As Milo turns awkwardly Danny spots something on the other side of the pit that makes him clamp a hand to his mouth. Writhing and twisting against the muddy wall is a cobra. Danny holds his breath as the snake moves part way up the wall then drops back down again. The angle is too sheer but on the other side, where Milo’s hobbling onto his feet, it’s less steep. The snake seems to sense this and slowly slithers its way across the pit.
‘Quick, quick,’ Danny mutters as Milo reaches a hand up to Jefferson.
Jefferson and Milo’s hands meet and Jefferson leans back, taking Milo’s weight. He’s heavier than Jeffers, taller too. ‘You’ve got this,’ he puffs as Milo puts a foot to the wall of the pit.
As Milo takes another step, with his bad ankle, he cries out in pain and drops back into the pit, almost pulling Jefferson in with him.
As he lands the snake senses the vibration and slithers closer, leaving an S-shaped imprint in the soft soil.
Danny presses his other hand to his mouth. The urge to shout, to warn his friend, is almost more than he can bear. He knows how Milo will react. When they were eleven they all went to a zoo and Milo wouldn’t even enter the snake enclosure never mind put one around his neck like everyone else. Danny looks across to Jefferson who waves at him.
‘I could do with a hand here!’
‘Sure, sure, of course.’
Keeping his eyes on the snake, Danny carefully navigates the edge of the pit.
‘We’ll take a hand each,’ Jefferson says. ‘And pull him out. OK?’
Danny nods. Standing on this side of the crater he can see why Jefferson isn’t freaking out. You can’t see the snake with Milo in the way.
‘Ready?’ Jefferson asks, as he grabs Milo’s right hand and Danny grabs his left. ‘Three, two, one…’
Danny digs the heels of his flip-flops into the ground and leans back, pulling with all his strength. He can hear Milo’s feet scrabbling against the side of the pit and then boomf, all three of them collapse in a heap on the leafy jungle floor.
Chapter 11
JESSIE
Meg is glaring at us. ‘Could everyone please stop crowding my brother!’
We are all gathered around Milo, who is sitting by the fire with a wet towel wrapped around his ankle.
‘I was picking some mangos,’ he says, looking around the group, ‘and heard this whistling noise. I ignored it at first, I thought it was a bird, but it was… it was very distinct, like someone whistling a tune.’
‘It could have been a mynah bird,’ Jefferson says. ‘If there’ve been a lot of visitors here they might have learnt to imitate a human whistle. There was a bird in the market that could speak Thai and—’
‘OK, OK,’ Meg says. ‘We get it. You’re an expert on the local flora and fauna. Could you just let him finish his story?’
‘I was just looking for a logical explanation and there is one, so…’ Jeffers tails off and shrugs.
‘Anyway,’ Milo says, ‘I shouted hello but no one replied, so I headed in the direction of the noise. Next thing I knew I was falling and…’ He spreads his hands wide. ‘Hello, massive great hole.’
Honor looks puzzled. ‘How did you not see it?’
‘Because there wasn’t one! It wasn’t there.’
‘How can a hole just appear?’ I ask. Milo turns to look at me. It’s pretty much the first time we’ve made eye contact all day and I feel my cheeks warm. Neither of us has mentioned what nearly happened last night. After Danny interrupted us and suggested skinny dipping, Milo leapt to his feet, ripped off his clothes and ran into the sea without so much as an Are you coming in, Jessie? Not that I would have. As Danny joined him, his naked bum glinting in the moonlight as he ran into the water, I headed back to the camp. I was still awake when they came back, laughing and chatting and generally dicking about, but I kept my eyes closed and pretended to be asleep.
If he likes me Milo will lie down next to me, I told myself as he and Danny shuffled around, grabbing clothes and sleeping bags, but Milo didn’t take the space beside me. He lay on the other side of the shelter, beside Danny and Honor.
‘There wasn’t a hole,’ Milo says. ‘It didn’t look any different to the rest of the jungle, it was leaves and branches and moss and stuff.’
‘It was a trap,’ Jeffers says, closing the book he’s been studying for the last five minutes.
We all stare at him.
‘That hole wasn’t freshly dug. It had probably always been there but someone covered it over.’
‘How do you know?’ Meg asks.
‘No fresh soil, plants growing in the sides and the base—’
‘No, how do you know someone covered it?’
‘I had a look after Danny helped Milo back here. There were a load of branches in the bottom and around the sides, all snapped. When I matched them up they were long enough to cover the diameter of the hole. I imagine whoever placed them there covered them with leaves and moss.’
‘Maybe it was left by the last lot of guests,’ I say.
‘Or,’ Milo catches my eye, ‘we were right and there are other people on the island.’
‘What other people?’ Meg looks from her brother to me.
‘It’s just speculation,’ I say. ‘We were talking earlier. The island’s so big we thought there might be other people doing the same thing as us, but on the other side of the island.’
‘I don’t like that.’ Honor shuffles closer to Danny, who puts an arm around her shoulders and pulls her close. ‘It freaks me out.’
‘So we go and see if we can find them,’ Danny suggests. It’s pretty much the first thing he’s said since he got back from the jungle, supporting a limping Milo. Considering Milo was the one who fell into the pit, Danny looked as though he’d seen a ghost.
Meg raises a hand. ‘I’m up for seeing if there’s anyone else here.’
‘And me,’ I say.
Jefferson shakes his head. ‘There are jobs that need doing.’
Danny raises his eyebrows in disbelief. ‘You’re kidding? There could be another group of people on this island who are setting traps for us and you think we should stay here and mend nets and chop firewood?’
‘I do, yes. Our survival is paramount.’
‘Which is why we need to find out if we’re alone here or not! Look how freaked out all the girls are.’
‘Hello?’ I point at myself. ‘Not this girl.’
Meg glares at him. ‘Me neither.’
‘Fine. But if there are other people here they’ve obviously been listening to our conversations, like the one about our phobias the other night.’
‘Why obviously?’ I ask.
‘Well, not obviously…’ Danny corrects himself. ‘We don’t know what they’ve seen or heard.’
‘Oh God, Danny, don’t.’ Honor digs herself further under his arm.
Jeffers rolls his eyes. ‘Now who’s freaking her out?’
‘I just think,’ Danny sighs, ‘that that we need to check.’
‘And we can do it tomorrow, when we’ve got some water to take with us.’