‘There was an earthquake,’ Billy said. ‘Didn’t you feel it?’
Everyone stared at him.
‘Are you losers pretending you were in an earthquake to explain why you came in last?’ scoffed JJ. ‘Pathetic.’
Ling-Fei looked at Old Gold. ‘We really did feel an earthquake – the trees were jumping and everything!’
Old Gold’s mouth flattened into a stern line. ‘Ling-Fei,’ he said, ‘don’t make up stories. Especially not about something so dangerous!’
‘But…’ Ling-Fei started. Old Gold hushed her with a quick shake of his head.
‘That’s enough,’ he said. ‘I was hoping you would be able to help your team, Ling-Fei, not hinder them.’
‘She was an excellent help,’ said Charlotte. ‘We solved the riddle! Dragon fruit. And we were on our way to find it through Monkey Pavilion when we saw a tiger!’
There was a pause before JJ started laughing. Loud and mean. ‘If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable. There are no tigers in this forest.’
The other kids began to giggle.
Charlotte turned red. Billy wasn’t sure if it was from anger or embarrassment or both.
‘And Monkey Pavilion?’ said Old Gold, his frown getting deeper. ‘Ling-Fei, you know that is off limits. You broke the rules and didn’t even complete the task?’
‘Typical Ling-Fei,’ sneered JJ.
Ling-Fei looked as if she was about to cry. Billy stepped forward.
‘I know what we felt,’ he said, trying to make his voice as confident as he could, as if he was someone to be taken seriously. ‘Something happened in that forest.’
‘Yeah, you got lost,’ said JJ, snickering.
‘Billy,’ said Old Gold more gently, ‘I am sure you are all disappointed. But, if you are going to lose, lose with dignity. Lying doesn’t help anyone.’
Billy looked at his team and shrugged. It was obvious nobody was going to believe them.
‘We’re sorry, Old Gold,’ Dylan blurted. ‘We got carried away. It’s my fault. I thought I saw something in the trees and we followed it and got lost. That’s what happened.’
‘I see,’ said Old Gold. ‘Well, I must say, I’m disappointed. Especially in you, Ling-Fei.’
Ling-Fei hung her head.
‘You’ve not only come in last, but you’ve ruined the celebration for the team that came in first,’ he said, pointing at the group with the bamboo. ‘Instead of celebrating their win, we are focusing on your loss.’
‘Well done,’ said Billy half-heartedly, giving the other team a thumbs up. It felt ridiculous to be chastised for being poor sports when they were still reeling from surviving both the earthquake and the tiger. Charlotte may have been upset that they had lost, but Billy felt more frustrated that nobody believed what had happened.
‘Congratulations,’ said Charlotte through clenched teeth. Dylan managed a smile, but he could see Ling-Fei was still too distraught to say anything.
‘Now, where were we?’ said Old Gold. ‘Ah, yes, congratulations to our winners! You have won our Great Race.’
Later, the friends sat huddled round a small table in the back corner of the canteen and spoke in hushed voices.
‘I don’t get it. How did nobody else feel the earthquake?’ said Billy, taking a bite of stir-fried noodles. The other campers kept glancing at them and whispering, and he was glad to have the other three with him. They really felt like a team now.
‘I don’t understand,’ said Dylan, shaking his head. ‘It’s… well, not impossible, but highly implausible.’
‘And how do you explain the disappearing tiger?’ said Charlotte. ‘And you know what? For as much as JJ is an absolute jerk, I don’t think he was lying when he said there aren’t tigers around here. Something weird is going on.’
They ate in silence, trying to make sense of it all.
‘To be honest, I wouldn’t believe it if the three of you hadn’t seen the same thing,’ said Dylan.
‘Me neither,’ said Billy. He paused and looked down at his noodles, feeling too awkward to look his new friends in the eye, considering what he was about to say. ‘I’m glad we were all together for it.’ Even though he had only met Dylan, Charlotte and Ling-Fei the day before yesterday, after what they had been through, he felt like he’d known them much longer.
‘Same,’ said Charlotte.
‘Me too,’ said Ling-Fei.
‘How are you feeling, Ling-Fei?’ said Billy. ‘Old Gold was hard on you.’
Ling-Fei shrugged. ‘He’s right to be disappointed,’ she said. ‘I shouldn’t have taken you out of bounds.’ She raised her hand to her neck, and suddenly started looking around frantically. ‘My necklace!’ she said with a gasp. ‘It’s gone! It must have fallen off when we were chasing the tiger.’ Billy could see she was blinking back tears. ‘My grandmother gave it to me. It’s been in my family for generations. It’s my most treasured possession.’
‘Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?’ said Charlotte.
They all stared at her.
‘What is?’ said Billy.
‘We have to go back,’ said Charlotte.
‘What?’ sputtered Dylan.
‘We have to help Ling-Fei find her necklace,’ said Charlotte. ‘And it isn’t just that.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Didn’t you all feel… whatever that was? By the mountain?’
‘I felt the earthquake,’ said Dylan. ‘And it made me want to stay as far away from the mountain as possible. And that tiger.’
‘But the tiger disappeared,’ said Billy. ‘Like it was…’ He paused. None of them had said the word out loud.
‘Magic,’ said Charlotte. ‘Like it was magic.’
Dylan rolled his eyes. ‘Oh, please. It wasn’t magic! There’s no such thing as magic. Just like there is no such thing as a river of dragon blood. Trust me, I’m from Ireland, the supposed home of fairies and leprechauns and all kinds of magic. I would know if magic was real.’
‘So how do you explain the disappearing tiger?’ said Charlotte.
‘Maybe it just jumped into its hidey-hole in the mountain,’ said Dylan. ‘Maybe it was a group hallucination. That can happen, you know.’
‘The only way to figure out what it was is to go back,’ said Billy. And, as he said it, he realized that he was glad they had a reason to return to the forest. Glad to go back to
