Missing (5 page)

I told him about when I thought the first counsellor had spotted me. ‘But it wasn't me he was after, it was someone else behind me running away through the jungle up the mountainside. Do you know who it was?' I asked.

‘Might have been one of the kids who are
hiding up in the jungle. They break in and steal food sometimes. And they raid the supply boat when it arrives. I don't know who they are for sure. I heard Damien say that there were some hot-headed kids that came here quite a few months ago—they didn't fit in and were really aggressive so he asked them to leave. But they refused and ran off. Damien's been looking for them since then.'

‘They just live in the jungle, do they?'

‘Apparently. I haven't been here long enough to really find out. None of the new people know anything about them and the ones who have been here for a while won't say.'

I thought of Rebecca and what she'd told us about Brittany and her nightmares. ‘Have you heard anything about some kind of key?'

Ryan shook his head. ‘But, whoever these missing kids are, they aren't the only mystery around here. I think some others have disappeared. One day they're at rollcall, then the next, I don't see them anymore.'

‘They probably just go home. What's weird about that?'

‘But there's no way off the island except for the supply ship, and that only comes once a fortnight to bring supplies and transfer people on and off the island. Apart from that there's
only Damien's submersible. And I'm talking about kids just vanishing between rollcalls, on days when there's no ship.'

This sounded bad. What if Sophie had disappeared?

‘And did you know there are snakes in there?' I pointed to the jungle around us. ‘I had a run-in with one on the way down from the mountain.'

‘Yeah, the pythons. Damien has warned us about them. He says they're too small to be a danger to humans, and to just watch where we're going.'

‘The one I saw didn't seem so small!' I said, remembering those eyes and long scaly body. ‘Any other ideas about what happens to these kids?' I asked, my concern deepening.

‘Well, I noticed one guy being escorted into the office building the other day—Damien's study is in there and it's strictly out of bounds. He didn't show up at evening rollcall that night. I wanted to know what happened to him. That's how I did this.' He pulled down the thick sock above his sneaker to show me a bandage. ‘I sprained it when I came off the roof,' he said.

‘You jumped off a roof? Is that why you're limping?' I asked.

‘I was eavesdropping, but I didn't hear anything—and then I lost my footing and I fell,
and twisted my ankle. I was really lucky nobody saw me. I told everyone I'd hurt it playing volleyball on the beach.'

‘How many kids have disappeared?' I asked.

‘He's the third one I've noticed. I asked other people and they said not to worry about it. Damien says sometimes kids get news from home and have to be taken off the island quickly. And in that case, they're taken in the submersible. Then they don't have to wait for the supply ship. But Cal, I don't believe him. Because I saw one of the disappeared kids—the one I'd spotted being escorted into Damien's office block. He
hadn't
left the island.'

‘Why don't you just ask him what happened?'

‘I couldn't. I saw him running as if he was late for something, but he was running away from the resort. I took off after him but I couldn't catch him because of my ankle. And then—he just kind of disappeared near the mountainside.'

‘You mean you lost him?'

Ryan shook his head. ‘I didn't lose him. He lost me. One moment he was running through the jungle. Next minute he was gone—right into thin air.'

‘Not possible, bro. He must have gone someplace.'

‘I searched everywhere. I had to be really
careful because there was a big clump of Gympie Gympie trees near where I saw him vanish.'

‘Maybe he fell down a mine shaft or something.'

‘There aren't any mine shafts here. This is all just tropical rainforest and volcanic rock. I looked everywhere. Then I made the mistake of mentioning it to one of the counsellors. He reported me for being out of bounds. That guy's been on my case for a while.'

That explained the counsellor's comment to me about my poor attitude when he thought I was Ryan.

Ryan winced as he went to get up. ‘What is it?' I asked.

‘It's my ankle. The nurse in the first-aid office told me it's a bad sprain and to keep off it. Instead, I've been running around after disappearing kids. It's getting worse.'

