‘I don’t think so,’ Elis says.
Reubyn shakes his head with the listless energy of someone who’s dismissed the question without giving it any thought.
George stares through the glass, running his knuckles over his jawline. ‘Burnfield? I don’t think so, either. Why do you ask?’
‘Oh, it’s one of my trolls. No big deal.’
Miles goes back to his phone. After a minute of thumbing the screen, he cocks his head. ‘Pol’s gone to the pub.’ He turns his screen so they can see. On it is a picture from Polly’s Instagram; she’s leaning back in the half-shade of a parasol, a wine glass resting in her hand.
‘Marvellous,’ George says, rubbing his hands together. ‘Where is she? Let’s join her.’
Miles taps at his phone. ‘I’ll find out.’
Elis clears his throat. ‘Oh, come on, it’s too early for the pub, isn’t it, fellas? There’s other stuff we can do.’
‘Like what?’ George asks, seriously.
‘Well, there’s this steamboat that takes you out on the lake for—’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake!’ George shakes his head. ‘Can you stop trying to be Captain Cook for five minutes and just chill out a bit?’
Miles laughs, and Elis clenches his jaw. He feels a sting of real irritation – not so much towards George but at Miles. George’s moronic comments are to be expected, but Miles should have his back.
‘It’s two o’clock in the afternoon,’ Elis protests, a vein burning in his forehead. ‘The day is young.’
‘Yeah, and we’ve all scaled a mountain this morning,’ George says. ‘I think that means we’ve earned ourselves a nice drink.’
Miles shrugs. ‘He’s got a point.’
Elis mutters under his breath. But there’s no time for any acrimony to fester in the cabin – they’ve arrived. They file out, and George slings an arm around Miles, glancing over his shoulder at Elis as he guides Miles out on to the street and towards the town. Elis hangs back with Reubyn, who staggers out, visibly disorientated. Elis grinds his teeth. What has he signed up for here? A two-week piss-up? They’re in New Zealand, for God’s sake, and all these guys can think of to do is go to the pub. It’s such awaste. They make it out on to the street, and Reubyn slumps his backside on a low wall and hangs his head. The colour is returning to his cheeks, but he still looks pathetic, drawing the long deliberate breaths of the infirm.
Elis places a light hand on his shoulder. ‘How are you feeling, man?’
‘I’m fine. Just give me a minute.’
‘I’m sorry – I didn’t know about your thing with heights; you were fine on the plane, weren’t you? Anyway, I didn’t realise it would be that steep.’
‘It’s fine. I’m just glad to be off the bloody thing.’
Reubyn takes a bottle of sunscreen out of his bag and wearily smears factor 50 on to his forearms and head. It’s already his second application of the day. When he’s done, Elis offers his hand and hauls Reubyn to his feet.
‘George can be a bit of a prick, can’t he?’ Elis says.
Reubyn raises an eyebrow. ‘Oh, I know he can be a bit much, at times. But he’s all right, really.’
‘I get the feeling he’d rather I wasn’t here.’
Reubyn shakes his head. ‘That’s not true. He can be a bit full-on, but he doesn’t mean anything by it. You get used to him.’ Reubyn registers the doubt lines on Elis’s forehead and adds: ‘Honestly, he’s just having a laugh.’
‘I’ll take your word for it.’
Reubyn appears suddenly brighter, but Elis still sets a slow pace; it’s only a ten-minute walk to where the town’s bars are clustered on the lakefront, and he’s in no hurry to get there. As he strolls, Elis’s eye tracks along the ragged outline of the mountainous horizon. On a day like this, there must be plenty of climbers on those peaks, all in ascension towards life’s most momentous moments; up there – where freedom is a real, touchable thing – ambitions are being met, bucket lists ticked, summits reached in eruptions of endorphins. His sight rests upon the highest visible point, a knuckle of rock raised triumphantly against the blue sky, and he imagines what it’d be like to be there standing on it, staring back down.
‘Hey,’ Reubyn says, wiping the image from Elis’s mind, ‘you know I told you I had a surprise for us?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Well, it’s all confirmed. I think Miles is going to really love it. Do you want to see?’
