Chapter 2

Sheila watched in horror as the Grove started to collapse around them. Orcs were everywhere and she had trouble seeing her friends, not to mention the six newcomers.

Beside her, Bobby swung his Club and the whole ground shuddered. He struggled as Sheila dragged him out of the Grove to the safety of the trees. There were more sounds and shouts, and Sheila looked around in confusion. There were too many people to make out what was happening.

Beneath her feet, the rocks gave a terrible groan.

She heard Hank and Diana calling, then a loud, deep voice that she didn't recognise shouted:

'Everybody out! It's going to go!'

Diana and Hank dived the cover of the forest, followed finally by the boy with the Trident, the one called Peter. The Acrobat looked back in a panic.

'Where's Eric?' she said.

They looked round. The Cavalier had been by the cliff when it had collapsed. Sheila's throat tightened in fear. She instinctively looked at Hank, and the Ranger's face was grim.

'Eric!' said Hank. 'We've gotta find him!'

Peter grabbed Hank's arm as the Ranger moved forward.

'Gail's on it!' said Peter firmly. 'Let's distract those Orcs!'

Most of the Orcs had run off, but a few vicious-looking ones had gathered round the cliff, where the Cavalier had been standing. The Orcs stopped advancing abruptly, and Sheila could just make out Eric's Shield, held high against the attack.

Peter swung the Trident at the ground with all his might, just as Hank fired a volley of arrows at the Orcs. Slender arcs of lightning skipped along the ground, forcing an opening in Orc wall. Sheila got a quick glimpse of Eric as he pulled the girl to her feet and started to move.

'Don't look back!' shouted Diana desperately. 'RUN!'

She could see the gleam of Eric's armour as he raced forward, dragging an obviously injured Gail by the hand. She could also see the rocks of the Grove disappearing behind them and a large dust cloud. But the Shield across his back threw the Cavalier off balance. He was running too slowly. He wasn't going to make it!

'ERIC, JUMP!' she screamed.

Eric leaped forward as far as he could, Gail doing the same. The rocks below him disintegrated just as his feet left the ground.

Sheila couldn't bear to watch, but couldn't turn away. She watched him land, hitting the ground just inches from the new edge of the cliff. The Cavalier stayed on his feet, his knees weakening under the sudden weight. Still in momentum's grip, he stumbled forward a few steps then slid to a halt, nearly smacking into a tree. Then he collapsed to the ground.

Gail hadn't been so lucky. She had slipped very close to the edge, and was lying awkwardly on her side. Behind her was a thick cloud of dust that billowed up into the sky. But there was no Grove.

No one spoke.

The dark-haired girl on the ground rolled over slowly, and her friends all gathered around her, whispering. Then Alison rounded on Eric, waving her Whip in his face.

'Look what you've done!' she shouted, pointing to the girl lying on the ground.

Eric was too out of breath to say anything, but Hank stepped forward instead.

'It's not his fault,' said the Ranger, trying to smile.

'No?' snapped Alison, still scowling 'and that little boy with the Club didn't help either!'

'Nobody calls me little!' replied Bobby. Uni stood defiantly by his side, her nostrils flared.

'Bobby!' said Sheila. She stepped forward, between the two opposing groups. 'We had better get outta here, there could be more Orcs.'

'But they have the Orchid!' said the Barbarian plaintively. 'We found it first!'

Lorraine the Enchantress gave a coy smile as she cuddled into Peter. She was still holding the Rainbow Orchid and showed no signs of wanting to give it back.

'We can settle that later, please can we go,' said Sheila anxiously. She turned to Hank for support. The Ranger nodded in agreement and looked to Alison.

'Want to come with us?' he asked. 'Safety in numbers?'

Alison hesitated, the look on her face suggesting the short answer was "Get stuffed". But she looked round to her friends.

'Well, Gail's hurt,' said the boy with the Book 'And we could use some help, I suppose.'

Alison looked back at the Ranger and nodded tersely.

'C'mon, guys!' Hank said, turning to the Acrobat. 'Diana, scout ahead. See if you can find us a good place to spend the rest of the night.'

Diana ran off as Alison and Peter helped Gail to her feet. She was cradling her right arm and looked very shaken.

After few minutes of tense silence, Diana reappeared with news of a possible campsite further down the mountain.

'And I can't see any Orcs for miles,' she added.

They started to walk down the mountainside in silence, and ten minutes later the whole group was in a small clearing at the base of another cliff. Not an ideal campsite, but they were not about to start looking further.