I had another look at his ankle and could see the swollen flesh around the bandage. ‘You've got to rest that,' I said. A plan was forming in my mind. It was bold but I hoped it just might work. ‘Ryan, listen to me. You can't keep going on this—' I indicated his injured ankle. ‘But I can. How about I take your place? We swap clothes, and nobody will know the difference. That way, I can start investigating this place as well as making contact with Sophie.'

‘Sophie Bellamy?'

‘You know her?'

‘Yeah, she's a really nice girl. She's had a tough time at home. We've talked a couple of times. I think she likes me.'

I grinned and punched his arm and Ryan couldn't help smiling. Then I became serious again.

‘Well? What do you think of the changing places idea?' I could see that Ryan wasn't one hundred percent happy about it. ‘Look,' I said, ‘I know it looks like me coming onto the scene and taking over. But it's not like that. It makes sense, Ryan. You're out of action with that ankle. Think about it.'

Eventually, Ryan said with a sigh, ‘I guess you're right. I go into hiding and you take over my life here?'

‘I'm just standing in for you—while you're injured. I'm not taking over your life.'

He stood up, and tried to put some weight on his injured foot. ‘Argh!'

‘Come on. Put your arm around me and I'll help you up to higher ground and find a good hide-out for you. I'll give you my binoculars and you can keep an eye out for anything suspicious. You might even get to spot one of the runaways and find out what on earth is going on.'

As we made our way through the jungle and up the sloping mountain side, Ryan briefed me about the daily routine of the resort. ‘Morning call is at seven, with showers and breakfast, and then rollcall at eight thirty. There are general activities till lunchtime and then free time in the afternoon. They've got movies and computer games in the recreation centre, plus meditation and self-esteem classes. Outside there's rock climbing, swimming, surfing and water sports, but you need stinger suits to go in the water. You're not allowed to go around to the western side of the island,' said Ryan, ‘because of the dangerous surf breaking over the jagged rocks. And by the way, we're out of bounds right now. Did you notice those orange flags on the side of the path?'

I had, but I hadn't taken much notice of them.

‘We're not meant to go higher than the flags—because of the pythons and the Gympie Gympie trees. And the runaways. At least that's what they tell us. I think Damien is a bit of a control freak.'

We'd reached the massive fallen tree trunk against which I'd stowed my gear. Ryan and I scouted around and found a better hiding place for him—a scooped-out overhang in the rock, behind a curtain of jungle vines. I gave him
my emergency provisions, my binoculars and camping gear.

‘How are we going to keep in contact?' I asked as I went to leave.

‘Phones are handed in to Damien's office while we're here,' Ryan said. Then he grinned, pulling his mobile out. ‘I kept mine. But you'll have to be careful and keep yours hidden too.'

I paused, not sure how to ask the next question. ‘So, bro … you never did explain why you came here in the first place?' I asked quietly.

Ryan's face clouded over and he was silent for a long moment. ‘Let's not get into that now, we've got bigger things to think about first.'

‘Fair enough, another time,' I said. Pushing him seemed like a bad idea. I started to head off back down the mountain. ‘Hey, Ryan?' I added. ‘You didn't send me a weird text message with a map and skull and crossbones, did you?'

‘No. Got some new pirate friends, have you?' Ryan joked.

‘Worth a shot,' I shrugged, turning to leave.

‘Cal!' Ryan called out after me. ‘Remember to limp!'

As I hurried down the mountain, I was really starting to wonder about this place. Ryan had
mentioned so many odd things—kids disappearing, runaways who raided for food, counsellors who acted like guards.

Caught up in my thoughts, I didn't notice the palm frond sticking out over the rough track. I jerked back as my jacket was caught by a dozen sharp little hooks. I'd walked straight into a Wait-a-While palm! I tried pulling away, but only succeeded in getting more entangled. It took me ages, and a couple of painful jabs to my fingers, before I finally freed myself from all the hooks.

As I neared the resort complex, I noticed a group of bodysurfers running back from the beach and I hurried to join them, remembering to limp a little, managing to get through the compound gate before it closed behind us. Everyone was milling about happily. Maybe Ryan always stood with the same people. I hesitated, looking around, when the girl from BB's photograph ran over to me and grabbed my hand—Sophie Bellamy.

