He never did call though. It surprised me how sad that made me. But then I had nine months of hard graft to come in Iceland, so I was able to push it from my mind. Well, when I was busy anyway. The moments when I rested brought back thoughts of Dylan. Soon I would have months of rest ahead of me, plenty of time to think of the what-ifs.

‘I’ll miss it here actually,’ I admitted to Julia now.

‘Oh, come on, Gwyn,’ Julia said with a laugh. ‘It can’t all be work, work, work. You look exhausted. You need the rest, some play too.’

‘There was a bit of play,’ I said, eyeing the Icelandic wildlife researcher who was with us, a tall blond man called Lyngar. We’d shared a few drunken fumbles but my mind hadn’t really been into it, often drifting to Dylan.

‘Look,’ Julia said, putting her hand on my arm, ‘I know it’s hard to maintain a normal life with this job. God, do I know,’ she added with a shake of the head. ‘But there will come a point when it’s not enough. When your bones are too creaky and your skin has grown tired of the cold. You need to start planning for it.’

‘Jesus, Julia, I’m only twenty-five!’

‘I know, but I’ve seen what a toll this trip has taken on you. You’ve been taking on too many night shifts for the others and it’s showing.’

‘I love my job,’ I said, stifling a yawn. ‘Anyway, look at Reg, he didn’t stop until he was in his eighties!’

She smiled sadly. ‘Reg was a one in a million, sweetheart. I just worry about you.’

‘Thanks, Mum, but I’ll be all right.’ I gave her a mischievous smile and she sighed. I pointed to the crew who were all now standing around, everything unpacked. ‘Seriously, stop worrying about me. Your subjects await you.’

She nodded, slipping into serious mode, and turned to the group. ‘You guys all right with the rota?’ she asked them all. They nodded. ‘How’s your tummy?’ she asked Jim, the other cameraperson. He was a slip of a man with a white neat beard and white hair, which helped him to blend into the background. He’d been quiet at first but after a few weeks of getting to know him, I realised he had a filthy sense of humour, something desperately needed on jobs like this. Something he definitely needed now while battling a bout of gastric flu.

He grimaced. ‘Getting there.’

‘I’m happy to take your night shift again,’ I said.

Julia gave me a disapproving look. ‘You’ve been doing too many night shifts.’