Sheila glanced round uneasily. It was easy to imagine Orcs creeping up on them. Or Lizardmen. Or worse! And the general feeling of nervousness wasn't helped by the angry and annoyed glances the two groups of adventurers were exchanging.

Bobby and Uni stood on one side of Hank, both watching the others. Presto was on the other, looking anxiously up at the Ranger. Diana stood beside Presto, twirling her Javelin. Eric hung back, rubbing his upper arms. Sheila took a more careful look at him. The Cavalier was still shaking.

The other group had split in two. Gail was sitting near the back of the clearing, her back against the cliff wall. Her face was pale and she refused to let anyone touch her arm. The robed boy knelt beside her, flicking through the big Book. On her other side, the Pack was lying open, and its owner was rummaging through it. He pulled out a phial and handed it to Gail with a consoling smile. Gail opened it with a look of disgust on her face, paused for a second then drank the whole lot in one go. She shuddered, and closed her eyes.

In front of them, Alison was standing with one hand on her hip, flicking the Whip back and forth. Peter stood to one side with his Trident planted firmly upright, the prongs glowing faintly. On his other side Lorraine waited, with the Rainbow Orchid still in her hand.

Sheila gave a small sigh. This was not going to help any of them. And after all, Dungeonmaster had told them they would find others. Perhaps they could all use the Orchid.

Decisively, the Thief stood up and walked over. She was greeted with a five scowls, ranging from the mildly irritated (Peter) to the downright murderous (Alison). Gail wasn't watching her at all: she still had her eyes shut. Sheila smiled.

'We should introduce ourselves,' she said.

There was silence.

'We all wanna go home, don't we?' she added.

The other group exchanged looks. Sheila saw Peter grip the Trident harder, and she gulped. Perhaps they weren't as friendly as she had thought. Finally, Alison stepped forward.

'We already know who you are,' she said, pointing to each in turn.

'Ranger, Barbarian, Magician, Acrobat, Cavalier and Thief: Dungeonmaster's star pupils!' There was a particular emphasis on the word 'star' that Sheila didn't like, but she forced another smile.

'Also known as Hank, Bobby, Presto, Diana, Eric and Sheila.' Only Hank and Diana smiled with any warmth. Presto and Bobby waved stiffly, while Eric just looked embarrassed.

'Who are you?' asked Sheila. 'Do you have nicknames too?'

'I'm Alison, the Amazon,' said Alison proudly, still flicking her Whip. 'And I'm the leader.'

She pointed to the boy with the black robes and the Book. 'He's Jamie, the Mystic.' The young boy gave a stilted wave, still watching the Young Ones warily.

'He's Paul, the Rogue,' she pointed to the brown-haired boy with the Pack. He smiled in such a warm, relaxed way that Sheila found herself smiling back at him.

'Paul the Scoundrel, more like,' added Lorraine with a wicked little smirk. Paul ignored her.

Alison pointed to the muscular boy with the Trident. 'That's Peter. He's the Gladiator.'

'She's Gail the Harlequin.' Gail didn't open her eyes, but gave a small wave when Alison said her title.

'And that's Lorraine,' said Alison.

'Lorraine the Enchantress!'

'OK, Lorraine the Enchantress,' said Alison with a huff.

'You all have magic weapons to?' asked Hank. He looked round to the other Young Ones. 'Dungeonmaster said we would find more like ourselves.'

'Dungeonmaster?' said Peter warily. 'What else did he say?'

'Didn't he send you here too?' asked Diana in surprise.

'He didn't have to,' replied the Gladiator. 'We used Jamie's Book.'

'Book?' said Presto, sounding highly unimpressed.

Jamie glared at the Magician.

'Yes, my Book! We don't have to rely on Dungeonmaster's riddles to survive!'

Presto gave a quiet hump of annoyance, but Jamie heard and scowled at him. The Mystic turned back to Gail, muttering to himself.

There was a very uncomfortable pause that seemed to last for minutes rather than seconds. No one had anything to say.

Finally, the silence was broken by Gail, who suddenly opened her eyes, and looked round at the group.

'Are we going to glare at each other all night?' she asked. 'Well, the fun never stops!'

Hank gave a small smile, and stood up his full height.

'We promise not to try an steal the Orchid, if that's what you're worried about,' he said, with a ring of sincerity. He held out his hand.

Alison nodded and said:

'We won't run off with it either.'

She reached out, and the two leaders shook hands.

