‘Sorry?’ Solomon looked confused.

‘That my name is Cat and I can’t go near them!’

‘Oh yes!’ And his eyes lit up as they carried on discovering common ground: neither was remotely artistic, both were good swimmers, and they shared a passion for maps and globes. But weirdest of all – really weirdest – was that they were both left-handed lapsed Catholics who were off to study medicine in October.

‘Cardiff. What about you?’ she said when he asked which medical school.

‘Cambridge, actually. Trinity,’ he said, a bit embarrassed.

‘Wow – brain box then,’ she laughed.

‘No, not really. Just lucky. I had a cousin went to Cardiff,’ he said, changing the subject. ‘He had an amazing time.’

‘Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. And it’s far enough away from home for me to feel like I’m doing my own thing, but near enough if I run out of food or can’t afford the launderette.’ Catrin smiled.

It was like discovering a long-lost friend. When he was talking she’d steal secret glances at him. Not in the way strangers look at each other when they’re engaged in polite chat on a bus journey to a Cretan gorge. These glances felt almost voyeuristic: she was absorbing him, taking in the texture of his cropped, black hair and the way he ruffled it when he was trying to remember a name; taking in the deep brown tones of his laughing eyes, which she noticed were flecked with hazel. She’d just begun following the contours of his lips when she realized he’d asked her a question.

‘Sorry?’ she asked, feeling caught out.

‘The Agia Irini Gorge?’ Just wondered if you’d done it,’ he said. ‘It’s much shorter than the Samaria – like, three hours? And loads quieter, ’cos less people know about it.’

‘Oh right – well, to be honest I had to persuade the girls to come today, so it’s doubtful they’d do a second gorge. I suppose I could always go on my own …’ she mused, aware that she was hinting for him to join her. Ridiculous – she’d only known him half an hour.

‘Yes, why not? You’ll be perfectly safe,’ he replied. Her hint had clearly been too subtle. But then he took her completely by surprise. ‘I’d have offered to come with,’ he said, ‘but we’re going home tonight. Eleven p.m. flight. Squeezing this trip in, to be honest.’

‘Oh!’ She couldn’t help showing her disappointment. And thought she detected his, too.

Before she could find out, their conversation was brought to an abrupt end by Angelina announcing their arrival at the entrance of the National Park. Lana and Judith stretched and stirred. ‘Aw, I was having an amazing dream,’ Lana mumbled sleepily. ‘There was this dog and it was wearing my shoes!’

Solomon stood up and pulled down his rucksack from the overhead rack. Catrin sensed he wanted to carry on talking, or maybe even ask if he could join them on the hike, but the people behind him were impatient for him to move on, eager to get off the bus.