Thomas was stood at the window in his bedroom looking at the land that was before him, he had a day off school, back at home in the UK this would usually entail him getting money from his mum and heading over to his friend's house. They'd usually be getting high or whatever else drinking….but not him. He only pretended to take the pills and the alcohol made him feel sick. Said he couldn't smoke the stuff coz his mum would be able to smell it on him and might tell the police….that one hadn't went down well. The others becoming immediately worried and suspicious of him. He assured them that would never happen, but it was better to be safe than sorry. He'd had no doubt his mum would never have told anyone about that stuff he just couldn't think of anything else to say.

His mum had never wanted this for him, she never wanted him to be trouble, all she wanted was for him to be happy. It killed him to admit it but she would have agreed that this place was what was best for him. Here he was stuck in the middle of now where, no friends, no one to talk to but Rosie who seemed to delight in winding him up. There was nothing to do here, days seemed to stretch out long and intolerable. He had the choice of doing chores or sod all. He was so bored he had done his homework for God's sake! Well he had started it then decided to go out in search of adventure. It was only 11am, plenty of sunlight left and he planned on using ever second of the day.

All he seemed to do was sit in his room hiding from everyone, it had occurred to him that he may as well explore this place before he was sent away again. Again, it killed him to admit it but Alice wasn't wrong about the general feeling about this place. Yeah she was here and he hated her and she irritated the life out of him but it was this place, yeah it was quiet and secluded and no friends for miles but it DID soothe him in ways he wasn't even aware that were hurting….to bad there were areas inside, wounds too deep to ever heal…..

He left his room quickly walking into the study breaking off the wayward train of thought. Another reason he needed to keep busy, whenever he stopped still too long his mind began to dwell on darker thoughts. Of unhappy memories. On his mum and dad, on the people he had hurt back home. How disappointed the people who loved him would be if they knew what he had done, how everything had spiralled out of control so quickly. They didn't understand though, how could they? He had found out his entire life was a lie! He felt like a stranger inside his own body. The green eyes he had been so sure came from his dad did, it just wasn't Alan Spoor! All his likes, dislikes, mannerisms, ways he thought he was like his mother and cousins were all wrong, all lies! Acting out probably hadn't been the smartest thing in the world to do but he had taken control in the areas of his life that he could. Then he'd met someone, some kid who was only in private school coz some local authority thought it was better for him than public school saw how mouthy he was, or maybe saw his naivety as an easy target and began to talk to him. Spoke about the gang he was part of, never alone, people having your back wherever and whenever you needed it. He made it sound so good. His bad attitude from that day seemed to grow, his old friends drifted away. His style of dressing changed drastically, how he spoke too.

A few weeks had passed and he was soon introduced to the others and welcomed in like an old friend, then they began making requests of him, telling him he had to prove he was truly one of them, that he could be trusted to stand up and by them, he had to prove himself. He had been so desperate to do it, to let them know he was capable of being one them. He had stolen things, been intimidating and menacing to people who had done nothing wrong. It had been so easy when the people around you were doing the same thing. He had never told them at night when he lay in his bed and closed his eyes all he could see was the fear in those people's eyes and the guilt slowly began to eat him alive. He also saw the disappointment in his mothers, saw that she knew she was slowly losing her little boy and she had no idea how to stop it. It had been one stupid night that it all changed.

He hadn't known at first who they were chasing. Hadn't even known it was his night. He should have known when they took knives that it was going to end badly. They said they were doing it for protection, you never could be too careful there were dangerous people out there….how was he to know that THEY were the bad people that they were trying to protect themselves from! He'd had a feeling then that they were testing him, looking back he knew his gut instinct was right, it couldn't have been a coincidence that they chose his old best friend.

