The Island: The addictive new YA thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of STRANGERS

by C. L. Taylor

  ‘Are you? Or are you just saying that because your fire’s gone out and you’ve got no way to cook those fish?’

  Danny looks up at him, fighting the smile that’s pricking at the edges of his lips. ‘Bit of both.’ As he says the last word he bursts out laughing.

  Jeffers laughs too and the atmosphere between them eases.

  Danny proffers a fish. ‘Want one?’

  ‘No, thanks.’ Jeffers shakes his head then points up into one of the trees where a dead snake is hanging over a branch.

  Interesting, Danny thinks. Someone’s obviously not scared of them.

  ‘Did you kill it?’ he asks.

  ‘’Course.’

  ‘What does… um…’ Danny eyes the snake warily. ‘What does it taste like?’

  ‘Like fish, apparently. I’ll find out later.’

  He looks back at his own dinner. The eyes of the fish are starting to cloud. Anuman said that, in the Thai heat, they need to be eaten quickly or they’ll go bad. ‘Um… Jeffers, will you come back to camp? It’s not right, you being here on your own. This trip was your birthday present from your dad. I’m sorry we’ve… I’ve… made it so crap.’

  Jefferson smiles. ‘It’s fine. And I owe you an apology too, for throwing the homophobia grenade.’

  ‘You know I really don’t have a problem with you being gay. But it does piss me off when you tell me what to do.’

  ‘Someone has to. You’re a bloody liability.’

  They both laugh.

  ‘I’ve got so many chips on my shoulder,’ Danny says, ‘I’m going to start calling myself Harry Ramsden.’

  Jeffers raises an eyebrow. ‘Poor, very poor.’

  ‘So will you come back? To our camp?’

  Jefferson shrugs. ‘Someone’s got to cook those fish for you! Mind helping me pack up my stuff?’

  ‘Sure.’ Danny glances around the small camp, looking for somewhere he can put the fish without them getting dirty then freezes as a piercing scream echoes through the jungle. Birds fly from the trees, wings beating frantically. Danny listens. He can hear the rustle of leaves in the light wind, monkeys whooping and the soft chirping of some kind of insect. But what he heard wasn’t an animal, it was a girl’s scream.

  He continues to wait, holding himself very still.

  A second scream, louder than the first, rings out from somewhere to their left. The only girl on that side of the island is Jessie.

  Chapter 17

  JESSIE

  My foot catches in something – a tree root or a vine – and I pitch forward, the brown-green jungle floor rising up to meet me. I land heavily and all the air is knocked from my lungs. I can hear Josh and Jack behind me, shouting and swearing and striking at plants as they crash through the jungle. Josh managed to grab the back of my T-shirt as I turned to run but I hit out at him, my fist connecting with his cheek bone. My flip-flops slid and slipped as I ran across the sand to the jungle so I kicked them off, not caring what I stood on as I swiped at banana plants and vines, trying to get away.

  Now, as I scrabble to my knees, the palms of my hands throbbing, I risk a glimpse behind me. There’s a flash of tanned skin, about ten metres away, incongruous against so much green. The boys have gone quiet. They’re moving slowly and quietly between the trees. They’re listening, trying to work out where I am.

  I don’t know what to do. They’re near enough that if I get up and run they could easily catch up with me. But if I hide then I run the risk of them discovering me. Blood pounds in my ears and sweat rolls off my forehead and drips off my eyebrows, making me blink. The nearest safe place is Jefferson’s camp. But I’ve got no idea how much further I need to run to get there, or how thick the jungle gets. If it’s impenetrable then I’m trapped.

  I crouch low, tucking myself behind a huge fern, and try to slow my racing thoughts. Is that why they came out to the island? To get revenge for what I did at the pool side? No one’s ever stared at me with so much hate in their eyes as Josh did just now. I glance left and right looking for something, anything I can use as a weapon, but there’s two of them and one of me. There’s no way I could fight them both off.

  If they can’t find me they’ll have to give up and go back to the beach. But what then? If they get back in their boat and drive round the island they’ll spot our camp. Even without the fire burning brightly they’ll see our shelters and the mess of our belongings. I can’t just hide. I need to warn the others. Jeffers will know what to do.

