‘You won’t love it,’ Clive grumped from behind his phone. ‘You’ll have a minor heart attack while Derry does thirty-mile laps. Or you’ll wreck your knee cartilage like I have. Don’t let her suck you in.’

‘I …’ I said.

‘Oh, Clive,’ Derry laughed, waving her hand at him. ‘Honestly, he needs his heart chakra massaged big time. Say you’ll come jogging with me, Sophie. Or walking, whatever. Please?’

Before I could answer she had lowered herself down, balancing her weight on her palms, with both legs impossibly straightened out to one side, hovering a few inches above the floor.

‘What are you doing?’ Clive said.

‘Astavakrasana,’ she panted, wobbling slightly.

‘I thought you were going for a walk with Sophie?’

‘Tomorrow morning,’ she said, throwing me a wink. And lo, it was decided.

I didn’t have any running shoes so Derry loaned me a pair. ‘Luckily we’re both a size six,’ she whispered, her words transforming to icicles right in front of me. It was four thirty, pitch black, and freezing cold. I slipped on the trainers, pulled on my woollen hat and gloves, and crossed myself.

The air was so cold that it seemed to be gnawing my face. Derry immediately began pumping her arms as she walked and encouraged me to copy her, which I did, assuming this was to prevent frostbite setting in. I had expected us to head towards the cliff, but instead she ventured away from the house towards the thickest part of the forest.

‘Don’t worry,’ she said when I started to whimper. ‘I know these woods really well. There’s actually a path that cuts right to the road.’

But how will we see it? I wanted to say, given that the forest was so dense that the light of the moon and stars was almost blocked out. Derry fumbled in her pocket for something, then strapped a headtorch to her forehead. The garish white light fell on a number of creatures ahead of us, who immediately scattered into the bushes.

‘Let there be light!’ Derry said, laughing and strutting onward. I marvelled at how unafraid she was, how awake she was. Given how cold and miserable it was I had half-expected her to suggest we turn back for another hour’s kip, but she simply powered on through the forest, oblivious to the squelch of soggy leaves underfoot and the bats whirling overhead. We walked through the trees and, although Derry chatted amiably, I responded with ‘mmm hmmms’, focused on keeping my mouth closed in case I inadvertently swallowed a spider or, worse, a bat.

And then, in a matter of minutes, we were on flat tarmac, the road that swept past Granhus and the forest and ran above the fjord. The view ahead was dazzling, and Derry turned to survey my face with glee.