Ryan rolled his eyes again. When they walked on, he said, ‘He’s up to something.’
‘Like what?’
‘Who cares?’
Ryan was striding ahead so quickly that she had to jog to keep up with him. They stopped by the picnic benches, which were full of holiday-makers stuffing their faces or queuing for boat rides. Fleetingly, Frankie remembered that she and Dad were meant to be going for a pony ride that afternoon. More baby stuff. She’d been into horses and ponies back when she was a child. She wondered if she could get out of it, though she could picture his disappointed face.
‘What was your mum talking about?’ she asked. ‘Dead rabbits?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Come on, you have to tell me.’
He exhaled. ‘Okay, but don’t freak out. We found a rabbit outside our cabin.’ Seeing her take a deep breath, he hurriedly added, ‘Almost certainly left there by a cat or a fox.’
‘What did it look like?’
‘I don’t know. Like a regular rabbit. White fur. It was kinda bloody . . . Sorry.’
‘White fur?’ A horrible thought struck her. ‘Did it look like Swifty?’
‘I can’t remember. Sorry, but most rabbits look the same to me.’
She pulled out her phone. Something had hit her. Something horrible. She began to read out the messages she’d first read yesterday.
‘Run rabbit run. And this one. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.’
It felt like the ants were swarming all over her again.
‘What are you talking about?’ Ryan asked.
She took a deep breath. ‘If they looked at my Instagram, they would have seen all the pics of Swifty.’
She couldn’t work out if Ryan was pretending not to understand what she meant.
‘Don’t you get it? Run rabbit run. Then a rabbit that looked like my pet was left out here. And Don’t let the bed bugs bite. That’s obviously a reference to the ants.’ She stared at him, breathing hard.
‘I think you’re putting two and two together and getting a thousand,’ he said. ‘I mean, the rabbit wasn’t even outside your cabin.’
‘So? They could easily have got confused. If they followed us back here. Or have been watching us . . .’ She felt sick. ‘Or maybe they were trying to frighten you. I mean, you’re the one who dissed them.’
‘Frankie, seriously. It’s just nature. A fox killed that rabbit and the ants got in on their own. We’re in the middle of the woods. That’s the kind of shit that happens out here.’
She wanted him to be right. She really did. Except she couldn’t let it go.
‘But what if it is the people we upset on Instagram? Trying to get their own back?’
Ryan’s laugh wounded her, and it must have showed on her face because he said, ‘Sorry. I’m not mocking you. It just sounds . . . unlikely.’
‘It’s not unlikely. I think we should apologise.’
‘What for? Telling the truth?’
‘You don’t mean that. You were upset because of those weird kids.’
‘What, you don’t think Penance is a shithole?’
‘Maybe it is. But how would you feel if someone said horrible things about your hometown?’
‘Ha. I’d agree with them. I certainly wouldn’t go around trying to get revenge. But . . . maybe you’re right,’ he said, suddenly changing tack. ‘Not about them taking revenge or whatever, but about it not being nice. I get a little carried away sometimes.’
He plucked some grass from the ground with his fingertips. ‘I should delete the post. Maybe make my account private.’
‘That’s a good idea.’
‘Except we can’t get online without going back into Penance.’
‘Actually, maybe we can.’ She stood. ‘Follow me.’
She led him across the grass, towards the reception building. She felt a little reassured. Ryan was probably right. It was nature, that was all. No one had put ants in her bed.
She was hoping her guess would be correct: that if she got close enough, her phone would connect to the Wi-Fi without having to go inside.
There was a small shaded area around the back, with a couple of smelly dumpsters, and she headed for it, getting her phone out and checking the screen. Yes! It had worked. Her phone had remembered the password and she had a signal. She showed Ryan.
He got his own phone out. ‘What’s the password?’
She told him and he tried to connect but it timed out.