Sheila smiled again, this time with less of an effort, as Gail stood up and slowly flexed her arm. The Amazon immediately looked round at her.

'How do you feel? You OK?'

Gail nodded, and started brushing the dust off her black and red bodysuit.

'It was just a strain. And now I feel great, at the moment,' she said with a broad smile. 'That stuff might taste foul, but it's worked like a charm.'

'Pity you had to take it, we don't have much of it left,' said the Amazon, looking angrily at Eric, who glanced at the ground.

Sheila sensed the fragile truce was about to deteriorate, as did Hank, who said:

'We should get some sleep. C'mon guys!'

The Young Ones all moved to make camp. The other group did the same, but with a lot less enthusiasm. Alison and Hank looked at each other carefully for a few seconds then started to discuss the sleeping arrangements.

Sheila watched them talk with a sense of unease. She didn't like the way the Amazon was looking up at Hank. They talked for about five minutes, and the Thief kept a careful eye on them all the time.

Finally, Hank waved her over.

'Will you take first watch?' he asked. 'With Alison?'

'It's Eric's turn now,' she replied, with an impish grin. There was still the question of their bet. She glanced over her shoulder to the Cavalier. He looked so shaken that she almost relented. But then he spoke.

'Hey, no fair! It wasn't my fault! That wasn't covered in our bet!'

She whirled round to face him.

'I don't call falling off a cliff, staying out of trouble, do you?'

'But…'

'You almost got yourself killed! Not to mention Gail too!'

'But…'

'You couldn't even last an hour!'

'But it wasn't my fault!' he said in his familiar, whinging way. 'I didn't ask the rock to break.'

'Well,' interrupted Alison. 'I'm not trusting my life to him!' She flicked her hand disdainfully at Eric. 'I'll do it myself.'

Gail came bouncing over.

'Why don't you let me instead?'

Close up, the Harlequin looked a lot better, and almost bursting with energy as if she'd had too much sugar and caffeine. Her eyes sparkled mischievously and she gave both the Thief and the Cavalier a big, crazy smile.

'You?' said the Amazon. 'You're as reckless as he is!'

The Harlequin looked pleadingly at Alison.

'Nice big sister, nice leader, please, pretty please!' Gail fluttered her eyes at the other girl. Alison crossed her arms.

'Oh, give it a rest Gail!' she said irritably.

Gail straightened her shoulders and stood up to her full height, looking down on her sister. Sheila blinked in surprise. The Harlequin hadn't looked that tall.

'Well,' said Gail stiffly, 'since you're in no mood for the Harlequin's usual antics, I'll try common sense. You know perfectly well I'm not going to get any sleep.' She screwed up her nose. 'I'll be wide-awake for the next day, until that stuff wears off! And since I'm going to be awake anyway, what's the point in you being awake too?'

Alison scowled at the ground for a few seconds then grudgingly agreed. She stomped off in the direction of Paul and Peter.

Hank gave Eric a fierce don't-screw-this-up look and walked off too.

'First watch! Yes!' said Gail, punching the air.

'You like first watch?' asked Eric in surprise.

The Harlequin nodded, her eyes gleaming. The Thief was about to ask what the Harlequin had taken, but the Cavalier spoke first.

'You know,' said Eric conversationally, 'you're really weird!'

Sheila's mouth dropped in surprise. OK, so Eric routinely insulted strangers, but even he shouldn't have been dumb enough to provoke another argument. However, Gail gave him a broad smile.

'But I'm suppose to be!' She jumped round and addressed them as if she was on stage, raising her arms. 'For I am the Harlequin, both Jester and Sage; humorous and serious.' Eric and Sheila looked at each other, unsure if she joking, but Gail continued. 'I am the wise Fool; the dual nature of honesty; the opposite of opposites - zenith and azimuth, a mix of Quicksilver and Steel, of fire and water; the…'

'Oh, shut up, Gail!' called Jamie from close by. 'We've all heard that speech!'

The Harlequin smirked, and waited until the young Mystic had ambled over before saying:

'You're just jealous! You have to lug that great big Book around with you all the time and I have a nice, small weapon that's easy to carry!'

The Harlequin waved her Mask at him. Jamie shook his head.

'You call that a weapon?' he replied, pointing at the scrap of black material in her hand. 'I've blown my nose on more impressive things than that!'

Gail paused for a second, and Jamie gave a smile, thinking he'd won. The Harlequin's face suddenly brightened. With a quick movement she pulled her Mask on and changed into a perfect copy of the Mystic, except for the Book.

