‘Hey!’ he laughed as she grabbed a bunch of grapes with the same nimble ease as a great skua on a fly-by. Sholto caught her square on several times with more cranberries, which burst like little blood blisters on her vest. She scored some direct hits with the grapes but everything changed when he suddenly stopped by the basket on a ‘loading-up’ run and then straightened slowly, something hidden behind his back.

She could tell from the look on his face that it was far more than a bunch of berries.

‘No . . .!’ she laughed warningly, hiding behind a tree and hearing his footsteps approach. ‘What have you got there? Show me!’ She peered around to find him tiptoeing over and he froze as their eyes met. There was a cream cake in his hands and the look on his face made plain he had no intention of eating it.

She squealed, running away to the central oak and hearing him laugh behind her as he gave chase. Should she peer left or right? She knew that with every tree she hid behind, she had a fifty–fifty chance of peering around the wrong side.

She looked up instead. A vast, shimmering green canopy of interlocking branches spread above her head. If she could just get up to them . . . The height was nothing to her but the trunk was vast, far wider than she could get her arms around, and with her feet encased in leather boots, she wouldn’t have her usual dexterity. Still, she could hear his low laugh as he approached; she knew he thought she was just standing there. She’d show him she was a St Kildan yet!

She dug a toe into the rough, pleated bark. She had to angle her knee awkwardly but there was a low, stray branch just above her head. It wasn’t strong enough to support her alone, but the two combined would allow her to get off the ground and find another toehold, another branch or knot . . .

She had made three moves when he rounded the trunk.

‘Oh no you don’t!’ he cried as he saw her scaling the tree, within an arm’s length of reaching the safety of the branches. He reached an arm out, grabbing her leg and making her scream in fright and delight. Gripping the tree tightly, she turned to find him with one hand upon her ankle. He wouldn’t pull her down, she knew that, but she couldn’t escape him now either. She was stuck fast, pinned to the tree.

‘I should have known you’d start climbing!’ he laughed, still holding the cake in his other hand. It was raised up by his head, ready to throw.

Effie’s grin widened. Without hesitation, she twisted and leapt down towards him, her arms outstretched – just as she had done off the cliffs towards the boat that first day – and pushing the cake into his own face.