Siobhan Curham - Dark of the Moon

‘Yes. We were just about to have some when you guys arrived.’ The Flea replies, nodding toward the skillet.

‘Yes please,’ Cariss says meekly.

‘We found another boat,’ I say to Jenna. ‘It was –’

‘What’s happened to Belle?’ Cariss interrupts.

I glance down at Belle. She’s feeling around in the sand for something.

‘Belle, are you okay?’ I say, going over to her.

‘I dropped my mom’s necklace,’ she mutters.

I see it glinting in the sand by her foot and place it in her hand.

She breathes a sigh of relief. ‘Thank you, Grace.’

‘No problem.’

‘What’s wrong with her?’ Cariss says.

‘Belle’s lost her sight,’ the Flea says quickly as he flips the pancake over. I catch a waft and, despite all the trauma, my stomach lets out a rumble of hunger.

‘What? How?’ Cariss asks, but her eyes are now glued to the pancake.

‘We don’t know,’ the Flea says. ‘But I’m sure it will all be fine once we get back home and get her to a hospital.’

I go to give Belle’s hand a squeeze. It’s clenched into a tight fist.

‘Okay, I say Beau-Belle gets first pancake,’ the Flea says, quickly plating it up and passing it to her.

Belle feels around for the pancake. As she brings it to her mouth I swear every one of us mimes taking a bite.

Another awkward silence falls, broken only by the sizzle as the Flea pours some more batter on to the skillet.

Todd turns to Cruz.

‘I owe you an apology,’ he mumbles. ‘We should never have taken your boat. I’m sorry.’

Everyone watches Cruz. He looks at Todd for a second, then he puts his arm round his shoulders and gives him a hug. ‘No problem. Let’s forget about it.’

The rest of us all sigh with relief.

‘Cool,’ Todd says, and he flashes me a glance.

I nod at him. Unspoken apology accepted.

‘Let’s just make a line under what happened before,’ Cruz says, looking around the group. ‘We need to work together now to get out of here.’

‘Amen to that!’ Dan says.

Jenna gives me a small, hopeful smile. I smile back. After everything that has happened, it really does feel right to let go of all the crap that happened before.

‘I’m confused about Belle,’ Cariss says loudly.

I want to groan.

Belle stops eating.

‘I told you – it will all be fine once we get her to a hospital,’ the Flea says, curtly.

‘But a person doesn’t just go blind for no reason.’ Cariss comes and stands right in front of Belle, staring down at her like she’s an exhibit in a freak show.

Belle starts to scowl.

‘Where’s Lola?’

We all turn to see Michael standing in the doorway of his cabin, arms folded.

‘She’s up in the house. With Ruby,’ the Flea replies, a little frostily.

Michael looks up at the house, and for all his swagger, I see a definite look of fear cross his face.

‘Who’s he?’ Cariss asks.

‘He’s called Michael and he’s Lola’s friend ,’ the Flea says pointedly, as he flips the pancake.

Michael looks visibly wounded. Then he looks back at the house anxiously. I wonder why he seems so uneasy at any mention of Ruby. Maybe it would be worth trying to make conversation with him to find out.

‘So, how long have you and Lola been here?’ I call over to him.

Michael waits for a moment, as if weighing up whether or not he should waste any energy speaking to me.

‘About a month,’ he says finally. ‘Although it feels a lot longer,’ he mutters.

I shoot a look at Cruz. He instantly meets my gaze, no doubt thinking the same thing. Is Michael acting so angry because of his break-up with Lola, or is it something else?

But before I have the chance to say anything, Lola climbs back down the ladder out of the house.

‘Great news,’ she says, jumping the final three rungs on to the sand. ‘Ruby says you can stay.’

‘But we don’t want to stay,’ Cariss says immediately.

Lola looks at her and smiles. ‘I don’t mean stay forever. Just for the party. Then you can leave on the boat with the other guests.’

‘What party?’ Jenna says.

Lola makes her way back over to us. ‘Ruby’s having a party at the end of the week. A lot of people are coming here specially for it. It’s going to be amazing.’

We all exchange anxious glances. The thought of partying after what’s happened to Ron seems horrific.

‘Hmm,’ Michael says pointedly, and for a second Lola’s smile disappears. She frowns at him, then looks back at us and her smile returns.

‘I don’t think any of us are really in the mood to party to be honest with you,’ I say, looking round at the others. They all start nodding. ‘One of our friends . . .’ I break off, unable to actually say it.

‘One of our friends just died,’ Cariss says to Lola.

Lola’s face falls.‘Oh my God! I’m so sorry. What happened?’

‘It was when their boat hit the rocks,’ I tell her quietly. ‘So it would be great if we could just get out of here as soon as possible. We’ve been missing for days now – our folks are going to be going out of their minds with worry.’

Lola nods. ‘Of course. But I’m afraid that won’t be possible until the weekend, after the party.’

‘What?’ Cariss exclaims with one of her trademark pouts. ‘Why not?’

Lola looks up at the house. I follow her gaze and I’m sure I see a shadow flit across one of the windows.

‘Ruby doesn’t have a boat,’ Lola explains quietly. ‘That was the whole point of her coming here – to be completely cut off from the outside world. The only time there’s a boat here is when guests come to stay.’

Cariss frowns.‘How does she arrange for guests to come to stay if she’s totally cut off ?’

‘She pre-arranges it with her friend Carlos. He brings them over on set dates.’

‘But what if there’s an emergency?’ Cariss says.‘What if she needed to get off the island?’

Lola shrugs. ‘It’s the way she likes it.’

Michael mutters something under his breath and Lola shoots him a death stare.

Jenna turns to me. ‘You said that you guys sailed here. Couldn’t we use the boat that you found?’

I shake my head.‘That’s what we’d been planning to do, but it isn’t big enough for all of us.’

‘Well, maybe some of us could go first and send for help,’ Cariss says.

‘What, like before?’ Dan glares at her. ‘I don’t think so. Next time we leave, we all leave together.’

‘Will the boat that’s bringing the guests be big enough to take us all back as well?’ I say. Everyone looks at Lola anxiously.

Lola nods. ‘Oh yes. Carlos’s boat is more than big enough, isn’t it, Michael?’

Michael nods grudgingly.

‘Ruby’s friend Carlos brings her guests over from the mainland,’ Lola explains.

‘The mainland?’ the Flea says.

Lola nods.

‘What is this mainland?’ Cruz asks immediately.

Lola laughs. ‘Costa Rica of course.’

‘Costa Rica?’ Cruz looks shell-shocked.

Seeing his expression, Lola frowns. ‘Yes, I –’

‘How far are we from Costa Rica?’ Cruz cuts in.

We all stare at Lola. ‘I don’t know exactly.’ She looks at Michael. ‘How far would you say, Michael?’

Michael shrugs. ‘Don’t know. It took us a few hours to get here.’

I glance at Cruz. He looks like someone who just got told the moon is actually made of cheese. I guess he must be shocked that Ile de Sang is so close to his home.

‘We may as well just wait a few more days then,’ the Flea says, plating up another pancake.

I take a moment to try and process this latest development. Finding the retreat, only to find that we’re still trapped on the island is filling me with unease – especially given what’s happened to Ron and to Belle. Pressure starts building in my head. Instead of escaping from Hortense, I can’t help feeling that her net is tightening.