An agitated sound, twigs tangling and shifting, as if a large animal was there. A badger, trapped – except you didn’t get badgers here – or something bigger. A lion. Tiger.

Matty’s eyes adjusted. There was a person lying on the ground a few metres away, made whiter by the moon falling through the tall trees. Two people, one lying on top of the other, angled strangely.

Another rustle, and the shapes suddenly made sense.

They were moving, or the one on top was. Two men, one making a strange whimper, again like an animal. They were naked, or mostly naked, trousers rolled down one man’s ankles. Neat black shoes.

‘Fuck off.’ The man had an accent, indefinable. He hadn’t turned round.

Nicks grabbed Matty’s arm and pulled.

‘Or you can stay and watch.’ Another voice, higher and muffled, and a tiny laugh.

Nicks dragged Matty back the way they had come. ‘Seen enough now?’ he said. ‘Pervo.’

The Ladies’ Pond was a new world. An oyster that Nicks was opening up. They had climbed over the padlocked gate and down a short, winding path to a much wider wooden platform than at the Men’s, and two huts. This pond was smaller, surrounded by trees, with a single patch of moonlight in the middle. Enough to see by, as they climbed down the metal ladder into the night’s water.

Matty’s skin sang. It was no cooler than during these last hot days, but it tasted different. Milky-clean. There was a balmy smell in the air.

White tyres dotted the water and Matty swam from one to the other, trying to keep up with Nicks, who moved with hardly a ripple and kept disappearing under the surface. In the middle of the pond, two fat ducks sat on a nest on one tyre, not moving. They must have been asleep. What did ducks dream about?

Nicks was at the furthest end of the pond, holding up the rope to show that he was going past it. During the stretch between the next two tyres, there was a little gassy sound, a sharp puff of air from somewhere, and Matty turned, a quick panic of arms, heading for the platform again. Waiting for Nicks to come back.