They remind me of us – me, Al, Leanne and Daisy – on our first day. One of the women, a short blonde with a wide face and a flat nose, is even wearing the same bracelet I bought from a blanket laid out with jewellery outside one of the refreshment stops on the way up the mountain, all jangly bells and cheap silver plating.

My heart twists in my chest as the flat-nosed blonde hooks an arm through the tall, skinny girl’s elbow and excitedly presses her head into her shoulder. They have no idea what they’ve just walked in to.

“Five beanbags, please, Emma.”

I respond automatically, drifting back and forwards across the room. I lay them neatly on the floor, one beanbag in front of the altar, the other four laid out in a semi-circle in front of it. When I straighten back up, Isaac isn’t looking at me; he’s staring at the third woman – a short, curvy girl with long dark hair to her waist and wide-set green eyes. She breaks off her conversation with the flat-nosed girl and smiles at him, the base of her throat colouring pink.

“Thank you, Emma,” Isaac says.

The tall, thin man to my left laughs nervously, but I’m barely aware of him.

“Thank you, Emma,” Isaac says again. This time he turns to look at me, but his gaze is cool and detached. The knife wound on his cheekbone has faded to a thin, pink scratch above his stubble. I barely grazed him.

“Hi, guys. Welcome to Ekanta Yatra!” He angles himself towards the group and holds his arms wide, a warm smile lighting up his face. Everyone looks up at him excitedly. I have been dismissed.

The door to the kitchen is still shut, but I can hear raised voices behind it.

“We know something is going on between you and Sally,” Cera says. “You’d be doing everyone a favour if you just admitted it.”

“I’ve told you, we’re friends.”

“You do know I’m going to have to go to Isaac with this.”

“No, you don’t, because it’s bullshit.” Raj raises his voice. I can hear the fear and desperation in his words. “I don’t know who told you about Sally and me, but it’s not true. It’s idle gossip, nothing more. Someone’s obviously got an axe to grind.”

“We’ll let Isaac decide that, shall we?”

“No! Cera, don’t. I told you …”

I drag myself away and head for the dining room. I haven’t eaten for days and I can’t bear the stabbing pains in my stomach a second longer.