Milo’s forearm presses against mine. His skin is warm and sticky with sweat. ‘Can you see anything?’ he asks.
Honor, beside him, turns to look at me. ‘Are you sure it was Jefferson?’
Meg sighs noisily. ‘There’s no one in the bush.’
The questions and comments come thick and fast as I stare down from the cliff edge into the dark sea, searching the water for any sign of Jefferson. I’m lying on my stomach with Meg, Milo and Honor crowded close.
‘Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?’ Meg asks, on her hands and knees beside me. ‘I didn’t hear anything and I’m a light sleeper.’
‘No.’ I look at her. ‘Definitely not. There was someone up here, walking around the clearing. They heard the noise in the bush too. I thought it was one of the brothers and I was going to push him over the edge but then he spoke.’
‘Who spoke?’
‘Jeffers. It was him. I’m sure of it. I tried to grab him but he… I couldn’t. It was too late.’
‘But why would he jump off the cliff?’ Honor asks. ‘He hates heights.’
‘There!’ Milo hisses, pointing downwards. ‘I just saw movement. There are two people down on the rocks.’
‘Where?’
I squint down at the dark mass that seems to loom out of the sea. There’s nothing there. Milo must be—
‘I see them!’ As the weak dawn sun lights up the edge of the rocks two shapes emerge from the gloom. ‘There! Right on the edge of the rocks, one standing, one sitting.’
‘Is it Jeffers and Danny?’ Honor asks.
‘Shout out their names!’ Meg says.
‘No!’ I hiss. ‘No one shout anything. We don’t know for sure that it’s them.’
‘I thought you said you were sure it was Jeffers.’
‘I was. But…’ I squint into the darkness, ‘what if I’m wrong? What if we shout and it’s Jack and Josh?’
Milo makes a dismissive noise. ‘Screw it, I’m shouting.’
But before he can, one of the people on the rock turns towards us and waves both arms.
‘It’s Danny,’ Honor breathes. ‘It’s definitely him.’
Twenty minutes later we all crowd around Danny and Jeffers and hug the hell out of them as they emerge, puffing and panting, from the jungle.
‘Why are you wet too?’ Honor asks Danny.
‘Someone pulled me in with him!’
‘Sit down, sit down.’ Milo shepherds them towards the centre of the clearing where our bags are stacked. Jeffers hangs back.
‘Are you OK?’ I touch a hand to the damp sleeve of his T-shirt as he stares past the rucksacks to the cliff edge. ‘I’m so sorry. I tried to stop you, but by the time I realized it was you, it was too late.’
‘I thought I was going to die.’ He looks at me, his pupils huge and black despite the light creeping over the horizon.
‘Oh, Jeffers.’ I reach out and hug him, feeling his body trembling in my arms. Neither of us says a word for several seconds then he pulls away and runs his hands through his hair.
‘Are you OK?’ he asks. ‘They didn’t hurt you, did they? The brothers. They didn’t…’ he tails off.
‘No.’ I shake my head. ‘Josh made some pretty nasty threats but Jack warned him off.’
‘Are you talking about who I think you’re talking about?’ Danny sidles up to us, his arm around Honor’s waist.
‘Do you think they’ve always been here?’ Honor asks. ‘Do you think they cut the boat cord and…?’ She shudders, ‘Did the thing with the spiders?’
I shrug. ‘I don’t know. When I searched their boat all I found were little rucksacks, the sort you’d use for day trips. And they both looked really fresh – clean clothes, clean hair – they definitely didn’t look like they’d been here for a while.’
Milo walks over to us too. He rubs a hand over the back of his neck then moves his head to the left then the right, stretching out the muscles at the top of his shoulders. He looks as tense and exhausted as I feel. ‘I think we should do what Meg suggested and take their boat.’
‘We can’t. I’ve already told you, they’ve got the keys.’ Milo looks around our small group. ‘There’s six of us and we’re armed now. Jeffers, have you still got your knife?’
‘Yep.’ He reaches down and pulls it out of the top of his boots.
‘I’ve got a screwdriver.’ Danny reaches into the deep pocket in his cargo shorts.
‘And we’ve got a fruit knife and two spears,’ Honor says.
‘Guys,’ I say. ‘I’m not sure about this.’
‘No one’s suggesting we kill anyone,’ Milo says. ‘We just want to scare them into handing over the keys.’
‘That’s assuming they’re still here,’ Jeffers says.
We all look at each other. There’s only one way to find out.
‘It’s gone.’
I don’t know whether I’m relieved or disappointed as we step out of the jungle onto the ‘new beach’ and stare out to sea. There’s no boat bobbing on the water. Other than two pairs of footprints that lead from the jungle to the sea, there’s no sign that Josh and Jack were ever here.
‘Well, I guess that’s that.’ Milo sighs heavily then drops onto the sand and stretches out his arms and legs as he stares up the sky. ‘We’re stuck here for another two nights.’
Meg nudges him with the edge of her flip-flop. ‘At least no one got hurt.’
As Honor and Danny wander towards the sea, and Meg makes noises about looking for fruit and heads back into the jungle with Jefferson, I plop myself onto the sand next to Milo. He turns to look at me.
‘Are you OK?’
‘Are you?’
He smiles. ‘I asked first.’
The truth is I don’t know how I feel. I’m glad there wasn’t a fight, but I can’t relax. I still feel on edge.
‘I just want to get off this island, Milo. I feel like something bad’s going to happen. First you fall into that pit, then Honor gets covered in spiders, then Jefferson falls off the cliff. He was lucky he landed in the sea, not on the rocks.’
He flips onto his stomach and watches Meg and Jefferson as they disappear into the jungle. ‘Do you think my sister’s OK?’
I follow his gaze. ‘I don’t think anyone’s OK.’
‘I just… I dunno. One minute she’s sniping at me, the next she’s acting all concerned.’
‘Isn’t that always the way it’s been between you?’
‘Well, yeah, pretty much. But something’s bugging her and she won’t tell me what it is. Whenever I try and talk to her she shrugs me off. Has she said anything to you?’
‘Not a word.’ This is probably where I should tell him what Jeffers and Danny told me, about Meg saying he’s still in love with his ex, but I don’t feel ready to have that conversation. Particularly not now, after the night we’ve all had.
Instead I look towards the sea where Danny and Honor are walking hand in hand through the shallow water. ‘Honor’s so different when she’s with him.’