‘True,’ she said. ‘So many different ones-’

‘Yes, and after a while everything seems unreal-or maybe it’s real-but how can you know when your surroundings seem to come and go? Are they near or far? What will it be like finding out? Or will we ever be able to find out at all?’

‘Hey, you’re a poet,’ she said, grudgingly impressed.

‘Nonsense,’ he said hastily. ‘I’m a serious-minded man, who disapproves of levity. And stop looking at me like that, you little cat. Sometimes I have to be serious-’

‘Or pretend to be.’

‘Or pre-Will you shut up, please? Listen to what I say, and be careful about false impressions.’

‘But maybe not all the impressions are false.’

‘Most of them out here are. Don’t get sentimental, just concentrate.’

‘Yes, sir!’ Mandy gave an exaggerated salute.

‘Behave yourself!’

This time she didn’t answer in words, but her eyes said everything. He turned away quickly, yelling, ‘All right everyone, are we ready?’

Renzo went round the others, checking ropes, and Mandy gave a small, private smile. Without meaning to, she’d touched on a side of him that he preferred to keep private. Interesting. Very, very interesting.

They went further that day and finished up in a ‘hut’ that was an improvement on the last. Instead of dormitories with bunks, there were double rooms with comfortable beds. The food was excellent, and after a rewarding meal everyone gathered in the main room where a man was playing an accordion.

At first the dancing was boisterous, but after a while the tone softened and the crowd divided into couples. Joan, Mandy was amused to notice, had two suitors to chose from-three, if you included Henry, which nobody did.

Joan’s choice finally fell on a handsome young man called Peter. They circled the floor smoochily, then vanished together and weren’t seen again.

Renzo danced with every girl on his expedition, except Mandy, who was so occupied he couldn’t get near her.