They disappeared beyond the tree cluster near the top of the hill.

The climb had been long and filled with dazzling conversation, breathless as they reached a thousand metres above sea level, most entertaining at two thousand.

They all looked forward to water boiling at a lower temperature, and to those cooler nights.

One writer, a vagabond and a bond trader…and two librarians.

A sort of family. Certainly a group.

If they had not known each other for long, they were getting to know a lot about each other now.