We walked for ages. Hobbled, rather, in Cora’s case. I guess the road was farther than I’d thought. I’d figured we’d reach it in a couple of hours—three, tops—but when my watch showed four o’clock in the morning, there was no sign we were any nearer where we wanted to be. We’d left the cave at just past midnight, meaning we’d been moving for four hours straight. Personally speaking, I was exhausted. Cora was doing her best to hold most of her weight, but every so often she’d stumble, and catching her was getting harder and harder each time. But it just goes to show how afraid we all were, that not even Abi asked for a break.
“Why do you reckon whoever’s out there attacked Luke?” Cora said to me as we walked. Mason was still somewhere behind us, and Abi and Luke were up ahead.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe just because he was there. Because he was the one who got closest.”
I didn’t know if that was reassuring or not. I didn’t even know if I’d meant it to be.
We walked on, alert for any noises among the trees.
“Cora,” I said, after a moment. “Those voices you heard. Back there near the clearing. Did you recognize them?”
Cora shook her head. “To be honest I’m starting to wonder whether I heard anything in the first place. Or, if I did, whether it wasn’t just Mason and Luke.”
“But you said one of them was a girl’s voice.”
“That’s what I thought. At the time.”
Which made it sound as though she might have changed her mind.
“I’ve been wondering,” I said, after another pause. “About what Mason said before. I mean, you don’t think it could have been Lara, do you? Her and one of those cretins from the river? And this is all their idea of a practical joke?”
Cora nodded toward Luke. “Some joke,” she said. “Trying to decapitate someone with a tree branch.”
“Or not a joke then. Maybe they’re the ones worried about what we’ll find. Maybe Luke almost did find something. Maybe that’s why they attacked him.”
“Maybe,” said Cora. She thought for a minute. “Although . . . I mean, this is probably going to sound stupid. But if Lara were behind what’s been happening, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t feel this scared.”
She was wrong. It didn’t sound stupid at all.
“Shit.”
It was Luke’s voice, from up ahead.
“What’s wrong?” I called to him, and he and Abi slowed down enough for the rest of us to catch up. Mason was hanging back, still keeping his distance from the group.
“This torch is running out of juice, too,” said Luke. “It’s not going to last much longer.”
I’d noticed the light flickering as we walked, but had assumed it was something to do with the trees coming between us and the beam. But Luke was pointing it directly at our feet now, and I could see exactly what he meant. The light was weaker—rusty orange rather than bright white—and when Luke moved the torch even a fraction, the beam wavered.
“Turn it off a sec,” I said.
“No, don’t!” said Abi, panicking.
I was looking up at the sky. “Trust me,” I said. “Try it.”
When Luke did, the world went black. But only for a moment.
“You see?” I said. “It’s getting lighter. The sun must be coming up.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call this light,” said Cora, looking out into the gray.
“But we can see each other, at least,” I countered. “Which is more than we could without the torchlight before.”
“Jesus,” said Luke. “We must have been walking all night.”
“Do you think we’re nearly there yet?” said Abi. “The road. Or the edge of the forest. Or wherever it is we’re supposed to be going.”
I felt the slight optimism I’d been feeling wane. It wasn’t just the fact that we’d been walking for so long without any sign of progress. All of a sudden, the predawn light felt even creepier than the dark. It was like the difference between ducking your head under the covers at night, or daring to peer out into your bedroom. It should have been reassuring, being able to see better. But there were shapes out there in the shadows I didn’t trust.
“We’re still heading west,” I said to Luke. “Right?”
“See for yourself,” he answered, and he showed me the compass.
“Unless west is the wrong direction,” said Mason. He was standing just far enough away that I couldn’t see his expression, but I was fairly sure he was looking at me.
“Don’t say that,” said Abi. “Please don’t say we’ve been going the wrong way. Fash? We haven’t been, have we?”
“No,” I said. “No, I . . . No. South would have taken us the way we came. North would have led us deeper into the woods. East would have taken us to the river.” It sounded logical when I spelled it out like that, but even so, I found myself uncertain. It was because I was so tired, I expect. And not just from walking. Being on edge for so long, being afraid . . . It takes it out of you. I could tell the others were feeling it, too.
“I say we go back,” said Mason, and the rest of us turned to him, incredulous.
“Go back?” I said. “Go back where?”
“Where we just came from.”
“Are you joking?” said Cora.
But he wasn’t. “Has anyone heard anything?” he said. “Since the cave, I mean. The whole time we’ve been walking. Any footsteps? Any voices, Cora? Anything at all apart from the rain?”
“Just because we haven’t heard anything doesn’t mean there’s nothing out there,” Cora said. “It doesn’t mean we should be talking about going back.”
“Guys, look,” I said, interrupting. I pointed into the distance. The dark was definitely lifting,
