‘No worries,’ he said. ‘Any time.’ His eyes were still on her face; she saw them move towards her mouth. She felt a stirring in her belly, lower. She tilted her face upwards.
‘We shouldn’t,’ Naya whispered, even as everything in her body was screaming that they should. ‘I – apart from everything else that makes this a bad idea, I took a test last night, and I’m—’Why am I telling him this?
‘Naya? You’re... what?’
‘I’m pregnant,’ she blurted. A flicker of shock passed across Scott’s features; she opened her mouth to tell him more. ‘And—’
‘Ah, sorry to disturb you two.’ At the sound of Carly’s voice, Naya pulled back from Scott’s arms, embarrassed. She hadn’t even finished her sentence – and there was so much more she wanted to say. ‘But we should really get going again – we’ve only got so much daylight left, and chasing after that bloody helicopter has taken us right off track again.’
Carly sounded breathless and a little irritated; Naya couldn’t blame her – they’d left her alone with Mira, who was stillstruggling to walk without help. ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘Sorry – let’s keep walking.’
Scott did his calculations again, using the map and the sun as their guide. Then they set off again in the direction they’d worked out was directly south – taking them back to The Hideaway, out of the rainforest.
‘Let me support Mira for a while,’ Naya said, taking Mira’s arm from where Carly was holding it and resting it gently around her shoulder. ‘I’ve got a little more energy now, and you could do with a rest, I think.’
‘Thanks, hun,’ said Carly. ‘You’re right, I’m flagging now – we all are.’
‘Just a bit longer now, hopefully,’ said Scott. ‘As long as we don’t get off track again, we should be back at the lodge soon enough.’
Naya desperately hoped he was right. She was still devastated that the helicopter had missed them. But in amongst her despair, she noticed, there was something else: a quiet sigh of relief.
You’re safer now.
She prodded at her thoughts, wondered where that had come from.
I feel safer without Ben.
That was it. Something in her had lightened, eased a little since Ben had left the group; since he’d turned and disappeared into the depths of the jungle. If she were honest with herself, she felt better without him there.
It was still difficult to believe that he’d murdered Hannah – killed her with a blow to the head, dragged her body into the jungle, left her there to rot under the dense canopy of trees. She couldn’t believeanyonecould do that. But too many signs were pointing to his guilt; too many things about him were just...off.
Naya’s foot caught on a fallen branch and she stumbled forward, stopping herself at the last second from landing flat on her face and taking Mira down with her. Her exhaustion, low-level nausea, the lack of water to drink – combined with the shock of everything they’d been through – it was all working together to chip away at her resilience, and, it seemed, her sense of balance. Shoving her way through the trees, attempting to half-carry, half-prop up Mira as she went – it had only been ten minutes of walking, and already she was exhausted, in desperate need of a rest.
‘You all right, Naya?’ said Scott. ‘We can take a break for a minute, if you need – and let me walk with Mira now.’
‘Ah, yes, you know, I’d appreciate that,’ said Naya. ‘I’m struggling a little, I have to admit.’
‘I’m sorry, Naya,’ Mira’s face was stricken. ‘I’m sorry for all of you, that you have to help me like this.’ She was close to tears.
Naya moved to face Mira, held onto her shoulders as she said, ‘Please, I don’t want you to apologize for anything. We are all taking care of each other out here, OK?’
Mira gave her a watery smile and moved to Scott, let him take her weight. Naya took a moment to enjoy the sensation of lightness; she stretched out her hands, her arms. She had needed that; her body had started to complain, but she hadn’t wanted to say anything, hadn’t wanted to let Mira down.
At ease now, her energy coming back, she took the knife from Scott and moved ahead of the other three, doing her bestto clear the way through trees and foliage for the others, cutting at the leaves to one side to help them pass more easily. After a few minutes, as she got into her stride, she started to walk a little further ahead from the group, checking behind her every few steps to make sure they were close by.
As she walked, she tuned into the sounds of the jungle: the rasping of tree frogs, the calls of toucans and the rhythmic hum of cicadas. For all of the horrors of the past day, there was no denying this was a magical place.
But as she listened now, she realized there was something else: a new sound, a different one. Not the chopper this time, but something else that made her chest swell with hope.
Something was moving; rushing past them.
Was it... had they reached a road?
Were those cars whizzing by?
Had they somehow, against all the odds, stumbled along blindly in exactly the right direction? She heard it again; louder now, and clearer.
Oh my God, we are saved.
