‘Anywhere particular you want to go on your bike, Mon?’ she said a couple of hours later, when, full of Irish breakfast, including several pints of tea, they pushed their bikes up the hill, out of the village.

The bike-hire place had given them a map, helmets and reflective clothing, none of which were particularly attractive but though all very practical. The map was rather creased but Monica had inspected it closely before they set off.

Monica didn’t answer. ‘The trick when you’re cycling is to calculate the distance at about two miles an hour and then multiply by three. It usually works out about right if you add half an hour.’

‘I haven’t ridden a bike for years.’

‘That’s fine. You never forget how to ride a bicycle,’ said Monica. ‘It’s just like—’

‘Don’t tell me,’ grumbled Laura as she clambered on to the saddle, ‘riding a bicycle.’ She pushed on the pedals and moved forward a few feet, wobbling slightly. ‘I’m not sure I’m going to be able to cope with the hills.’

‘You’ll be fine.’

‘I will be if you tell me what you’re up to. I’m not expiring with a heart attack without knowing why.’

Monica allowed herself to pant for a few seconds. ‘One of the reasons I was so keen that we should come to this little hole in the hedge was because it’s bang next door – well, a bike ride away – to another little hole in the hedge I really want to visit.’

‘Because of a man,’ Laura stated.

‘Did I tell you that or did you just guess?’

‘We may only have been best friends for quite a short time but I think I know you well enough to work that one out.’

Monica tried to look offended, but not very hard.

They stopped talking while they climbed a few more yards. When it flattened out a bit and Laura had more breath to spare she said, ‘You did give me a bit of a clue. You said you had unfinished business at the meeting.’

‘Did I? Well, yes, and he’s called Seamus. He’s a real doll. I met him at a gig last year. We exchanged emails and postcards for a while and then I just stopped hearing. I want to find out what’s happened to him.’

For all her efficiency and practical nature, Laura had a strongly romantic streak. She may not have had much of a love life herself but she’d read a lot of romantic fiction at an impressionable age. ‘So were you really in love with him?’

‘No, not that. Obsessed, probably. He was tall and dark with blue eyes.’ Monica’s halted her bicycle for a minute so she could think better. ‘Let’s just say he’s on my To Do list.’