James walked over to the left, frowning. ‘So, yeah . . . I think there are more. There must be more kriks that we can’t see.’

‘So they’re not leaving us?’ said Kate. ‘They’re coming back?’

It was impossible to see what was going on. There were gaps between the houses, but they were full of trees, or overgrown bushes, or rubbish, or just stuff that blocked the view. I couldn’t even work out how far along the people would be, so it was hard to tell where we should even be looking. Above, on the cliff, the watching woman was the only clue. She was standing motionless now, staring down at the street below. I tried listening instead, but it was hard to tell if the distant noises I was hearing meant anything, or if they were just the normal noises of an abandoned, decaying town.

It seemed to take longer this time, but the watching woman gave another hand signal. She waited for a couple of seconds, and then gave a different signal.

‘They’re still down there,’ said Kate.

‘Yes,’ said James. ‘Some of them, anyway.’

When the fighters emerged back on to Long Street, there was another cheer. They still looked gorgeous, they still looked fabulous, and they still looked ready for battle. Their spears were hooked back on to their belts again, and this time they all gave us a wave.

We all went mad then.

Chapter 13

14

I’m not even embarrassed to admit it; we were properly leaping up and down and screaming. I think I might have even injured Kate a bit because I was hugging her so hard. It was an amazing feeling to have them waving to us, when we’d just seen them defeat the kriks so easily. Even the blue-haired woman on the cliffs gave us a giant wave with both arms.

I wanted to be them, to be like them, so badly. Not just because they were on the coast instead of on an amorphous ocean blob, but because they were brilliant, and gorgeous, and just everything I wanted to be in life. I swear the hair of the women seemed to give a little extra blow in the breeze right then, just to show how silky and clean it was.

I knew that they would be here to rescue us, to get us off. They would definitely have a plan, like a helicopter or something. Something brilliant. But at the same time I didn’t want to let myself think that, because I didn’t want to be disappointed when I also knew that they couldn’t possibly have any solution. That led to mental confusion, I’ll be honest. It meant that I ended up more doing a little dance of awkwardness, rather than a dance of triumph.