'Oh, no!' she said in Jamie's distinctive accent, 'I can't climb that mountain, my Book is too heavy!'

Jamie scowled, but Sheila could see he was trying to hide a smile. Gail was about to continue when Alison's voice cut in.

'Stop mucking around you two!'

The two copies of the Mystic gave identical sighs, and identical shrugs. It was amazing. If it hadn't been for the Book, Sheila would never have been able to tell them apart.

'Wow,' said Eric appreciatively. 'You looked just like him!'

'It gets easier the better I know the person,' explained Gail removing her Mask. 'That's why I'm crap at Venger impressions.'

'Do someone else!' demanded Eric eagerly. 'Do me!'

Gail frowned.

'OK, stand up then,' she said.

Eric rose. Gail walked slowly round him, as if he was on display. In spite of the moonlight, Sheila was sure she saw Eric blush when Gail ran her hand lightly along his shoulder. Then she pulled the Mask down and stepped beside him.

The two Cavaliers looked at each other. They both smiled, the same dumb grin that Eric always used when he was pleased then they both turned to Sheila.

'Whaddaya think, Sheila?' asked the original Eric.

'That is so creepy!' she replied, giggling. 'One Eric is enough!'

Uni came trotting up to say goodnight to the gang, and looked warily at the pair of Erics standing side by side. She lowered her head and gave a nervous whine. Sheila laughed, patting Uni gently on the head.

'It's OK, Uni. There aren't really two of them!'

Uni gave a whinny of relief and the original Eric glared sourly at her. But the newer Eric spoke:

'Insulted by a unicorn! Huh!'

It sounded very like him, a little to high perhaps, but a good first effort. Sheila looked at the two Cavaliers, and shivered. One Eric caused enough trouble, what would two do?

'Stop it, Gail!' said Jamie, laughing too. 'You're frightening Sheila!'

The newer Eric lifted the Mask, and Gail reappeared, standing next to the Cavalier.

'That was cool!' said Eric, 'Who else…'

'Hey, knock it off, guys!' called Hank. 'It's time for some sleep.'

Everyone responded to Hank's order. Gail and Eric both moved off to take up good watch positions, and Jamie smiled shyly at Sheila then moved over to beside his friends.

The Thief waited for a few more moments then settled down on the ground close to Bobby and Uni. She felt like she wasn't going to sleep at all, in spite of the tiredness. There was something troubling her about the whole set up, and not even Hank's reassuring presence seemed to help.

She sighed. Hank. What was she going to do?

Since the talk with Eric earlier, she had hardly thought of the Ranger at all, there had been too much going on. But now there was a peaceful silence, the memories came flooding back. Standing alone in the grey interior of the Temple, still smarting for the argument with Bobby, then Hank had appeared. He had looked into her eyes, into her heart, and kissed her.

Her eyes flickered shut at the memory of his lips on hers. She had waited for so long. And then… Her eyes suddenly opened, remembering the look of disdain he had given her afterwards.

Not far away, a wolf howled, making Sheila's heart leap in fear. She waited but there was no other sound, so she pulled her blanket closely around her shoulders. It was too scary to sleep. It was too dangerous to sleep. No, she wasn't going to sleep.

Too dangerous…

Sheila woke with a start, looking round urgently. It was daylight, perhaps mid-morning already. The clouds of yesterday had gone, and the sky was a beautiful shade of azure blue. Through the trees, she caught a glimpse of the shining white walls of a city: Recadia.

No one else stirred, the others were all still sleeping. The new groups was still there, she could see Peter's Trident propped up against a tree. The Thief looked round, and saw the Harlequin sitting cross-legged on a big rock, looking out over the mountainside. Eric was sound asleep close by.

Gail noticed the movement, and turned to smile at the Thief. Sheila smiled back, but inside she was surprised. The Harlequin had been on watch all night and all morning, and was not showing any signs of tiredness. She had the same manic gleam in her eye that she'd had last night. That potion she'd drunk last night must have been extremely powerful!

A few minutes later Bobby stirred, and Uni moved too. Within fifteen minutes everyone was up and getting ready for the day. Presto and Diana talked excitedly together, and Paul the Rogue joined in. Eric spent most of time yawning.

Immediately after Hank was awake, he sought Alison out, and they talked together for a long time. Sheila found she couldn't stop watching them. Hank noticed, because he blushed. The discussion seemed very intense, with lots of head-shaking and frowning, but eventually Hank came over to the other Young Ones.

