That night, we add our tent into the mix so there are three in total. Mum and Dad sleep in one, Zach and Josh in the other and finally Angie, Maisie and me in the third. It's a tight squeeze but makes the tent feel cosy. We all eat from the stove before packing up and trudging off to bed.

As I reach for the flap of the tent, a hiss behind me catches my attention. I turn to find Josh standing there.

"What?" I ask.

"Keep this safe for me," he says, pressing something to my hands.

By the feel of it, I know what it is.

"Why?" I murmur, feeling my pulse pick up pace. "You said you knew how to use it, remember?"

"I know, but keep it in your bag." His voice is barely a whisper. "I don't want to risk carrying it in my trousers any longer."

"Okay," I say, "but I'm not using it."

I turn to leave, stuffing the gun into the pocket of my hoodie, hating the feel of it.

"Amelia."

I turn back. "Yes."

His eyes are pits. Pits of chocolate.

"Goodnight," he says eventually.

"Night," I breathe, and then I'm inside the tent, fumbling for my rucksack, praying that neither Angie nor Maisie will wake.

When that's done, I sink into a hard sleeping mat, and shut my eyes.

* * *

That night I wake up to Angie shaking my shoulder gently. I can only see it's really her after my eyes adjust properly to the light, which doesn't take long.

"Whaaat?" I groan, turning round, brain feeling muggy from sleep.

"Amelia!" she hisses quietly.

"Whaaaaaaaat?"

"I can hear him! It's him outside!"

I turn back round again at her excited face. "Who?"

"Josh, you dummy!" she says excitedly. "He's talking on the phone again!"

That snaps me out of my sleep. I bolt upright, almost banging my forehead into hers.

"We've got to see who he's talking to!" Angie says in a loud whisper.

I turn to her. "You can't be serious."

Her eyes now seem to bulge out of their sockets. "Well, you don't have to do it. I just thought you might be interested seeing as you seem to have an interest in him..." she trails off looking smug.

"Shut up!" I snap a bit too quickly. I don't 'have an interest' in Josh, do I? I mean he's sweet but he's not really anything more than a friend.

Right?

"Come on!" wails Angie and she sounds like a child whining.

"Okay! Okay! Just don't wake up Maisie."

Carefully, we crawl out of the tent, Angie trying to stifle a giggle. I can hear mumbling to the right of our tents, near the trees that now look black like everything else. Apart from that, everything is silent.

I follow Angie through the dark, trying not to squeal at the thing around my legs that I know is grass but in the dark it could be anything.

Finally I see him. He's leaning against a tree, resting a hand on it lazily as he holds a small brick phone close to his ear.

"Yes we are," he's saying. "Almost there, Sarah. Don't worry. We'll be arriving soon... I don't know. Maybe in a few days? Aah... Okay .... Thanks.... Yeah sure... Okay.... Bye... Bye."

He hangs up, blinking and looking into the darkness. Beside, Angie trembles but I don't know if it's from fear or excitement.

I think about what he said. He mentioned someone called Sarah and arriving somewhere in a few days. Could Josh possibly be going somewhere? But then he said 'we' so he must be including us, somehow.

We watch as Josh rubs his nose as though it's cold, wraps his jacket tighter around him, and makes his way quickly back to the tent. We give it a few minutes before returning back to our own and settling down on our sleeping bags again.

"What do you think that was about?" I ask Angie.

"I don't know," she replies but then voices to me all the thoughts I replayed in my mind, ending up on questions and then laying more questions atop of that. None of them, however, we can answer.

So, disappointed with our findings, we leave it for the night and the tent falls into a peaceful silence once again.

***
Hi guys!! What did you think of this chapter? Any ideas on what Josh may be hiding??

I've written a synopsis of the story so I know where it's heading now. Updates will be slower because I'm starting school.... rip.

Anyway how are you guys doing? I love comments so feel free to drop one or a PM anytime you like.

xanabanana66x