And then I saw a tiny figure darting from the shadow of the hill. Ceit, in floppy green wellies, sizes too big for her, and wrapped in a coat that must have belonged to Mrs. O’Henley. I took her into my arms and crushed her against me. “I didn’t want to not come in case you did,” I shouted above the roar of the night.

“Me too.” She grinned up at me, and I kissed her. “But I’m glad you did. Even if it was just to tell me that you couldn’t come.”

I grinned back at her. “No pun intended, I guess.”

She laughed. “One-track mind, you have.”

We kissed again, and I held her tight against the battering of the wind and the rain, the storm crashing all around us. Then she broke away.

“I’d better go. God knows how I’m going to explain all this wet stuff.”

She gave me one last quick kiss, and then she was off, swallowed up by the storm and disappearing into the night. I stood for a moment catching my breath, then found my way back on to the track, to head up the hill towards the Gillies croft. I hadn’t gone more than ten yards when a figure emerged out of the dark. I got one hell of a fright, and nearly cried out, before I realized it was Peter. He was wearing no waterproofs, just his dungarees and his worn old tweed jacket, a hand-me-down from Donald Seamus. He was soaked through already, his hair smeared over his face, his expression of abject misery visible to me even in the darkness. He must have got up and dressed himself and come after me as soon as I had gone.

“For God’s sake, Peter, what are you doing?”

“You were with Ceit,” he said.

I couldn’t deny it. He had obviously seen us. “Yes.”

“Behind my back.”

“No, Peter.”

“Yes, Johnny. It’s always you, me and Ceit. Always. The three of us, ever since The Dean.” His eyes burned with a strange intensity. “I saw you kissing her.”

I took his arm. “Come on, Peter, let’s just go home.”

But he pulled himself free. “No!” He stared at me out of the storm. “You’ve been lying to me.”

“No, I haven’t.” I was starting to get angry now. “For fuck’s sake, Peter, Ceit and I are in love, okay? It’s got nothing to do with you.”

He stood for a moment staring at me, and I’ll never forget the look of complete betrayal in his eyes. Then he was off, into the night at a run. I was so surprised it took me several seconds to react, in which time he had already vanished from sight.

“Peter!” I shouted after him. He had run off in the opposite direction from the croft, towards the shore. I gasped in frustration and ran after him.