It got their attention. There were only four or five peaks projecting out of the cloud ahead, and Donald picked one out and remembered the name. He’d heard of it, but wished he’d paid more attention to that particular aspect of geology. He was more interested in the great volcanoes of Hawaii, or the vast and awesome heights of South America. The Lake District seemed paltry by comparison, but the vista before him now was stunning.

The machine vibrated and shook. Donald reached for his briefcase, into which he’d put a bottle of water for the journey. Suddenly he was irritated with Bart for showing off. This silly diversion was unnecessary and all about his companion’s ego. ‘Look what I can do!’ It was so Bart. He splashed cash around because he had so much of it that the boredom drove him to purchase mindless trinkets of stupidity. However, the annoyance was short-lived, because he knew that it was that aspect of Bart’s character that kept him supplied with his playthings too.

‘It’s clearing,’ the other pilot said, jerking Donald from his judgement of his friend. He concluded that he simply felt guilty for cheating on his wife. Again. If serial addiction to underage girls could be classed as anything so benignly common as cheating.

‘Perfect timing,’ said Bart. ‘I even control the weather,’ he added.

Donald looked at him. He was one lucky bastard. Everything he ever coveted fell into his lap. Just like that. Bart was one of those fellows who attracted everything that was worth having in the universe: girls, money and power. It was like a cycle of the best hors d’oeuvres in the most exclusive restaurant on the planet: the platters kept coming and swirling round and round, offering titbits of ecstasy. When he was with Bart, nothing was off the menu, and he grinned as the machine soared over the mountains.

Chapter 5

High on Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain, runners in competition vests sweated and panted their way up an incline gradient of almost twenty degrees. Low cloud was the worst weather to race in. It made everything slippery and screwed with the balance of the contestants because it compromised visibility. But then it levelled the playing field too. It had been bitterly cold when they set off this morning.