‘You’ve been through the menopause?’ Claire asks.

‘Yep,’ Dominica says. ‘I was forty-eight.’

‘I’m forty-four,’ Claire says.

‘Yeah, well, that was eight years ago.’

Claire is stunned. She thought Dominica was younger than her, not almost a decade older. But her wisdom is comforting and she’s glad she’s having this chat, because it’s not until this moment that Claire has considered that there may be alternative solutions to her menopausal symptoms.

‘My husband says I should go to the doctor to get on HRT.’ Much as she’s suffering, Claire doesn’t believe stuffing herself full of hormones is going to make the feeling that she’s changing go away. And she’s heard that HRT only puts the menopause off. She doesn’t want these hot sweats when she’s seventy. She tells all this to Dominica, who completely agrees. She asks Claire about the supplements she’s taking and tuts when Claire tells her that she’s not taking anything. There’s clearly so much more she can be doing to help herself. Dominica says she’ll put some links on the chat.

‘When I was your age, women never talked about the menopause at all,’ Helga says, joining in the conversation. She’s ahead of Claire and her knees break the surface of the sea occasionally. Other than that, her head glides as gracefully as a swan. Claire has to swim a little bit faster to keep up so she can hear her. ‘It came as a complete shock to me. In the space of a month, everything dried up. My skin, my vagina.’ Tor and Claire laugh at how candid she’s being. ‘I’m serious. My libido disappeared along with my waistline. Just like that.’

‘That’s exactly how I feel,’ Claire says.

Dominica chips in, ‘I’d always been so slim and trim and then, without doing anything differently, I put on weight and sprouted a muffin top.’

She’s so statuesque and beautiful. And she certainly doesn’t have a muffin top and Claire’s about to say so, when Helga continues, ‘But it passes. And the second act of life is by far and away the most rewarding.’

‘That’s reassuring,’ Claire says.

‘And believe me, this is the best thing you can do.’

‘Is it?’

Helga nods. ‘Oh, yes. For the menopause? You have to be out in nature. You see you are changing from a girl who is tied to the moon and her cycles, to the slower pace of Mother Earth. When you reach the change, it’s as if you come into land like a bird. I find that I’m much more in tune with the seasons now than I’ve ever been.’

As Claire swims on, she chews over this nugget of wisdom from Helga, feeling it penetrate her like a warm glow. This is a new way to think about the future. She likes that idea of coming in to land on Mother Earth. It’s comforting somehow. As if she still has a purpose. As if she’s still relevant.

Without discussion, Tor, Helga and Dominica turn around to swim back the way they came and a little wave goes up Claire’s nose. Their stuff in the pile on the beach suddenly looks like miles away, but Helga has struck out back across the width of the beach, like a mother duck leading her ducklings. Claire is slightly out of breath, feeling her legs kick out behind her but, in the water, she doesn’t feel lumpy or fat. She feels strong.