‘What are you doing here?’ I ask. ‘And how did you know I was on the beach?’
‘Chumana turned up here looking for you,’ Gideon says, glancing nervously at the sky. ‘Said you’d been arrested.’
‘We thought she was bringing you to Canna when we saw her,’ Serena says. ‘We’ve been waiting long enough. When we realised you weren’t with her, Marquis and Atlas panicked.’
‘What do you mean, you’ve been waiting?’
Serena and Gideon glance at each other.
‘You weren’t the only one given a mission,’ Serena says. ‘Once we completed our training we were sent here to look for a group of wyverns. Apparently, they’re important.’
I stare up at the sky.Thisis who Hollingsworth sent to find the wyverns? The Bletchley recruits? Why didn’t she send me with them?
‘Have you found them?’ I say. ‘The wyverns?’
Serena purses her lips. ‘Not yet. We’ve been a bit distracted by the military presence on the island, not to mention the Bulgarian dragons trying to eat us.’
Gideon raises his eyes to the sky again.
‘This is Henry, Martha and John,’ Philippa says, pointing to the other teenagers.
They nod at me in greeting but don’t smile.
‘I’d say they’ll warm up to you, but they won’t,’ Serena mutters.
‘They don’t trust outsiders,’ Gideon says. ‘Can you blame them?’
‘Viv!’
Marquis is walking into the camp, followed by Atlas and Jasper. ‘You can stay the night.’ He glances at the others. ‘But we’re to leave in the morning.’
‘How did you convince him?’ I ask with a nervous glance at Jasper.
‘Atlas saved Philippa’s life a few weeks ago,’ Marquis says quietly. ‘She’s like a sister to Jasper.’
Jasper gives me a hostile look before marching past me into the camp.
‘The dragons shouldn’t be able to see you through the trees,’ Atlas tells me as he joins us. ‘But if they do, Jasper will hold me personally responsible. So stay put, Featherswallow.’ His eyes shine playfully and I feel a swooping in my stomach.
What is going on? Atlas –myAtlas – is supposed to be buried in a churchyard of his mother’s choosing. Who is this boy marching around camp as if he was born here?
Shadows gather as we venture deeper into the forest. There are no huts here, but several campfires are burning, surrounded by an increasing number of children as they all return from various directions. Two girls walk past us, carryinga net full of brown shells, which they toss into a huge metal pot with a clatter. Atlas hands me a canvas sack stuffed with straw. As he raises his arms, the sleeves of his jacket bulge. Didn’t Serena say something about training?
‘Sit,’ he says gently.
I watch as the children move like clockwork, slicing bread and carrying water. The sun is sinking in the sky, throwing streams of golden light across their faces.
‘Who are they?’
‘Criminal kids,’ Atlas says as he lights a cigarette. ‘The ones that refused the rebels’ offer of evacuation. Only a handful left the island before Wyvernmire’s army turned up.’
I raise my eyebrows in surprise as Marquis, Serena and Gideon sit down next to us. ‘They would rather livehere?’
‘Makes sense, really,’ Marquis replies, looking at the group of children and teenagers spread out in the grass. ‘No one wears a class pass here.’
‘I’d rather wear a class pass than be eaten,’ Gideon says.
He folds his arms and I realise he’s still casting frequent looks into the sky. There are bags under his eyes and his face is thinner than it used to be. He seems terrified, but now it makes sense that he’s here. He knows this island better than any of us.
