatedly jabs her oar into the foam. Beside her, Renata, white-faced and bouncing on the edge of the inflatable, clutches her oar with one hand and grips the safety line with the other.

‘Keep paddling!’ Evan yells above the roar of the river. ‘Everyone keep paddling!’

The dinghy rights itself, slapping Fran and the others back onto the water. Something in her stomach – probably undercooked poached eggs – surges back up her oesophagus, making her gag, but she dips her oar back into the river and drags it through the water. Her oar clashes with Caroline’s and there’s a brief moment when they’re entangled but now isn’t the time for apologies and they wrangle their oars free.

‘Come on guys, come on!’ Evan shouts as the dinghy rocks from side to side and a huge wave slaps up against the side, drenching Fran.

‘You come on!’ she shouts. ‘We’re doing all the work.’

‘Can’t we do that trust game instead? The one where you fall backwards on dry land?’ Caroline asks, and everyone laughs.

And then they’re free, drifting gently down the river, with Evan guiding them between the rocks, as though the rapids were a terrible dream.

‘Oh thank god.’ Fran slips off the edge of the dinghy into the belly of the boat. ‘I never want to do that again for as long as I live.’

This time it’s Damian who laughs.

‘What?’ She looks at him.

‘We’ve got two more like that before we get to the end. And the next one is worse.’

‘You’re kidding me?’ She looks at Evan who grins.

‘Come on Geraldine,’ Kate says curtly. ‘Sit back up.’ She seems to catch herself and softens her tone. ‘Everyone finds their first rapid scary but we made it through by working as a team. The next one won’t be nearly as bad.’

As Fran hoists herself back onto the side of the dinghy she notices that Damian is smirking. At her hippo-like manoeuvre or Kate’s comment, she’s not quite sure.

‘Okay, guys,’ Evan says, his gaze fixed further down the river. ‘We’re about thirty seconds away from hitting the next one.’

‘Steer round it!’ Fran says, as he angles the dinghy towards the small patch of brown swirling water further down the river. Only Caroline laughs.

‘Here we go!’ Evan shouts. ‘We’re going to need some hardcore paddling and when I shout hold on, hold on! Right, now paddle!’