This doesn’t make any sense. Did I do something to knock him off course, or does he actually know what’s going on here? He can’t know, surely? He would have said something.

I watch him closely as he takes his blue bandana from Madzikanda and ties it, and just when I’m convinced he’s not in on it he looks directly at me and smirks.

Oh my God. He knows.

‘Kellen, what the hell?’

It’s taken me half an hour to get him alone. He called heads at the coin toss, meaning we lost and Hawthorn took the hill again. Now we’re walking back through the woodland, the rest of our team up ahead of us, oblivious to the insanity that’s going on around them. Cameron is leading the charge, bouncing along as he waves our flag. If only he knew that we’ve already lost this game once, and we’re about to do the same all over again.

‘Surprised?’ Kellen says. ‘Thought you were the only one?’

‘Well, yeah, kinda …’

Kellen huffs. ‘Of course, the world always revolves around you, Zach.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Why is he immediately on the attack?

‘I’m just saying, you find yourself caught in … whatever the hell this is, and you assume it can only be happening to you.’

He does make a good point. I realize now how self-centred that seems. But what was I supposed to think given the circumstances?

‘So you really think there’s more of us?’

‘Why wouldn’t there be?’ Kellen shrugs. ‘What makes us so special?’

‘I don’t know,’ I say. ‘But was anyone else acting any different?’

‘Well, not as obviously as you, that’s for sure. Yelling about a time machine?’

‘It was them that brought up the time machine!’

‘Well, whatever, you sounded completely insane.’

‘That’s because this is insane.’

‘And what’s the first rule of a crisis?’ Kellen asks.

I look at him blankly. I’m not sure if that was rhetorical.

‘Don’t panic. Stay calm.’

‘That’s easier said than done!’

‘Is it?’ he says. ‘Because I was kinda thinking that this whole thing might be a great big blessing in disguise. What if we’re just being given a second chance?’

‘Well, actually,’ I say, ‘I was sort of thinking that too. Yesterday was such a disaster …’

He groans. ‘You can say that again.’

I think about his proposal. At least Rhys said yes.

‘So now we can set everything right,’ I say.

‘Exactly. Starting with winning this stupid game.’

‘So then why did you mess up the coin toss?’

‘I didn’t. You underestimate me, Zach.’

‘You knew it would be heads. If you’d called it, we could have had the hill.’