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Elin

Parque Nacional, Portugal, October 2021

‘He what ?’ Isaac puts his plate down with a clatter, the half-eaten remains of a pastry slipping off the side. ‘I told him that kind of stuff wasn’t part of the deal.’

Elin rubs her eyes, a wave of exhaustion washing over her. Still morning, but it feels like she’s already put a full day behind her. ‘I don’t think he’s even aware of what the deal is.’ Tugging off her jacket, she takes a seat beside him. ‘He’s not in a good place. I’m not sure whether him sticking around was the right call.’ She pictures his jerky, erratic motions, the bloodshot eyes.

Another sharp pang of sadness that it’s come to this – a gulf between her and someone she thought she’d be friends with forever.

Isaac clears his throat. ‘Look, I don’t reckon anything we say will have any sway over whether he leaves or not, so I think we need to try to work out if it is the right call for us to stay. I get why you think you owe Kier and what this means to you, but it’s risky, Elin. Not just Steed, but Ned. We don’t know, not yet, what we’re getting ourselves into with the camp. ’

Elin listens, but part of her knows she can’t even consider what he’s suggesting: stopping now.

‘I get what you’re saying, but I don’t think we can leave this here,’ she says finally. ‘I think I owe it to Kier to carry on, especially now we’re so close to answers. We just need time, don’t we? To piece everything together.’

Isaac frowns, looking as if he’s about to protest before he slowly exhales. ‘Okay,’ he says heavily. ‘So what do you want to do next?’

‘The river beach. The last place on the map.’