‘Very few get it first time,’ Matt said, fetching the tomahawk. ‘D’you want another go?’

‘I think I’ll quit while I’m ahead,’ Rhona said, slightly overcome by her success.

Matt handed her an ace of spades card. ‘For an ace axe thrower.’

As Rhona stepped back to allow Jamie his turn, Blaze began barking at her and running back and forth towards the woods.

‘He wants you to go with him,’ Donald said. ‘Show you around.’

Rhona looked to Jamie.

‘I could be here a while,’ he said as his first attempt bounced off the wooden backdrop and fell to the ground. ‘Maybe better if the ace player doesn’t watch. And Blaze seems pretty insistent.’

‘Okay,’ Rhona told the collie. ‘Take me for a walk and spare Jamie his embarrassment.’

According to Matt, the twelve-acre site where the airsoft games were played was thickly covered in birch trees, rising to open ground higher up. At first the dog followed a clear path through the lichen-covered trunks, where, on either side, the interwoven bare branches appeared impenetrable. At ground level it was obvious by the thick russet tangle that in spring and summer bracken would grow to waist height.

Overhead, the light was already beginning to fail as the midwinter solstice approached. Any snow that had fallen here had since melted, although through the spidery branches Rhona could still see the white-topped mountains.

All was silent apart from the panting of the dog as it ran a little ahead, turning frequently to check on Rhona’s progress. She passed two small clearings set up with wooden barriers for the pursued to hide from their attackers during airsoft games. At the top of the hill the trees parted to reveal a grassy clearing in the middle of which stood a wooden fort, where the defenders made their last stand.

At this, the highest position among the trees, the defenders might survive a concentrated attack from below, in much the same way that Scots had defended hilltops over the centuries. Rhona halted here to climb on the palisade and stare down into the skeleton trees, until Blaze barked at her to indicate she hadn’t yet reached her required destination.

With the path petering out, the dog now made off into the trees to the right of the fort, its bushy tail swaying.

Trying to follow, Rhona was immediately met by a web of interlocking branches which necessitated ducking and weaving, even as she stumbled over rocks buried under mounds of dying bracken.

If you’re chasing a rabbit or a deer, Blaze . . .

As Rhona paused for breath, she spotted Blaze a little distance ahead, standing to attention, the shaggy coat glistening with moisture from the undergrowth. The dog was looking towards her, obviously waiting for her to come and join him. Whatever Blaze wanted her to see, it seemed they had reached it.

Rhona began to force her way upwards through the undergrowth.