"It'll have to do for now," she says, shrugging. "Hopefully we can find something resembling civilization soon. Until then, we'll do the best with what we've got."

The eternal optimism of a five-year-old who has known very few disappointments in her time, and overcome most of them afterwards by a combination of tenacity and cleverness, is not to be sneered at. Beaming, she takes a look around, picks a direction, and sets off down the road.