Although Grootkloof Cabin was an easy walk from the river, it took the group almost an hour to get there. Diane bent her arm and held it against her chest, nursing the pain in her shoulder. The gashes in her forearm and chest were not as severe as they’d appeared and, after some bandaging by Bev, who was counted upon by her friends to always carry a carefully curated emergency kit, the bleeding ceased.

Derek’s injury was more serious. For a while, as he lay on his back, the rain washing over his face, his friends discussed how they might build a makeshift stretcher to carry him to the cabin. Eventually, he pulled himself up, grey-faced from the effort.

“No. That’s enough drama for one day,” he said. “My back is not broken. I’ve possibly dislocated a vertebra, stretched some ligaments. Come. Help me.”

Once he was on his feet, Derek accepted Diane’s hiking poles but, even leaning on them and after Bev’s painkillers kicked in, he shuffled slowly and rested frequently.

“Go ahead,” he said, when the others waited for him beneath the jumble of trees that lined the jeep track like a dishevelled boulevard. “Don’t treat me like a special needs person.”

His friends exchanged glances and ambled on. They didn’t stop again but moved so slowly they might as well have. Derek pretended not to notice. Although the trees provided some shelter, it wasn’t enough to keep the group from being perpetually drenched. The squelching of his socks in his boots reminded Derek of a hike he, Michelle and Diane had undertaken on the mountainside near home when they were teenagers.

It had been a sunny, windless day and, after they’d walked for more than two hours, they stopped at a small dam a few kilometres from the end of the trail. Stripped to their underwear, the youngsters cavorted in the water for a while and then lay in the sun to dry. Diane sat up first.

“We should get going. My folks expect me for lunch,” she said.

“Really? I’m warm enough for another dip,” said Michelle. “A quick one?”

Diane shook her head. “You go. But quickly.”

“And you?” Michelle looked at Derek.

His underpants were almost dry. “Nah,” he said.

Michelle dived into the water, resurfaced and took a few strokes when Derek, who had just pulled on his shorts and boots, heard laughter and splashing. Two boys, slightly older than he, ran into the water behind Michelle. Derek glanced at Diane, surprised. They hadn’t realised there was anyone else at the dam.

Derek and Diane watched as the boys, their heads close and their voices muted, glided towards Michelle, who was the facing the other way. Derek stood up as the strangers drew closer to her. He recognised the surprise in her voice.

“Hey!”