‘Yes, we jogged down the path for 10 minutes and checked every side track that led to the river. We were shouting his name the whole time.’

James sat down heavily at the edge of the clearing and let out a shaky breath. Tim saw without much surprise that he’d started crying.

Mr Stevens frowned and ran a hand through his hair. He looked at his watch, then stooped to rummage in his rucksack. He brought out his map of Rutmoor in its plastic pouch, adjusted his glasses, then stooped to look at it.

Everyone watched him without saying anything.

After a minute or so, Mr Stevens frowned and looked at Matt. ‘Okay, this is serious now boys. Unless this is all some clever joke you’re all playing – and I really, really hope it isn’t – then we have to start moving now so we can get some help. We’ve got two members of our party missing out on the moor somewhere and a storm is due to hit tonight. If we set off right now, we should be able to reach Creek Lane by nightfall. I’ve been there before and it’s possible to get a phone signal, so I can call 999. Right, get your packs on and we’ll move out.’

‘Wait a second,’ said Matt. ‘What about Tom? He wandered off down that path five minutes ago and you’re saying we should keep going without him?’

Mr Stevens paused, and for a second Tim thought he was going to do it right then and there. But when he reached out a hand towards Matt seconds later, it was only to place it on the boy’s shoulder.

‘Look, Matthew, I understand you want to help your friend,’ he said. ‘But you just told me yourself you’ve run for 10 minutes down that path shouting his name, and with no luck. Isn’t that right?’

‘I suppose, but maybe we didn’t go far enough along, or…’

‘If Tom’s got himself lost or he’s fallen down somewhere and hurt himself, we need a team out here looking for him as soon as we can,’ said Mr Stevens. ‘If we can make it to Creek Lane by nightfall we can get people out here tonight looking for him, storm or no storm. But if we go down that path now ourselves, we risk being caught out in the bad weather. And besides, there’s Gary to think of, too.’

Matt paused and bit his lower lip. ‘But when I last looked on the map, Creek Lane was still 10 miles away. Will we really make it there tonight?’