‘Ryan! There you are! I thought you were going to be late again.'

Great, I thought. I'd passed the first test.

Sophie dragged me over to stand beside her near the front of a raised stage area. I glanced around. There were about forty of us, with perhaps slightly more boys than girls.

And now the boss arrived, stepping up onto the platform, a folder in his hand. So this was Damien Thoroughgood. He stood well over six-foot tall, broad-shouldered with a dignified air and dressed in khaki shirt and trousers, his hair cropped short. His white teeth flashed when he smiled, and he smiled a lot. He greeted us and then started to read out the names in alphabetical order. When it came to ‘Ryan Ormond', I answered like the rest of them—'I'm here.' He lifted his head from the folder and fixed me with a penetrating gaze. I felt my heart start to race. Had he noticed something? I saw his eyes narrow. Was my mission going to come undone even before it had started? I braced myself.

‘How's that ankle coming along, Ryan? You feeling alright?'

Slowly, I let out the breath I'd been holding in. ‘It's OK,' I said, wondering if I was supposed to say ‘Sir' or something else.

Thoroughgood nodded and then passed on to the next name. Finally we were excused but as we started to move away, Damien looked my way and beckoned me over. ‘Good to see that ankle's getting better. Have you given any more thought to the matter we discussed the other day?'

Problem. How was I going to answer that? I tried to look like I was contemplating something.

‘I need your answer fairly soon, Ryan,' Damien said. ‘Otherwise you might miss out. So what's it to be?'

I didn't have a clue what he was talking about but I had to give some kind of answer. ‘I'm still thinking about it,' I said, nodding, hoping I looked like I was deep in thought.

‘Good. That shows you're someone who doesn't rush into things. But I also need people who can act decisively.'

‘You'll have your answer very soon,' I said.
Just as soon as I find out from Ryan what this is all about!

That seemed to satisfy him and he strode away, taking a phone call on the way back to the office building.

When I was certain there was nobody in the bathroom block, I went into a cubicle and closed the door, pulling my phone out. I called Ryan, keeping my voice as low as possible. ‘Thoroughgood just asked me if I had an answer for him, he asked you about something. What was it?'

‘I forgot to tell you, sorry! He invited me to join The Edge—it's like an exclusive adventure program.'

‘OK, that doesn't sound too bad,' I said.

‘But you're not allowed to talk about it,' said Ryan. ‘No-one must know that you've been invited. And that seems suss to me. Why would you have to keep that a secret?'

‘Maybe he thinks other kids might get jealous, or feel hurt if they're not included?'

Footsteps approached the bathroom block from outside. ‘Gotta go,' I said, ringing off.

I joined in some activities for the rest of the morning, spending a bit of time with Sophie Bellamy—not too much in case she worked out I wasn't Ryan—just enough to get to know her a little. A couple of times I caught her looking at me oddly.

‘Your ankle seems to have gotten better really quickly,' she said.

‘It comes and goes a bit,' I said vaguely. Actually, I was having a bit too much fun and I'd forgotten to limp enough.
Idiot
, I scolded myself.

‘Seems to have gone quite a lot,' she said, giving me an enquiring look. ‘And there's something else. You seem—I don't know …'

‘Come on,' I said, not liking the direction of the conversation. ‘Do you feel like a swim?'

The rest of the time, I dutifully watched on
with my ‘sprained' ankle as most kids went windsurfing or rock climbing. Damien had organised team sports with Dean, the counsellor who'd been so suspicious about me at the fence earlier. He seemed to be Damien's second-in-command.

At lunchtime, I'd managed to stash some food into my backpack for Ryan. Afterwards, I watched a game of soccer, resisting the temptation to join in. Sophie saw me on the sidelines and came over to me.

‘Hey, Ryan! Wanna watch that movie you mentioned yesterday?'

‘I–I forgot which one you mean,' I said lamely.