Peter hopped away over the hot sand towards the group standing by the diving canisters and snorkelling equipment.

Fleur never dived because despite being a good swimmer she hated anything over her face. Her father had tried to get her to go down with him over the years but at the last moment she always tore off her mask. Fleur was convinced she had absorbed Laura’s fear at an early age.

That Sunday as Sam and David prepared to dive, Fleur hovered beside them wistfully. She hated to miss out on anything.

David was watching her. ‘Come down with us, Fleur? You’re missing an amazing experience. Sam and I’ll look after you.’

Sam looked up. ‘She won’t come, she’s claustrophobic.’

Fleur hesitated. ‘I’d like to…it’s just…’

‘Come on, have a go. Come down with Sam and me,’ David coaxed.

He held out his hand and Fleur, her mouth dry, reached out to take it. He helped Fleur into a buoyancy control device and handed her a weight belt. Then he started checking all their equipment. Sam, who was ready first, bent and helped her with her flippers, then adjusted her mask and snorkel. When David was ready he gave her the thumbs up sign and Fleur stood anxiously between them.

David told her to breathe from her regulator until they were in deep water then switch to her snorkel to conserve air as they needed to surface swim before descending.

All three flapped sideways into the water, Sam and David grinning at her encouragingly. They started to swim as soon as it was deep enough. A little way out Sam signalled to her and both he and Sam checked her equipment again and then each other’s. Fleur tried to ignore the panic that threatened to send her swimming madly for the shore.

Sam indicated that she should deflate her device and exhale. Fleur hesitated. David touched her arm and gave her the thumbs up again, and trembling, she began to descend feet first with Sam and David each side of her, all adding small amounts of air as they neared the bottom.

Once she was underwater and she could see the bright fish and Sam’s and David’s legs securely each side of her, Fleur tried to relax. The mass of coral lay beneath her, alive and intricate, the patterns of it causing waving shadows on the seabed; a great mountain of faded pink and white. Small, brightly coloured fish darted in and out of her legs in this silent world and Fleur was enchanted. David took her hand and pointed with his other hand to show her rays moving delicately through fronds of seaweed like dancers.

Fleur, gripping David’s hand, turned this way and that in excitement. Her fear all these years had made her miss out on all this. Now she knew why people became hooked on diving; it was a different world, an unknown and unmapped place, full of unexpected and undiscovered wonder. When they surfaced she felt euphoric. One of the teachers was waiting for her diving gear and she peeled herself out of it and turned to David, laughing.