She tried a smile, but looked on the verge of tears. He didn’t know her at all, but in that moment he saw how vulnerable she was beneath the veneer of confident athleticism, and he felt sorry for her.

More than that, he pitied her. He pitied all the people who wanted to come with him. They were relying on him in some way, counting on him, and that showed how desperate they had to be—because Tom had never helped anyone in his life.

CHAPTER 14

The activity below continued for an hour or so, but people started to flag as the heat of afternoon grew and the insects defied the spray they were all using. The drop in energy levels was almost visible and within a short while, most people were sleeping, lying on their backpacks around the fire.

Tom yielded in the end too, sitting in one of the cabin seats. As his thoughts fell away he briefly hoped he might have the flying dream, but no dream came, none at all, and perhaps that was for the best.

When he woke and saw the back of the seat in front of him, it took him a moment or two to remember where he was and that this plane was going nowhere.

He heard Alice’s voice and walked to the front of the plane and looked down. She was just adding some branches to the fire, which was dangerously low. The others were stirring too and Joel, who’d obviously been roused by Alice, was trying to regain control.

“Everyone, spread out, find more wood for the fire. Old and dry is better, but anything you can find. And remember to watch out for snakes—no more accidents.” Most of them were struggling to shake the heat-induced drowsiness and he sounded more urgent, more forceful now. “Come on, people, we have about an hour before it gets dark and we need this fire!”

Finally, people started to move, dispersing into the surrounding trees. Tom looked at his watch, then at the sky. By his best guess, it would be nightfall in much less than an hour, and darkness would come quickly.

He made his way out, stopping to let Alice come up the steps first.

She shook her head, furious. “People should’ve been collecting wood earlier, not sorting luggage.… What a jerk!”

Shen appeared in the galley door, and seeing Tom, he said, “Oh, hi. Barney told me about the boats. It’s a good idea. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it.”

Alice’s anger fell away. “What about boats?”

Shen said, “Come and help me with the food and I’ll tell you while we’re working.”

Tom headed into the trees to help collect wood. It was the first time he’d been under the canopy since coming down off the ridge and he was struck now by the eerie peacefulness of it.