  Keeping low I creep onwards, stepping as lightly as I can on the rough jungle floor. Frightened lizards skitter away, hiding on flat green leaves the size of my head. I can’t hear Jack and Josh crashing around behind me but the silence is unnerving. They could be close. So close that at any second a hand could shoot from between the bushes and grab me. As I glance behind, one of the trees sways violently to the left, and my heart thunders in my chest. But it’s just a monkey swinging off a branch.

  Heart pounding, legs quivering, I raise myself up to full height. I’m just going to run for it.

  Three…

  A bird squawks to my right, a shrill, trilling warning sign.

  Two…

  A green metallic beetle scurries across a leaf.

  One…

  As I lunge forwards someone grabs my ankle. Deep male laughter rings out as my leg is yanked, hard, and I tumble to the ground.

  Chapter 18

  DANNY

  Danny frantically searches for the source of the scream. It was close. Very, very close.

  Jeffers presses a finger to his lips, motioning him to be quiet. Like Danny he is standing stock still, eyes wide and scared.

  Danny passes a hand over his face, slicking back his sweat-drenched hair. He hears branches snapping, the low rumble of male voices and smothered grunts and squeals. He looks back at Jeffers, who’s gripping his knife so tightly his knuckles are white. They’re not alone on the island. Danny looks desperately around for a weapon of his own but none of the sticks littering the jungle floor are very big, and when he tries to snap a branch off a nearby tree Jeffers shakes his head sharply. They can’t risk making any noise.

  Danny’s stomach cramps violently and, for one terrible second, he thinks he might be sick. Other than his scrap with Jeffers when they were nine he’s never been in a fight in his life. And what if the men have guns? What if they are local criminals who’ve come to rob them, or worse? He pushes down his fear and tries to steady his breathing. Something awful must have happened to Jessie to make her scream like that and it’s down to him and Jeffers to… to… so many terrible thoughts fill his mind that he screws his eyes tightly shut.

  A sharp nudge in his side makes him open them again. Jeffers gives him a look as though to say, Everything OK? and Danny nods. He’s bigger than his fear. He can do this.

  Jeffers inclines his head to one side, gesturing which direction to head in and beckons for Danny to follow him. They set off, stepping lightly, moving slowly, following the muffled sounds deep in the jungle. They both freeze as they hear a man shout out in pain. A split second later the same voice says, ‘I’ve changed my mind. Maybe we should just let her go, she’s a complete psychopath!’

  When Jessie screams again adrenaline surges through Danny and he springs forward, all thoughts of guns and criminals eclipsed. But he doesn’t take more than two or three steps before Jeffers grabs the back of his T-shirt and halts him in his tracks.

  ‘Not yet,’ Jeffers hisses. ‘We need to get closer, see exactly what we’re dealing with. They’re on the move again – listen.’

  Danny holds his breath, his pulse pounding in his ears against a backdrop of undergrowth being trampled, branches being snapped and birds shrieking. His whole body is shaking. It’s taking every ounce of self-control he has to stand still as Jessie and her captors move further and further away.

  ‘They’re heading to the beach,’ Jeffers says. He indicates that they should squeeze through the bushes to their left and Danny nods.
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br />   They move quickly but carefully through the jungle. The further they walk the thinner the trees get and the easier it is to navigate their way through without being scratched by stray branches and prickly plants. Danny spots a flash of blue through the green. They’re nearly at the beach. Jeffers gestures for him to duck down. They crouch together, arms touching, slick with sweat.

  Jefferson nudges him gently then points towards the beach. Danny was right about there being two men. They’re both white, late teens or early twenties. One’s taller and leaner, the other shorter and broader and they both have the same light-coloured hair, shaved close to the scalp.

  ‘Who are they?’ Danny whispers.

  ‘They were staying at our hotel,’ Jeffers hisses. ‘They’re brothers. See the one with the nose ring? That’s the one Jessie skewered with her chair leg.’

  Danny’s mouth drops. They’re the guys from the pool who tried it on with Honor.

  But it’s not thinking about his girlfriend that make his heart ricochet off his ribs – it’s the sight of Jessie, strung between them. One is holding her feet, the other holding her under the armpits. She’s twisting and wriggling and screaming, clawing at the older guy, forcing him to lurch from side to side to avoid her flailing fingers scratching his face.

