They all nodded. Going back there meant we’d also be able to see the Jellyfish, which was something . . . I don’t know . . . which was something I felt like I didn’t want. But at the same time I felt like it was almost pulling us back, like it was a big white blob in our lives which we still couldn’t ignore.

‘Where do you think the others went?’ said James. ‘Do you think we might see them if . . .’ He paused, turning his head to the side.

‘What?’ hissed Lana, tensing up again.

‘Shhhhh . . .’ He tilted his head further towards the direction in which we’d come, frowning as he listened.

There it was. A gentle, barely discernible rustle.

‘What?’ said Lana, unhooking her fork and turning back towards the seashore. ‘Quick!’

And she ran. We all ran. Blindly, pushing through brambles, half tripping over tree roots, not caring about the nettle stings or the scratches from the reeds and tall grasses. The path was so narrow that I couldn’t risk looking behind me to see what was coming, but I kept expecting bony clawed pincers to creep out of the undergrowth, grasping at my ankles or face.

‘Hurry UP, Lana,’ shouted James. ‘Move!’

‘I’m trying!’ she screamed, panting loudly in her terror. She was running in a real panic now, her fork held out in front, waving erratically. I could no longer see clearly beyond me and I was having to concentrate in order to avoid stepping on Lana’s heels. The feeling of not being in control, of being trapped between Lana and Kate, was almost overwhelming. I had to battle my instincts which so wanted me to break through the grass and go round Lana, to push her out of the way, to trample over her and break free . . . But I also knew this would take me longer. And besides there was a security in being in the middle: Lana or James would get attacked first. Actually, we should have heard James being eaten by now.

‘James?’ I called, ‘is anything coming?’

‘Nope,’ he shouted back. ‘And honestly, it might just have been the wind. Still hurry up, though. I’m a bit stressed here.’ Despite his relaxed tone, there was a catch in his voice and he sounded breathless, which, I knew, could not just be from the distance we’d run.

Kate gave a sob.

‘It’s OK, Kate,’ I said. ‘I think it’s OK. Just keep running.’

The grass and reeds seemed to be getting lower now, but they were still higher than my head and dense enough to hide an army of rabid shelled monsters. Thing is, I somehow knew they didn’t. Not for any logical reason, or because James hadn’t been eaten, though that definitely supported my theory; no, I could just sense a lack of the feeling of death.