‘What is it?’ said Scott. Even in the near dark, Carly could see the wariness on his face.He knows we’re not getting back there tonight.
‘I’m just thinking – and don’t freak out, it’s not that big a deal – but because it’s dark now and we’ve still got a way to go, we might be best to wait it out until it gets light – our torches can only light small patches of the ground in front of us. And even with them, it will be way too treacherous trying to walk in the jungle at night.’
She looked around the group and realized that in the brief time since they’d stopped walking, Mira was already squatting on the ground, resting.
‘And we’re all bloody knackered too, aren’t we?’ Carly wenton. ‘We’ve been through so much today. Let’s find a spot where there’s a bit of space to set up camp, and rest until dawn. Then we’ll get ourselves back to safety as soon as it’s light.’
‘You have got to be kidding,’ said Ben, mouth agape. ‘There’s no fucking way I’m staying out here all night. If someone did that to Hannah, they could still be out here somewhere. They might come after us next! Besides, we don’t have camping gear – no tents, no bedrolls, not even a sleeping sack. And what about the animals this far inside the jungle – who knows what kinds of predators might attack us?’ He ran both hands through his hair, slicking a damp blond lock back from his forehead.
‘Look, I know it’s not ideal, but I’m sure we can find a way to feel safe,’ Carly said. ‘One of us can stay awake and keep a lookout – we can take it in turns to get some rest. We can try and get comfy – we’ve got our jackets, some towels, a few spare tops to sleep on, and then those snacks and a bit of water left between us, haven’t we?’
‘I do need to rest for a bit,’ said Mira. ‘I’m not sure I can keep going much longer.’
‘I have to admit,’ said Scott, ‘even though we’ve been making progress, I was starting to wonder the same thing. It’s not safe to be trying to walk around the jungle in the dark. Carly’s right – we need to stop.’
‘Oh God,’ said Naya, her voice cracking. ‘I’m sorry, everyone, I know it’s what we need to do but – I’m just so desperate to get back. I want to go home, and I – I can’t stop thinking about Hannah, and if she really was murdered, and the killer is still out here – well, we’re not safe in this rainforest at all, let alone overnight.’
Her voice tailed off into quiet sobs. In the light of her torch, Carly saw Naya reach out an arm and stretch it around Mira’s shoulders. She felt a wave of compassion for them both, of pity, so strong that she nearly stumbled on the spot.
‘I know we’ve all had a terrible shock – we’re all tired and upset and scared,’ she said. ‘But it’s too dangerous to keep walking now. Far more dangerous than the risk of someone – or something – attacking us. Let’s find a spot to rest up for a few hours – then we’ll be on our way again as soon as it gets light.’
She looked around the others’ faces, gave them her warmest, most soothing smile. ‘We’ve just got to make it through the night,’ she said.
NAYA
The pink and white stick was burning a hole in Naya’s backpack.
As she sat propping up Mira in the small clearing they’d found, watching Scott and Ben clearing vines from the jungle floor in the near darkness, and Carly attempting to create a more comfortable surface to sleep on with a stack of large, soft leaves, Naya knew she couldn’t put it off any longer. The shock of the mudslide; of finding Hannah: the close-up, visceral reality of death; the panic about not getting back that evening; all of it had exacerbated her nausea, and the feeling of deep, bone-aching exhaustion she’d carried with her since before she left France.
And now, an extra sense of vulnerability: the risk of danger out here, the fear of running out of food and water. Dozens of questions darted around her brain – the uncertainty of it all was too much to bear.
At least there was one thing she might be able to get a clear answer about. She fished the pregnancy test from her bag, along with some tissues, shoved the test in her back pocket and stood up.
‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ she said, waving the tissues at the group.
‘Shall I come with you?’ said Scott. ‘It might not be safe to go off alone, especially now that it’s dark.’ He seemed to catch himself suddenly. ‘I mean, I won’t look or anything... I’ll turn around the other way.’
Naya suppressed a smile. ‘Ah, thank you, but I won’t go far. Just through the trees here, see? And I’ve got one of the torches you suggested we bring.’ She dug it out, switched the torch on and held it up to show them, its yellow glare giving the dim silhouettes of the trees a jarring, artificial glow.
Naya sensed, rather than saw, Scott’s eyebrows draw closer together. ‘OK, just make sure you stay close enough that we can hear you if you get in any trouble, right?’
She nodded, reached an arm towards him, grazed his elbow lightly. ‘Of course.’
Then Naya edged forward, parted the foliage in front of her, her flashlight guiding her to a large enough space between the trees, ten feet or so from the others, for her to comfortably – or near enough – squat on the jungle floor. She reached a hand behind her, retrieved the rectangular stick from her pocket, pulled off the cap, then put it back on again.
Would it even be accurate now, at this time of day? The tests picked up the hormone more easily in the morning. She could wait until then to try.
On the other hand, she was dehydrated so the concentration of her pee would be stronger than normal. And if she was as far along as she suspected, in all likelihood the test would work just as well, or not, at any time of the day.
Come on, Naya. It’s better to know. Thirty seconds, and you’ll know.
She inhaled, pulled down her shorts and held the stick between her legs. It had been years since she’d had to do this; she’d forgotten the trick of getting her aim right, and it was being made trickier by her cramped position and the darkness around her – but within a few seconds, she could see the tip of the stick darkening. That must be enough.
She rested the test carefully on the ground next to her, wiped herself with a tissue and pulled up her shorts. Sitting down on the mulchy earth, she picked the test back up and turned her torch onto the strip in its centre.
One line for negative. Two lines for positive.
The light of the torch wobbling in her shaking hand, Naya held her breath as the first line showed up; the test had worked, then. A few more seconds and she’d know, either way.
