"No, I was born in London," I told Luke. "In England. It was a very long time ago, though."

I climbed up through a gap in the roots and into the sunlight, then turned back to offer a hand to Luke to help him through. Charlie had always struggled to scramble up through the roots and he and Luke were about the same size, so I wanted to make sure Luke wasn't stuck trying to follow me.

"I was here... well, I'm not sure exactly. I think I've worked it out to being around forty or fifty years, but there are no real seasons here and it's difficult to keep track of the passing days."