'We are all going to Recadia,' announced Hank. 'But Alison won't give up the Orchid. I don't think she trusts us, so on the way we'll all have to be on our best behaviour. We have to show them that we're their friends.'

He looked sternly at Eric.

'Don't screw things up!'

Eric nodded, but didn't argue, much to Sheila's surprise. He yawned again.

'Um, Hank,' asked Diana in a low voice. 'They can trust us, but do we trust them?'

Hank didn't answer immediately.

'I think so,' he said slowly. 'Remember what Dungeonmaster said. "Take the Orchid to the City of Recadia. Then you all shall see your home". That sounds like we could all get home to me.'

Diana nodded tentatively and Sheila could see the looks of uncertainty on the faces of the others.

'I know,' said Hank. 'So let's talk to them, get to know them and we'll decide what we'll do when we get to Recadia.'

They all nodded and Hank started walking down the mountain, and everyone followed him.

It seemed that Alison had given similar instructions to her friends, as soon the two groups had merged into one straggly line.

The Harlequin walked ahead with Eric and Presto. The Magician had been doing little tricks, while Gail practiced her Venger impression, taking tips from the Cavalier and the Magician. Sheila couldn't help smiling at them. The sight of Eric and Presto strolling through the countryside with Venger towering over them was very, very funny.

Eric talked almost non-stop and told the Harlequin all about their adventures, and Presto had to interrupt from time-to-time when the story wandered from the truth. Gail listened intently, and seemed particularly impressed when the Cavalier recounted their adventure with Kelek and the unicorns, and when he told her about freeing the bogbeasts.

Peter and Lorraine walked arm in arm and seemed to spend every waking moment in each other's company, to the exclusion of the whole world. Sheila could see the Rainbow Orchid, tucked carefully into the top of the Enchantress' Staff.

Diana and Paul walked just behind them, chatting about school and sports. Paul was talking about swimming schedules and early morning training, and Diana was describing the school gym facilities. They seemed to be getting along pretty well. Paul was a charming boy, good-looking with a confident air. Diana had taken quite a shine to him, and he obviously appreciated the attention. But the Acrobat wasn't stupid, and only the extremely unobservant would have failed to notice the constant looks that the Rogue gave Alison.

The Amazon herself walked with Hank throughout day, and every time Sheila saw them, she felt a bitter stab of jealousy.

Jamie the Mystic walked with her and Bobby. Uni gambolled around them, but made sure she kept well out of the Mystic's way. They talked of their homes, and how they had come to be in the Realm. Initially, Jamie had been unwilling to talk about it, but Bobby had described in great detail how the Young Ones had got here, and Jamie joined in.

'We were at a training camp,' he explained. 'A sports camp, for part of the summer. We did all sorts of things, martial arts, swimming, boxing, basketball, football, lots of different sports.' He smiled sadly. 'As a special day out we went to Alton Towers, and we took the Dungeons and Dragons ride.'

He sighed.

'It seems like ages ago. I wish we could get home.'

Bobby gave him a big smile.

'We'll all get back this time!' he said confidently. 'No sweat!'

Sheila smiled too, trying to cheer the Mystic up a little. But Jamie didn't smile back, and that was the first time Sheila got the feeling that there was something odd going on.

At first the Thief put it down to the suspicion between the two groups, but as they all walked on, the feeling grew stronger. It took her almost the whole day to work it out.

The Young Ones weren't the problem. Instead, the new group was pulling itself apart. Alison might have been leader, but almost ever decision she made had to be backed up by someone else (often Peter). Lorraine scowled every time Alison spoke to Peter, and Paul scowled anytime Peter spoke to Alison.

Jamie deliberately stayed out of the way. Gail also tried to stay out of the way, but Alison kept dragging her in. The Harlequin was obviously getting sick of being picked on by her sister, and she stayed close to Presto and Eric.

But, above all, it seemed that none of the other group liked each other anymore.

Sheila became more worried. Once she'd spotted the problem, it was so glaringly obvious that she didn't know how she could have missed it. What was she going to say to the others? Just because the other group was having a few problems didn't mean they were untrustworthy, did it? They all wanted to go home, after all…

There was a harsh laugh that shattered Sheila's train of thought. Alison was telling Hank about her Aikido training and had become very excited when he asked to be shown some moves.

'It's to dangerous for you!' she said, grinning. 'Gail, Ga-il!'

The Harlequin turned, her shoulders sagging.

'No, Ali!' she said, in a frighteningly familiar, I-hate-being-the-younger-sibling kind of way. 'I don't want to be practiced on!'

