‘No. It was Dad’s idea. Tim had got him interested in his restaurant. He was going to make Dad’s fortune – ha ha. Dad thought Angus would like him, but it was obvious from the moment they met that Angus thought Tim was an idiot. Of course he was friendly and polite, but the atmosphere was all wrong. Mum and Dad were being snarky with each other. Cora Ritchie sulked because she felt left out. Angus was playing the Lord of the Manor card. Tim was doing his best to ingratiate himself with him, but it was a losing battle.’ She stops to take a breath.

By this time, we are deep in the woods and the path is beginning to slope. To my surprise Anna takes my arm and pulls me into step beside her. We are crammed together, our feet churning up the damp earth. Perhaps I should have brought Toffee. He would have loved it. He would also have been a distraction.

‘I’ve thought about this so often; I’ve wondered whether Izzy would be alive if I hadn’t behaved so badly. I was only angry with everyone because I knew that what I was doing was wrong, that my friends were getting pissed off with me. Even the twins. They had nothing against Nick – they barely knew him. He was male, our age and they were at a girls’ school, so obviously they found him interesting. I was jealous and unhappy, and I didn’t know how to handle the situation.’

‘Did the adults not notice?’

She flushes. ‘Possibly. Probably. I’m not sure. I caught Lorna looking at me in a funny way sometimes. Nick rather attached himself to Angus – they liked having long discussions about history – and that probably happened because he was trying to protect himself. He was as confused as I was. Shit. I was a crap friend. I did apologize.’

‘At the time?’

‘No.’ She adds, ruefully, ‘Last week. I was eighteen years too late. I should have managed it better, so that I wasn’t such a shock to him.’ She stops suddenly.

I turn and look at her, as she puts her hand against the bark of a tree and drops her head.

‘Are you OK? Do you feel faint?’

She looks up, her eyes sparkling with tears. ‘I can hear the river.’

Through the rustle of the leaves and the call of the birds I hear running water. I feel warmth on my neck as the sun finds its way through the foliage. The water is hypnotic once I start listening.

‘You can stay here if you don’t want to come any further. This must be so hard for you.’

She takes a deep breath and holds out her hand. I pull her up and she brushes the leaves off the seat of her jeans.

‘Come on,’ she says. ‘I need to do this.’