After it all happened his mother had came and picked him up from the police station. He'd never forget the look in her eyes as she entered the room he was sat in, she had obviously been advised of what he'd done. She wasn't angry just really sad and it was that look she gave him that killed him, she'd never looked at him like that before, almost like she didn't know him and that somehow she had failed him, not the other way around. It was the next morning he had heard Adele and his mother arguing. Adele was saying that she should find Alice and Danny, his birth parents and give him back. He was too much trouble, much too much like them to fit in their world properly. His mum had said she never would, that he wasn't Alice's son he was hers and never in a million years would she willingly hand him over to them….but still it hurt that someone who had watched him grow up, someone who was supposed to love him like family thought so little of him. He'd been so angry. What if Adele convinced them? What would he do then? It was that afternoon they had went for that last drive. That afternoon he realised he would never see his mother alive ever again….

His memories played out as he yanked open a drawer trying to find something to occupy his mind, specifically a map. He had to get out of there, his head spinning with memories he didn't want to remember but could never forget. As he pulled open another drawer he felt something drop then the drawer would open no further, it was far short of what it should open. The force of his pull must have loosened something in there. Suitably distracted he moved the papers in the drawer aside forced his hand along the underside of the roof and felt around. He soon found a small, what felt like rectangular box, he pushed the drawer in a little so the box wasn't jammed and forced his fingers under it. The box fell inside the drawer and he picked it up his head cocked to the side as he examined it. It was dusty and looked like it hadn't been opened in a while. He flicked the catch and opened it, the hinge was a little stiff but he still opened it without too much difficulty. Inside it held a folded piece of yellowing paper, unfolding it he was looking at a crude, hand drawn map. It was covered in writing he didn't understand.

Sitting in the chair he studied it closely, there was a large rock formation to the far left. He could make out the house, far smaller than now which told him the map was pretty old. To the east there was the word Mara and a huge water hole….there seemed to be a passage of sorts leading from their rock formation into a similar one at right in the middle of Mara….he frowned, he was sure there were fences in that area. Maybe it was an old access road, or maybe Leopards Den used to be bigger but they sold some of the land to Mara, who knew. Still it intrigued him and decided to go check it out. See how accurate this old thing was! It was something to do at least.

Grabbing a back pack from his room he filled it with a few bottles of water and sandwiches. A torch in case he needed it at the rocks and a cap. He turned to leave and was walking down the stairs before he remembered to take a radio. Then again did he really want Alice to be able to find to find him? She'd want to bond and stuff when he needed his space. Mind made up he the checked the map and headed in the direction of the rock formation.

"Thomas?" Alice called as she walked into the house. They had an animal census coming up and she wanted to know if he wanted to come. No doubt he would refuse her but she had to try.

"Thomas!" she called louder all was quiet in the house. Rosie was out with Liv at Mara and she doubted he wanted to stay in with Caroline and Nomsa for company. This could be a prime time to try and get to know him….if she could find him that is.

After knocking on his bedroom door and having no reply she popped her head inside and found it empty. He was no doubt out on a walk, she'd just hang around and wait until she spotted him and ask him then. It wouldn't hurt; there were plenty of odd jobs she had to get on with in the surgery.

Thomas felt like he had been walking in the scorching hot sun forever when he saw a rock formation beginning to appear in the distance. The sun was absolutely baking him and he knew he had the beginning of sun burn on his arms and legs; he always bloody burned, even on holiday. He was glad he brought his cap he'd taken it off long ago though, the heat causing his head to sweat matting his hair to his scalp. He had been beginning to think that the map was a load of rubbish until he looked up and saw the rocks. Ok yes the formation of them was a little different but depending on how old this was, and how accurate the artist, there might have been earth quakes or landslides.

Squinting at the map he saw what looked like a faint path leading into the rocks but as they came closer into view it just looked like a massive pile of rocks one on top of the other rising high into the sky. Is this all? He had wasted all this time, walked all day probably contracted sun stroke for a stupid pile of rocks! He rolled his eyes, shook his head but still carried on until he reached the bottom. As he stared up at the towering structure he wondered whether it was natural or manmade. Then again it had to be natural! How do you get rocks up that high without a crane? Deciding to see the view from the top he found a ledge and began to climb…..