'Oh, don't be such a spoilsport and c'mere!'

Gail grimaced, but obediently trotted over to Alison and Hank. She pulled on her Mask turning into a huge Orc Captain with a wicked grin, something that the Amazon was not pleased about.

'You treacherous little cow! Why can't you behave?'

The Orc continued to grin.

Sheila turned away from the subsequent argument between the two sisters, unable to face watching Alison show off to the Ranger, and followed Peter and Lorraine as they walked on.

Her heart filled with anger. She had tried to hide it all day, but it suddenly flooded through her. Hank hadn't spoken at her at all today. Why was he ignoring her so callously? Nothing had been the same since the Temple.

It had been hard being stuck in the Realm, knowing she could never have him here. But there were looks; there were touches every day, that told her how he felt. And there was his smile. He had a special smile that he only gave when he looked at her, a smile that said 'I love you'.

After that glorious, beautiful kiss in the Temple, he had turned away and left her. That one kiss! It was the only time he had ever kissed her. The though of it made her head spin, and transported her up through the mundane life that was around her. She had never understood what the word wonderful had meant before that kiss!

In the Temple, she had looked up, into those vivid blue eyes, desperate to know that he felt the same. She had waited, willing him to speak, desperate to her him say the words.

But there was nothing. He looked at her as if she was a piece of garbage that he'd forgotten to put in the dustbin. It had almost killed her. Tears formed in her eyes and she blinked them away. She had to get out of this place, she had to get away from him. Going home soon was the only escape, even if it meant trusting the others.

So that was exactly what she told her friends when they stopped for food that afternoon, a few miles from the city of Recadia. They had each come to the same conclusion independently. They all wanted to go home, and they thought the others were trustworthy enough.

But the Thief didn't say anything about her thoughts on the stability of the other group. It wasn't a very nice thing to do, and it wasn't their fault. Besides, it would just have sounded like she was blaming Alison, and being mean. The last thing she wanted was Hank to think she was jealous!

The Ranger grinned at them.

'I have a good feeling about this, guys,' he said. 'I think we'll all get home this time.'

Sheila looked at his confident smile, and the looks of happiness the others were giving him, and felt cold.

'But the portal will only show one amusement park,' said Diana, who had obviously been discussing portals with Paul earlier.

Hank nodded.

'Yes, but home is home,' said he firmly. 'Does it matter which side of the Atlantic we're on? We'll just have buy some fake passports and charter ourselves a flight!'

Sheila waited for a comment from Eric about personal jets and how his Dad had a whole fleet, but none came. He was staring quietly across to Recadia and seemed to be only half-listening.

'But how do we find the portal in the first place,' asked Bobby. 'Do they know?'

Hank nodded.

'Jamie asked the Book. We have to find someone in the city, to get instructions.'

Diana glanced at the other group, then lowered her voice and said:

'Do you think this will work, Hank?'

The Ranger nodded again.

'Don't worry, guys. I know this is difficult, but we can all work together and get home, I know we can! We'll camp here until morning, then search the city.'

He turned to Eric.

'It's your watch, Cavalier.'

Eric stood up, but didn't argue.

'Great,' he said miserably.

'You'll watch with Gail again,' ordered Hank. 'Don't fall asleep without waking me.'

'But she's been awake for the past day!' said Eric incredulously.

He said it so loudly that the other group heard him, and they all stopped talking and turned to stare. The Cavalier blushed as the Harlequin walked over.

'Looks like it's you and me again, Cavalier,' said Gail, looking intently at Eric, who blushed even more. She gave his arm a playful tug. 'It's not really that bad, is it?'

'But will you be OK?' asked Sheila tentatively. 'Don't you need sleep?'

'In about five hours time you won't be able to wake me!' Gail replied with a grin. 'Until then I'll be as alert as possible.'

Eric gave a loud sigh.

'I hate stupid first watch,' he muttered, frowning at Sheila as if it was her fault. 'Come on then, Gail!'

The two of them moved to the edge of camp. The Thief watched them bicker like a couple of kids about where to sit. Hank finally had to step in and settle the matter before anyone could get any peace.

The two groups slowly prepared for another night. Paul poked around in his Pack and brought out a few pillows, while Presto tried to rustle up some blankets for everyone.

Last thing Sheila remembered was watching Eric stare off into space as he sat next to the Harlequin.

Sadly, the Cavalier was so intent in his staring that he failed to notice a small, black Shadow flitting silently between the trees.