By the time it started getting dark, everyone was dead on their feet. I didn’t know how far we’d come. Miles, it felt like; deeper into the forest than any of us had ever been before. And we hadn’t found anything, needless to say. As the light had begun to fade, the others seemed more worried about looking over their shoulders than at the ground around their feet. The girls, anyway. Fash, too. As though they were thinking about the night before – about whatever had happened at our camp. But again, I didn’t know whether they were genuinely worried or they were only doing it for effect.
‘What’s that?’ said Luke, from up ahead.
I looked where he was pointing, but all I could see were shadows along the bank. We’d stuck with the stream all day, and gradually the terrain had begun to change. The banks either side of the stream had got steeper, the water further below our feet.
‘Is that a cave?’ Luke said, and he waited for the rest of us to catch up.
I turned on my torch. Sure enough, just in front of us, there was a cavity in the side of the bank. It was as though the roots from the trees above it had opened up a crevice in the rock. It was hard to tell how far back it went, because the torch light was swallowed by the dark.
‘Uh-uh. No way,’ said Abi. ‘I’m not going in there.’
‘Who said anything about going in there?’ said Cora.
‘Although it would get us out of the rain,’ said Luke. ‘And we need a place to sleep, right? Unless anyone was planning on heading home tonight?’
Which was out of the question, obviously. We’d have struggled to make it back to the clearing we’d slept in before daybreak, let alone all the way to the river.
‘At the very least, we have to take a look,’ I said.
‘Take a look?’ said Abi. ‘Why?’
‘What do you mean, why? Why do you fucking think?’
‘Chill out, Mason,’ said Cora. ‘Jesus.’
‘Well, I’m going in,’ I said, ignoring her. ‘Is anyone with me?’
I looked at Fash, who didn’t move. Luke shrugged and made to follow me.
‘Guys,’ said Abi, grabbing hold of Luke’s arm. ‘Seriously. I didn’t want to say anything before, but I’m pretty sure I heard someone following us. If we all go in that cave, they could … I don’t know. Trap us, or –’
‘Christ almighty,’ I said. ‘Here we go again. What did you hear exactly, Abi? When? And why didn’t you say anything earlier? It’s not like you to hold back if there’s moaning to be done.’
Cora shook her head, tutting at me, but she didn’t say anything. Fash just stared at the floor.
‘OK, OK,’ said Abi. ‘Maybe I didn’t hear anything exactly, but I definitely kept getting this feeling. Like someone was watching me, you know? There’s somebody out there, I know there is!’ She looked around, over her shoulder, and I realised how much light had gone already.
‘I wouldn’t worry, Abi,’ I told her, winking. ‘It was probably just a ghost.’
And I turned my torch towards the cave, and led the way into the dark.
Abi
He’s such an arsehole.
And it wasn’t just out there in the woods. I told you before, he could be like that even before Sadie went missing. With me, with Fash, with all of us. With Sadie, too. It’s like, when he got that way – all sarky and bitter and cruel – I had to wonder why she even stayed with him. Although, if you ask me, she only did because she was worried what he’d do if she tried to split up with him. Take that time on the beach, for example, when him and Sadie ended up having an argument, and ruining the whole night for everyone else. Sadie accused him of being, like, overbearing or something. Is that the word? Of being like her dad, basically, is what she said. Like, always wanting to know what she was doing, what she was thinking. And Mason said it was only because he loved her, and Sadie said, Well, sometimes it’s just too much. And Mason said, If you feel that way, then why didn’t you tell me? And Sadie said she was telling him, right now, and Mason said, Fine, if that’s the way you feel, I’ll leave you the fuck alone. And he stormed off, and Cora went after him, and I ended up going after Cora, because she had all my stuff in her bag, but not before Sadie started crying. And then, right away after, she was all laughing and that, but in a sad way, going, I guess it’s true what people say, that girls always end up marrying their fathers. Not that she meant actually getting married. I mean, God, can you imagine? Although Mason used to talk about it, too, and he always made out like he was joking, but you just knew, watching him, that actually he wasn’t joking at all. Which I guess is partly what Sadie meant about Mason being like her dad. About wanting to keep her for himself.
So yeah. Arsehole. That’s all I’m trying to say.
And obviously I didn’t want to go inside the cave. Because I wasn’t lying when I’d said I thought someone was following us. Obviously I wasn’t lying. Plus, the cave itself … I mean, I’m not totally stupid. I knew what Mason was suggesting. The reason he insisted we look inside. He thought Sadie might have been in there. Somehow. And to be honest, I did, too.
‘What’s that smell?’ said Fash, as he followed Mason in. The rest of us were hanging back on the edge of the stream. Cora because she was just as scared to go
