‘But you’re happy telling Honor what to do.’
He raises his eyebrows. That came out of nowhere. Or did it? He’s seen Meg taking enough swipes at her brother this holiday. But then they’re all getting a bit snippy with each other because everyone’s tired and hungry and fed up. The only person who hasn’t had a go at him is Milo, although even he was a bit off when Danny asked him how he felt about Jessie. Being disliked isn’t something Danny’s ever really experienced before. As a kid at primary school he had a massive gang of friends. Other kids would always shout hello on the walk home, prompting his mum to nudge him and whisper, ‘Say hello back, Danny.’
‘Never mind me and Honor,’ he says now. ‘What’s going on with you? I’ve seen the way you look at Milo and Jessie.’ He imitates Meg’s narrow-eyed glare.
‘Wow.’ She raises her eyebrows. ‘Deflecting your own issues with a bit of stirring, are we?’
‘No. Are you?’
She laughs. ‘Touché! For what it’s worth I haven’t got a problem with Jessie. I don’t want her to get hurt, that’s all. Milo’s playing with her. He thinks he’s being the nice guy, giving her loads of attention because of what she went through, but he’s leading her on. If he carries on the way he is she’s going to get her heart broken. And anyway…’ she tails off deliberately.
Danny gives her a long look. ‘Anyway what?’
‘He’s in love with someone else.’
‘Who?’
Meg’s lips part as though she’s about to reply then she holds up a hand and presses a finger to her mouth, gesturing for him to listen.
A slow smile forms on his face and he punches the air. ‘It’s the waterfall. Thank God for that!’
Silence greets them when they return to camp. Milo, Honor and Jessie are lying in the shelter, eyes closed, seemingly asleep. The fire is blazing but there’s no fish roasting above it, just a pan full of bubbling water. Sitting next to the fire, resting on his rucksack and hacking at the end of a long branch, is Jeffers. He raises an eyebrow at Danny and Meg as they glug at the water bottles they refilled at the waterfall.
‘Well?’
Danny wipes his hand over the back of his mouth then screws the top back on the bottle. ‘We didn’t make it across to the other side of the island.’
‘Get lost, did you?’
‘No,’ Danny says as Meg says, ‘Yes.’
‘Find anything interesting?’
‘Not particularly,’ Meg replies, ‘but we had to look. It’s suspicious, isn’t it? First the boat cord…’ Danny looks over at the boat, gently bobbing at the edge of the sea, ‘and then the trap. Didn’t Jessie’s spear go missing, too?’
Jeffers shrugs. ‘Probably got swept out on the tide.’ He nods at the piece of wood in his hands. ‘I’m making another one. Someone has to if we want to eat.’
‘For God’s sake,’ Milo’s voice rings out of the shelter. ‘Stop being such a bloody martyr, Jefferson. We’re all doing our bit.’ He inclines his head towards Jessie and Honor snoozing beside him. ‘They haven’t eaten either and you didn’t hear either of them bitching and moaning when they got back from setting up the fishing net.’
Danny exhales softly. He can’t remember Milo ever snapping at Jeffers before. Or anyone really, other than his sister. He’s not sure if it’s the sun, hunger, worry or if something else is bugging him.
‘We know you’ve got more food in your rucksack but did you offer it to the girls?’ Milo adds. ‘Did you hell.’
‘They’re emergency rations,’ Jefferson snaps, ‘and we’re not there yet. You’ll thank me when we are.’
‘What do you mean “we’re not there yet”? I’d say we’re absolutely bloody there. Everyone’s hungry, Jeffers. They’re tired. I’m tired.’
‘I get it. But there’s food for the taking on this island. We can scavenge, fish and hunt. A few pieces of biltong aren’t going to fill you up.’
‘No? I bet you take some with you when you sneak off into the forest when the rest of us aren’t looking. I wouldn’t be surprised if you set the trap. Hoping to land yourself a boar, were you, so you could lug it back on your shoulders like some kind of action hero?’
‘Milo.’ Meg gives him a sharp look. ‘Dial it down.’
‘No, no.’ Jeffers holds his hands up then gets to his feet. ‘Carry on venting, Milo, but I’m sick of listening. You guys obviously think I’m a joke. So do what you want. I’ve given up caring.’
Danny stares after him as he storms off down the beach, spear and knife in one hand, machete in the other, his rucksack slung over his back.
‘Jefferson!’ Meg shouts after him. ‘Jeffers, come back!’
It’s dark when Meg returns to the camp and plonks herself down on the sand next to her brother.
‘Well done,’ she says. ‘He’s not coming back. He’s set up his own camp.’
Milo groans. ‘I shouldn’t have had a go. I was tired but I couldn’t sleep because my ankle was hurting and the sand flies were doing my head in. I’ll go and talk to him and say I’m sorry.’
‘No. Don’t. He wants to be left alone tonight. Go and find him in the morning. He’s over by the rocks.’ She points to the right. ‘There, but further back, in the jungle.’
Jessie gets to her feet. ‘I’m going to find him. Seriously, no one should be alone out here.’
Honor gets to her feet too. ‘I’m coming with you.’
The guilt Danny’s been feeling ever since Jeffers left builds to boiling point and he reaches for her hand.
‘I’ll come too. Part of the reason I went into the jungle with Meg was to wind him up. I’ll talk him into coming back.’
‘Oh my God!’ Meg starts to laugh. ‘You lot are such a bunch of divas. Sit down! Seriously, Jeffers is fine. He just wants a bit of headspace. A few hours alone. He’ll be fine in the morning.’
Danny frowns. ‘I dunno.’
‘Seriously, Dan, if you go over there you’ll just piss him off. He wants to be alone for a night. Guys, he’ll be fine, honestly. Now, is there any fruit at all, anywhere? I’m starving.’
Danny is so tired he feels sick but, no matter how much he shuffles around in the shelter, he can’t get comfy. The banana leaf mattress that was such a novelty on the first night now feels thin and unwieldy. His sleeping bag smells of smoke and damp and he’s sweating his arse off. He’d be cooler if he slept in his clothes but the bag is the only protection he’s got against the sand crabs that scuttle across the beach in the night and the flies, mosquitos and midges that buzz in his ear when he’s trying to sleep.
Three more nights, he tells himself as he tightens the toggles of his sleeping bag around his face. Just three more nights and then a boat will speed across the sea and whip them off the island and take them back to a comfortable hotel, breakfast buffets, warm showers and clean clothes.
Honor’s scream rips through Danny’s dream, jolting him awake. He sits up, heart pounding and stares into the darkness, confused and disorientated. The fire is out and all he can see is moonlight, dancing over the dark waves. He blinks, caught between a dream and reality, trying to make sense of his surroundings, but the screaming doesn’t stop. If anything it intensifies, filling his ears and piercing his brain, making him squint in pain. Something hits him clean in the chest and he recoils, twisting his body away as he’s hit again and again and again. The pain makes the fog in his brain clear and he raises a hand, shielding himself from his girlfriend’s whirring arms. She’s lying on the ground beside him, eyes closed, lips moving, but nothing she’s saying makes any sense.