Usually I love storms. But I don’t love this one. I love storms when I’m safe at home, cuddled up with Mum and Dad. Going ‘Oooooh’ and ‘Aaaaah!’ like it’s some sort of massive firework display. A big wave of sadness rises in my chest. ‘I want to go home,’ I whisper. I want to be safe; I want to be looked after.

Thunder booms, long and hollow. ‘Storm voice,’ I murmur as I look down and a tear drips on to my goosebumpy arm. I wipe it away. I wonder what time it really is? I wonder how long I’ve been gone? I wonder if up at the hospital window they’re all watching the storm … I wonder, are they missing me too? I rub at my pathetic tears with the end of my T-shirt. How am I going to get home?

Lightning jabs through the sky. I squeeze my eyes tight to try to shut out the storm and the cave. I imagine hearing a team of park rangers in high-vis jackets shouting my name; I imagine hearing them huffing and puffing through the undergrowth towards Deadman’s Cave. I imagine the glare of their torch beams finding me here in the gloom. ‘So here’s where you’ve been hiding!’ they say, and they give me hot chocolate out of a flask and one of those shiny foil blankets. Then they radio Mum and Dad to tell them that it’s all fine; they’ve found me; I’m OK.

But I’m not OK, am I? A huge crash of thunder makes me open my eyes. It’s all just the same. The storm still swirls through the strange, wild forest.

I gasp, my breath catching in my throat.

Over on the beach side of the river. There’s someone there! A shadow, running fast through the blur of rain.

DEADMAN’S CAVE

‘Hey!’ I call, scrambling up to my feet. ‘Hey! You!’

The shadow pauses for a second. I wave, squinting through the blanket of thick rain. ‘Hey! Hey! Come here, help us!’ But I don’t think he can hear me; he grabs something from the beach, then the shadow vanishes into the trees.

I spring forward, forcing back the topmost branches of the fallen tree. I shove my way out into the rain. ‘Come back!’ I shout. But my voice is squashed tiny by the pounding rain and the crashing thunder.

I blink, rub my eyes. Nothing there. He’s gone. Then I start to doubt myself. Was the shadow just a stupid imagining? A trick of the light?

‘Did you see that?’ I say quietly to the boy.

But he doesn’t answer. He has shuffled himself back into a little hollow by the cave mouth. His eyes are closed and his breath is raspy. As I step back into Deadman’s Cave the cave wall behind the boy flashes bright with lightning. ‘Oh!’ I breathe, awestruck, clapping my hand over my mouth at what I see.

It’s not possible. I know this cave. This isn’t possible.