  ‘Boat,’ Jeffers hisses under his breath, pointing across the beach.

  Danny follows his gaze and spots the large white motorboat bobbing gently on the sea, several metres out. That’s where they’re trying to take Jessie.

  ‘I think we’ve only got one option,’ Jeffers whispers, sweat rolling down his temples and disappearing into the fair stubble on his chin, as the two lads struggle to manoeuvre Jessie across the sand to the sea. ‘We burst onto the beach and make a lot of noise. With any luck they’ll drop Jess and she’ll run. But it does…’ He lifts his T-shirt and wipes his face. ‘It does mean they’ll probably come after us.’

  Danny swallows. Jeffers is a pretty fast runner, and he’s still got his boots on. He, on the other hand, was always near the end of the pack on school sports day.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Jeffers shoots him an urgent look. The two brothers are feet away from the surf. ‘If we do it, we do it now.’

  Danny nods. ‘I’m ready if you are.’

  Chapter 19

  JESSIE

  I don’t know if they’re going to drown me in the sea or throw me in the boat. All I know is if I don’t get away something terrible is going to happen. Jack’s jaw and neck are bleeding from where I’ve scratched him, but my blows seem to be glancing off him now. Josh was the one who grabbed my ankle in the jungle. As I fell I saw him dart out from the bush he’d been hiding behind. I kicked out with my free leg, smacking him in the chest and he reeled backwards, his grip on my ankle loosening. I scrabbled frantically away on my hands and knees, the jungle floor scratching my palms and the humid air catching in my parched throat. I couldn’t have crawled more than a couple of feet before strong arms gripped me around the shoulders. When I screamed a hand was clamped over my mouth. I wriggled and twisted and kicked out then tried to bite the fingers that were digging into my cheek.

  ‘We’ve got a tiger here,’ Jack said, panting heavily.

  Josh got to his feet, red in the face, his lips curled back in a snarl. ‘Tigers get skinned, and I’ve got a knife. Stupid bitch. You need to be taught a lesson.’

  ‘No!’ Jack growled. ‘Grab her legs. Let’s get her out of this bloody jungle first.’ He swore under his breath. ‘There are flies everywhere.’

  I kicked out as Josh tried to grab my legs but he was ready for me and snapped his hands around my ankles, gripping them so tightly my skin throbbed.

  As they roughly manoeuvred me between the trees I alternated between relaxing all my muscles to make myself as heavy as possible and twisting and squirming to try and break free. When a branch snapped somewhere behind us I turned my head sharply, hoping to see Jeffers, but it was just a macaque monkey. It tore off through the bushes and disappeared.

  ‘God,’ Jack growled at one point. ‘I’ve changed my mind. Maybe we should just let her go, she’s a complete psychopath. We’ll find their camp and torch it instead!’

  ‘I’m not letting her go anywhere.’ Josh shook his head. ‘I’m covered in bruises thanks to this bitch.’

  Now, as they carry me across the sand, I use every last ounce of energy I have to try and escape but they’ve both tightened their grips. I raise my eyes to the sky and try to look beyond the endless stretch of blue.

  Please, Tom, I pray. If you’re up there, please help me.

  A roar of anger fills the air. For one heart-stopping moment I think it’s my brother, but then Jack twists his head towards the jungle and fury flashes across his face.

  ‘Who are those losers?’

  ‘Her friends. Get them!’

  One second I am three feet in the air, the next, WHOOMPH! I’ve been dropped. I land half on the shore, half in the sea as they sprint towards the jungle. I only catch a glimpse of Jeffers’ and Danny’s startled faces before they turn and disappear into the dense green foliage. As Josh and Jack pelt after them I scrabble to my feet. I don’t know whether to run and hide, help my friends or swim for it. No, the boat! I splash through waves towards it, haul myself over the side and drop into the belly like a landed fish. Then I’m quickly up on my hands and knees and crawling to the front. Anuman’s boat had a petrol motor on the back but this one’s got dials and switches on a control panel, a steering wheel and… my heart sinks as I touch my fingers to the metal keyhole. Where are the keys? I run my hands under the benches then open the first-aid box and search inside. But there’s nothing in the boat other than a couple of bottles of water, two small rucksacks, a case of beer, some suntan lotion and a pair of sunglasses. I glance back towards the jungle, half expecting to see the two brothers speeding across the sand towards me, shouting in anger. But the beach is quiet and still.

