I look at him in alarm. ‘Where was she?’
‘In the jungle. She said she needed a wee. She said she’d meet us here.’
‘No.’ I shake my head. ‘No way. Meg’s been a bit off with me this holiday but she’s not a psychopath. She wouldn’t deliberately set light to me.’
‘You’re right.’ He rubs his hands over his face and groans. ‘Of course you are. I can’t believe I’d even say that. Seriously, this place is getting to me. Big style.’
‘Well, whoever’s behind it knows what we’re really scared of.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, I lied, didn’t I?’ I say. ‘Like Danny said. That first night when I said my fear was vomiting. Whoever did this knows I’m terrified of fire, not sick. And… oh my God…’ I touch a hand to my lips as a memory comes flooding back. ‘I know why Danny ran off. He didn’t say “you lied about your phobia”. He said “you lied about your phobia too”.’
‘So he’s not really claustrophobic?’
‘No, but I don’t know what he’s really—’ I break off as the bushes rustle behind us and Danny emerges from the jungle. He looks a state – absolutely dripping with sweat, his dirty hair slicked back and his T-shirt and shorts clinging to his body.
‘You guys all right?’ He shuffles towards us with Jefferson’s rucksack in one hand. He drops it onto the sand. Before I can ask him about his phobia he says, ‘Where’s Honor?’
I twist round, searching the beach, the sea and the edge of the forest for a small blonde figure. I can’t remember the last time I saw her. All my attention was on Milo as I dragged myself out of the sea.
‘She’s collecting empty bottles…’ Milo turns to point towards the remains of the shelter. There’s no one there. ‘Oh. She must have gone off to the waterfall.’
‘When?’ Danny asks.
Milo shrugs. ‘I’m… not sure. I didn’t actually see her leave.’
‘Jessie?’ Danny asks.
‘I haven’t seen her. Not since I swam over from the new beach.’
‘And when was that?’
‘I’m not… I can’t be sure.’
‘Think! How long?’
‘I don’t know… an hour… maybe two?’
All the colour seems to drain from Danny’s face. ‘For God’s sake! Honor’s been gone for up to two hours and none of you thought to look for her?’ He glares down at me. ‘And you call her your friend? If anything’s happened to her, I’ll never forgive you.’
‘Danny, wait!’ I shout as he turns and sprints back into the jungle. ‘I’m sure she’s fine. She’ll just be—’
Milo ducks down to grab a bottle of water. ‘He’s right,’ he says. ‘She’s been gone too long. We need to look for her. Now.’
We head for the waterfall, running at first, then walking as the undergrowth grows thicker and our throats dry from repeatedly shouting Honor’s name. Danny leads the way, followed by me, then Milo.
‘Where did you go?’ I ask as he holds a vine up for me to duck under. ‘When you took Jefferson’s rucksack.’
He waits for Milo to pass under the vine too then swipes a hand over his forehead, slicking away the sweat that covers his brow.
‘I wanted to see what he had in there,’ he says as he falls in step with me.
‘And?’
‘Food, mostly dried and canned meat. A first-aid kit. Some other prepper bits and bobs. But mostly food. No wonder he was happy setting up camp on his own.’
My stomach rumbles at the thought of meat and I’m tempted to ask Danny if he’s got any of Jefferson’s food that he could share with me. Instead I say, ‘Do you still think Jeffers is the one behind the phobias coming true?’
Danny gives me a sideways glance. ‘Not unless he deliberately threw himself off the cliff.’
‘He didn’t. I was there.’
‘Did you see who was in the bushes?’
‘No. I—’
‘Could you see all the others?’
‘Well, no, not really. It was dark and we were all curled up around a pile of rucksacks. I couldn’t see anyone until Jeffers started stumbling through the clearing.’
‘So it could have been Meg, in the bushes?’
‘What could have been Meg?’ Milo says from behind us.
Danny turns sharply. ‘Nothing.’
‘He knows,’ I say. ‘About the snake. I told him.’
‘Yeah.’ Milo raises his eyebrows. ‘Cheers for that, mate.’
Danny looks affronted. ‘For what? Keeping quiet so you wouldn’t freak out?’
‘You could have told me. I’m not eleven anymore.’
‘Yeah, I know. But you wouldn’t have been able to sleep, would you? Knowing there were bloody great cobras slithering all over the place. You wouldn’t have come into the jungle to get water or look for food.’
‘I’m here now, aren’t I?’
‘Guys.’ I touch their arms. ‘Can we not do this now? Please? We’re supposed to be looking for Honor.’
The expression in Danny’s eyes switches from pissed off to concerned in a heartbeat and he nods sharply. ‘You’re right. We can talk about this later.’
‘And he thinks Jeffers is a control freak,’ Milo mutters under his breath as Danny breaks into a slow jog.
‘Don’t,’ I say. ‘The last thing we need is more arguments—’
‘Wait!’ Milo grabs my arm as I move to follow Danny. ‘What’s that?’
He points at a shrub, further down the route, just to our left. At first all I can see are flat, shiny leaves, but then I spot it, a flash of pink among the green. I crouch down and pull it out. It’s a flip-flop – pink with white polka dots and a sparkly, silver toe strap.
Milo reaches to touch it. ‘Is that—’
‘Honor’s. Yeah. She’s been wearing them all holiday.’ I look at him. ‘She never takes them off.’
As Milo searches the undergrowth for Honor’s other flip-flop I shout for Danny, screaming his name. He comes running, fear etched into every line of his face.
‘That’s Honor’s,’ he says, immediately spotting the flip-flop in my hands. He spins on the spot, staring wildly around the jungle as though he’s expecting his girlfriend to walk out from the trees at any second. ‘Where did you find it?’
We show him the spot and, like Milo, he crouches down and rummages among the scrub. He searches the next bush and the next one, muttering under his breath. When he stands up again his whole body is beaded with sweat.
‘Have they gone?’ he asks, looking from me to Milo. ‘The brothers? Have they definitely gone?’
Milo and I share a panicked look. Danny’s thinking what we’re thinking, that Honor wouldn’t just lose a shoe and carry on without it. I have a flashback to Josh and Jack shunting me through the jungle and my blood runs cold.
‘Yes,’ Milo says. ‘They’ve definitely gone. We told you, remember. You were sitting by the fire when we came back from our swim.’