For a second I thought it meant that the rescuers were coming. Not winching down from a helicopter but doing the sensible thing and walking along the river. Maybe Kenny would be with them. I shouted out, “Hey! Here! Kenny!”

But it didn’t feel … right. There’d have been noise. Lights – yeah, they’d have torches. And why would they send Tina ahead of them?

No, this was something else. Something bad. Tina was here because something had gone wrong. I shouldn’t have sent Kenny off on his own. I didn’t know what lay past the bend in the river. It could be anything. A waterfall. Proper rapids. Or just a big flat area of water, reaching from wall to wall of the gorge.

I had to go and help. Had to get to Kenny.

But my bloody stupid useless legs.

Tina came close to me. She was whimpering and shivering. She scrunched herself next to me, trying to get warm.

“What’s happened, girl?” I said. “What’s happened?”

I wanted to lie here under the shelter of the rock. Lie and wait for the rescuers to come.

But they weren’t coming. Kenny needed me. I had to be the rescuer.

My leg. I remembered something from the telly, where a guy got dropped in the jungle and told you how to survive. One of those programmes where they act like they’re alone, even if they’ve got a massive film crew with them. And they go off every night to stay in a Premier Inn and eat at Nando’s. Nando’s … Wish I hadn’t thought of that. It’s warm in Nando’s. Food …

Stop it, Nicky. Come back. Focus.

On the programme there was a thing about fixing a broken leg. Something about a splint. But then, if you didn’t have a splint, something else you could do. What was it? Yes, tie one leg to the other one. Use the other leg as the splint. With your belt. Yes, that was the way.