  Ankles and shoulders still throbbing from where I was held, I step up onto the seating area of the boat and jump back into the sea. Adrenaline pulses through me as I power through the water and round the rocks. I need to warn the others and get them to move the camp.

  By the time I drag myself out of the sea my legs are so weak I wobble, rather than walk across the sand. Milo, Meg and Honor come rushing towards me, their faces tight with worry.

  ‘What happened?’ Milo’s the first one to reach me. I hold out a hand to steady myself on his shoulder, but before my fingers can graze his skin my legs give way and I collapse onto the sand.

  ‘Jessie? What is it? What’s wrong?’ Fear is etched into the tired, tanned skin of Meg’s face as she crouches beside me.

  ‘We… we…’ I try to struggle back up onto my feet but it’s as though all the muscles in my legs have atrophied.

  ‘Don’t get up,’ Honor says, appearing on my other side. ‘Rest. Tell us what happened. If you can…’

  I shake my head, struggling to catch my breath. I can’t stop staring at the jungle, certain that, at any second, Jack and Josh are going to burst from between the bowed fronds of the banana plants.

  ‘What is it?’ Meg asks again. ‘Jessie, where are Jeffers and Danny? Has something happened to them? Did something happen to you?’

  I gesture beyond the rocks. ‘They… they…’

  ‘Deep breaths. Take nice, slow deep breaths.’

  I exhale heavily then fill my lungs.

  ‘Jack and Josh.’ The words come out in a rush. ‘They’re here, they came after me… they tried… they tried…’

  Honor’s eyes widen. ‘Those two boys from the hotel?’

  I nod.

  ‘They’re here?’

  ‘And they’ve got a knife and they tried to get me into their boat.’ I try and get up. We’re wasting time talking. We need to gather up our stuff and get as far away from the beach as we can.

  ‘My God,’ Milo breathes. ‘There are finger marks – bruises – round both your ankles. And here—’ He gently tou
ches the side of my neck, making me flinch. ‘Jesus, Jessie. Did they hurt you? I swear I’ll…’ He stands, the tendons in his throat as tight as piano strings. ‘I’ll kill them.’

  ‘Where’s Danny?’ Honor asks as Milo stalks off towards the jungle. She touches the back of my hand. ‘What’s happened to him?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ I say. ‘He and Jeffers distracted the boys so I could escape. They ran into the jungle and Jack and Josh ran after them. I don’t know where they are now.’

  Honor gasps in horror and covers her mouth with both hands.

  ‘How the hell did they know we’re here?’ Meg asks me. ‘And how did they get here?’

  ‘They overheard me and Honor talking by the pool. They’ve got a boat, I’ve seen it. Please.’ I raise my arms, gesturing for her and Honor to help me up. ‘We need to get out of here. We need to move the camp. They want to torch it.’

  Honor shakes her head. ‘We can’t leave without Danny and Jefferson.’

  ‘I’ll go into the jungle and find them,’ Milo says.

  ‘No.’ Meg grabs his arm. ‘Not on your own. If Jack and Josh find you first…’ she tails off but it’s enough to make Milo pause.

  ‘I can take them,’ he says.

  ‘No you can’t. Not when they’ve got a knife.’

  He looks from his sister to me to Honor, indecision etched into his face. If he charges into the jungle he’ll be leaving the three of us behind.

  ‘They’ve got a boat,’ I repeat. ‘If they give up chasing Danny and Jeffers and sail round the rocks they’ll see us. We need to get out of here.’

  ‘And go where?’

  ‘To the cliff top.’ Honor points to the jagged cliff beyond the rocks to our right. ‘Danny told me there’s a decent-sized clearing up there with no sand flies. He said it was a better place for a camp. Plus we’ll be able to see if there’s anyone looking for us on the beach, and we can see the sea.’

  ‘No,’ Meg says. ‘If they find us up there we’re trapped.’