‘Did anyone else hear that?’
Cat had stopped walking again. Ginny sighed. At this rate they were never going to get back to the hotel, and the hot tub would definitely be closed for the night. So Plan B would obviously be to get mightily pissed in the bar, because what the hell else were they going to do on this absolutely shit trip? She wished more than ever that she’d put her foot down and refused to come. And now Cat was playing silly buggers about some noise in the trees.
‘Hear what?’ Ginny said. She was so pissed off now. ‘Honestly, can we just get a move on? Tristan said we’ve got another hour, if we stay on course. Then we’ve got to drive back, get changed . . . the hot tub closes at seven-thirty.’
‘Again with the hot tub,’ Paul muttered.
Ginny ignored him. She hadn’t quite realised until today what an absolute bore her brother-in-law was. ‘Cat?’
‘There’s someone in those trees,’ Cat said, pointing. ‘I saw something moving.’
‘Jesus Christ, Cat,’ Tristan said. ‘It’ll just be some animal. A deer or something. We should leave it well alone and get through this section. As I told Ginny—’
There was a rustling sound. Unmistakable. Ginny’s ears pricked up. Even if it was just an animal, were they safe? Did deer come out and attack humans for disturbing their habitat?
‘I heard it,’ Paul said. ‘Tristan’s right. It’s an animal.’
There was a crunching sound, then. Like something big and heavy crushing lots of small twigs. If it was an animal, it was something big.
Ginny felt goosebumps prickling up her arms. ‘Oh god, do they have bears here?’ She moved closer to Tristan. ‘Bears eat humans, you know. I saw a programme—’
He squeezed her around the waist. ‘There are no bears here, Gins. Honestly. Can we just keep walking, guys? Please? I know you all think it’s my fault that we’ve taken so much longer than we were meant to, but we’re on the home straight now, I promise. If we could just . . .’
Tristan’s voice trailed off. They were all watching the trees. It wasn’t an animal. There was someone in there. Ginny was sure she’d seen a flash of clothing, and now she was convinced she could see a pair of eyes. Watching.
‘Trissy, let’s just go?’ Her heart started to thump hard in her chest.
‘Probably just another hiker,’ Paul said. His voice was full of bluster, but he still sounded unconvinced.
Cat took Ginny’s hand, and she was grateful. A small symbol of solidarity, despite all the bickering. ‘If it’s another hiker, why wouldn’t they just come out of the trees and walk the path with us,’ Cat said, squeezing Ginny’s hand harder. ‘Why would anyone be skulking around here, trying to scare us? There’s no one there. Like Ginny said . . . let’s just go?’
‘The girls are right,’ Tristan said. ‘Let’s get a move on, shall we?’
‘Maybe there’s another route?’ Ginny squeezed Cat’s hand back.
‘Or maybe whoever it was got disorientated. Aren’t we overreacting a bit here?’ Paul started walking towards the trees. ‘Hello? Anyone there?’
Ginny held her breath. There was no sound coming from the thicket anymore. The rustling had stopped. ‘Maybe . . . maybe we imagined it.’ She tried to laugh but it sounded forced. ‘I think we’re all just far too tired . . .’
Cat let go of her hand and walked across to Paul, who’d stopped some way from the trees. He might be a pain in the arse, but Ginny was glad he hadn’t ventured any further. It was probably nothing. She must’ve imagined seeing the eyes. The light playing tricks on her.
But she was sure she hadn’t imagined the flash of a reflective stripe on a bright-red jacket. And she was pretty sure that, despite her protestations, Cat had seen it too.
Seventeen
SATURDAY, EARLY EVENING
Cat tried to pull Paul back from the trees, but now it was his turn to shrug off her touch. He looked furious. ‘This is getting ridiculous now. We should go back the way we just came. Back to the restaurant. It’s going to be dark before we make it to the bottom.’ He turned to Tristan, his eyes narrowed. ‘This is your fault, you arrogant prick. If you’d just let the rest of us see the bloody map.’
‘Woah there, cowboy. Let’s back up a bit.’ Tristan puffed out his chest and took a step closer to Paul.
Cat shot in between the two of them, holding out a hand towards each one in an attempt to keep them apart. She had no idea why the pair of them were getting so worked up. ‘Guys . . .’ She couldn’t remember ever seeing Paul this riled up. She didn’t think that Paul and Tristan would actually become physical, but it might be a close call.