Clare had emailed Faye as soon she could after she was discharged from hospital two years earlier. She wanted Faye to know that she was sorry about Derek, and to thank her again for taking care of her. The doctors agreed it would probably have been fatal for Clare to have walked any further than she did after her fall. Faye’s decision that they stay in the forest had saved her life. But that wasn’t all Clare wanted to say.

Faye’s kindness and her sensitivity around Clare’s anorexia and her advice, combined with a new urgency in Clare to live her life more fully, had changed the girl’s thinking and plans.

While Clare was recovering at home with her parents, her father made it a habit to go to her room to chat to her after work every evening. For a while, they discussed how she was feeling and how his day had been. One evening though, Clare took another tack.

“Dad, are you okay if I ask you some questions about your therapist?”

“Therapist?”

“It’s okay. Angus told me you went to someone years ago—because of me.”

Geoffrey blinked and reddened. “He shouldn’t have told you. Not like that.”

“No, I’m glad he did. I’m sorry I put you through it.”

He took her hand. “Thank you. But you don’t have to apologise. It helped me understand myself and what you were going through.”

“Would you recommend your therapist?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

“I’d like some help, Dad. To get better quicker. Even if she is not the right person, perhaps she could recommend someone.”

Shortly after she began seeing the therapist, Clare phoned Mark. After an hour’s conversation, she realised they didn’t have to go running to talk. When, a few months later, he visited her however, they agreed that running and talking also still worked. Mark had applied for a transfer to Cape Town and was due to move in a few months.

Clare’s initial email to Faye was the start of regular communication between the women. They spoke at least once a week and wrote frequently. Clare knew of Faye’s plans to sell up and leave before her parents did and, when she was offered a job, she called Clare straight after she’d told Zach. When Faye found a new home in Johannesburg, Clare asked her about her plans for a dog.

“I’m on my way to SPCA this afternoon,” said Faye.

A few days later, a picture of a terrier with a beard pinged into Clare’s phone. “She’s a schnoodle, I’m told. A schnauzer cross poodle. Her name is Murphy Brown,” wrote Faye.

When Faye told her about her idea for completing the hike to commemorate Derek’s death, Clare hadn’t hesitated.

“Why don’t you get Mark to join us?” asked Faye.