A few hours had passed and no one had seen hide nor hair or Thomas. Alice had to admit that she was more than a little bit concerned. Dupe walked in the house as she paced in the kitchen. He was closely followed by Evan. The two men were laughing about the Evans time in the bush,

"Don't worry kid, it's an easy mistake to make. What matters is you found the tracks and followed them to the nest!" Dupe assured.

"Yeah and I was chased by some evil looking meercats, that advert is all wrong..."

Dupe chuckled and clapped Evan on the back, he looked into the kitchen and saw Alice pacing. "Ok, what's he done now?" Dupe asked. There was only one person who got Alice that agitated. The boy!

"I can't find him Dupe! What if he's ran away? What if he's lost in the bush?"

"Alice calm down." He murmured going in the fridge and tossing Evan a drink. "He's probably gone for a walk and lost track of time."

"But he's been so quiet recently." She countered looking at him seriously. "Maybe he planned this. Maybe he is gone for good!"

Dupe refrained from rolling his eyes, when it came to Thomas her thoughts always rushed to the worst scenario. "Where would he go Alice? The kid isn't stupid we are miles from anywhere. It's not like he is going to camp out with the lions is it?"

Her eyes widened and she paled slightly when he mentioned the lions and Dupe inwardly cursed himself.

"I can't lose my boy Dupe…."

Dupe put his hand on her arm as a calming gesture, "How about we go see if we can find any tracks before anyone jumps to any conclusions. Don't worry; he is probably napping in one of the huts. The beds in there are better than ours!" he motioned to Evan who dropped his empty can into the recycling. "Come on I'll show you the finer points of looking for human tracks. Go grab us some fresh radios, just in case."

Thomas had scaled the rocks easy and sat on the top looking into the distance at the land before him. The swirls of colour, browns and greens, animals looking so small and insignificant in the distance, the sky blue and cloudless, the sun shining on everything, glinting off the waterhole in the distance. His mum would have loved it here; she would have loved everything but this sight especially. It made you think about your place in the world, reminded you how small you were in contrast to it all, he swiped at the tears that began to slowly fall from his eyes…everything in his life came back to her, would there ever come a time when thinking of her didn't make him want to cry? It didn't make him much of a man.

He bowed his head exhaling slowly, stemming the flow. It was quiet as he thought of his mum. He still couldn't believe that Alice had met his mum. Had they got along? Did his mum like Alice? She couldn't have, not from Thomas had been told. His mum wouldn't have let Danny and Alice near him! Thing was, why would Alice lie? And if she was why not give him some big convoluted story? Then again maybe she was making to simple so he'd believe. He rubbed his head feeling a headache forming and sighed. His mum always said that he over thought things, stressed so much about the parts rather than looking at the big picture, after all the whole is only the sum of its parts.

He looked into the distance again, this time switching off his mind, just taking in the lush beauty of the surroundings. He nodded slowly; he liked this place and would visit it again, as well as exploring the rest of the map. Right now though, he really should be getting back. Alice would send out a search party no doubt.

His descent carried on much quicker than his ascent, he wasn't quite at the bottom when he saw a gap in the middle of two of the rocks, he held on with one hand and used his free hand to fumble inside his rucksack for the torch. When he had it he turned it on and pointed it in the direction of the gap, he was surprised to see a cavern open up in front of him. The opening was large enough for a small man to fit in. Tossing his bag inside he squeezed in and pulled the map out inspecting it using the light from the opening. According to the map this looked like some sort of secret passageway. He looked in the direction of home then back into the cave and smiled. He picked up his rucksack and began to walk slowly, turning on his torch for light. It slashed through the darkness and Thomas looked around. The place smelled damp and musty, then again all it had for fresh air was that tiny little crack at the front. He walked towards a wall and felt solid rock beneath his hands; looking around Thomas saw a dark path leading down a slight incline. Shining his torch over the map seeing if it gave any indication as to where the path led to, the only word there was leeu at the end of the trail. What the hell was a leeu anyway! Probably some extinct word which meant nothing or maybe it was a dead end it could even be the name of that part of the land. He'd find out when he reached it, finally something to do!

