As the people backed off from Tom a little and started asking him too many questions to answer, he saw Alice, standing a few yards away, and she didn’t move closer but smiled at him with such warmth that he thought maybe Kate had been right, that if they got through this, there could be something between them.

He took a few steps toward her and said casually, “How’s it going?”

“Oh, you know,” she said, just as casually, but then laughed and gave him a quick hug. “I never had a doubt.”

Shen came over and said, “Good to see you back, Tom.”

“Glad we caught up with you.”

Shen frowned. “You would’ve anyway. I don’t think we’ll be moving from here for a day or two.”

Tom immediately looked toward where Barney was still working, with Joel standing looking over the construction, almost as if he hadn’t noticed Kate and Tom coming back into the camp. Tom could also see someone lying down under the mosquito net.

Alice said, “It’s Chloe. She started to get sick yesterday. Barney made a sort of stretcher for her, but Shen doesn’t think she’s well enough to move for a while.”

Shen said, “Yeah, it’s some sort of fever. But I’m hopeful.” He shrugged, belying how paper-thin that hope was. “We’ve been vaccinated against the worst diseases, but she needs rest badly. Everyone does; there are a couple of sprains here and there, a few people getting weak.”

“What about our water supply?”

Shen’s expression told Tom it wasn’t great, but then he said, “I had concerns when Joel said we’d camp here, but there aren’t any predators that we could see, and the water’s flowing quite fast, so I think we’ll use the purifying tablets, boil it for good measure.”

Tom looked at the river. The rapids they’d heard on their approach seemed to be upstream of them now, though there were also large boulders just visible in the water downstream too, just before it curved out of sight around the edge of the hill. It was clear they’d have to get to the other side of that hill before launching the boats.

“What about food?”

Shen said, “You can go a long time without food.”

Kate walked over and said, “We might be able to help with that, won’t we, Tom?” He’d forgotten about the fruit and nuts in his pack but before he could respond, Alice hugged Kate and he heard her whisper something. Kate smiled and said, “He would have made it back anyway. I think he’d already come through the worst before I found him. Even managed to get bitten by a snake.”