Dupe and Evan had found Thomas' tracks no problem. Alice was in the truck behind them following. They conversed through a radio.

"Where the hell is Thomas going Dupe." she asked. This area of land was practically barren, "There is nothing here but rocks."

Dupe searched his memory, something niggling at the edge of his subconscious. "The kid is probably just looking around, exploring like I did at his age. You don't know half the stuff I found, the trails I uncovered, the caves I….." he felt his breath leave him in a rush. He looked up scanned the area and let his gaze focus into the distance, the direction of the footprints left no uncertainty. No, he couldn't have found it! Surely! It had taken Dupe years, and that had been a total accident. He'd even had to make a map to find the entrance again…..but the map had been lost thirty years ago, he assumed destroyed in a long ago fire in the study. The map had warnings written on it too! The kid would know not to follow that trail….he felt sick when he remembered the warnings were written in Afrikaan. The kid couldn't read it! He couldn't take the chance that he wasn't going there; Alice would never forgive herself of him if anything happened to her boy. He grabbed Evans arm and dragged him towards the truck.

Alice stopped and looked at him, "Dupe?"

"Alice I need to drive, I know where he is going and if I'm right the kid could be in a big trouble!"

"How why?" she asked quickly, eyes frantic at Dupes grave tone.

"One word, Leeu….."

Thomas coughed as his torch ran across the walls of the cave, there was no air in, he had felt it getting thinner and thinner the more he walked. He was underground at the minute; this must be a really old poachers trail or something. The only air available to him tasted musty and old. It stunk in here too, like animals had crawled in, lost their way and died. He felt like he had been walking for an age, when actually it had probably only been about twenty minutes. The passage seemed to be getting narrower; he was going to hit a dead end eventually no doubt. The other end at Mara might have collapsed by now, who knew how old this map was….what if he got stuck? He should have brought a radio, then again even if he had brought a radio what was he chances of getting reception when he was underground! He was about to give up and turn back when he felt the merest touch of a breeze against his cheek and the ground began to slope upwards slightly. His eyes shined with excitement and he smiled, he was coming to the end! He jogged up the slope, mud slipping beneath his feet when the path opened up into a cavern, just like on his end! He couldn't quite see the exit so he ran his hand along the wall looking for any cracks where he could exit, he was about to give up when he found the smallest of gaps dropping his back pack, he crouched low and squeezed himself through. After some groaning and exertion he finally got through, stood up and dusted himself off.

His destination was nothing special, granted there was lot more foliage here then on the other end. He bent down, picked up his bag and decided to quickly explore the area before heading home, Alice was going to have his life for just up and disappearing like this, in for a penny in for a pound he supposed. He began to walk around, looking out for landmarks like Alice had taught him to do, but he didn't recognise anything which meant he hadn't been here before. This had to be on Mara's land! The place was so quiet too! Usually the bush was alive with sound but here it was more than quiet. He could actually hear the breeze in his ears. The lack of noise was making him uneasy. This wasn't normal; usually the bush was alive with sound! This area couldn't be empty!

He stopped walked and pulled out his water bottle from his ruck sack. He was taking a drink when the hair on his neck stood on end. He heard a clicking noise and shuffling he turned his head slowly, ginger hair came into view and his heart stopped beating for a second before it kicked back in again, twice as fast as before. The ginger hair he thought he'd seen before wasn't hair, it was fur….

A/N You found out a little more about Thomas in this chapter, seen a totally different side of him. he's not as tough as he likes to think, hes just very impulsive, like heading to that cave without telling anyone. Eeek now hes in big trouble here!