CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Paulo almost sagged with relief when he rounded the corner at the end of the trail and spotted Stella's blonde head just poking out of some bushes. She was nestled down into the vegetation on the ridge, looking down into the lagoon again, the missing backpack serving as a makeshift cushion for her to perch on. Quickly, Paulo turned and retraced his steps to where Li was hurrying along behind him.

Found her, he mouthed, and Li too looked like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She pressed one hand to her chest, and then turned around and went back to the camp to tell the others who had been starting to fan out and search the surrounding bush.

Stella had only been gone for maybe fifteen minutes, but it had felt like a lifetime. They needed to get ready to head out before darkness fell, and trying to track down their wayward sixth group member had rattled them. Unfortunately for Stella, it also didn't quite bode well for disproving the concerns that Amber, Hex and Alex had; her just taking off was not really the greatest move on her part. Paulo was glad it was he who had found her and not Amber. The poor kid would have gotten an absolute earful.

Quietly, but making enough of a rustle that he wouldn't sneak up and scare her, Paulo made his way over to Stella. She didn't turn her head as he settled down onto the ground beside her, but he saw her eyes flick over in his direction. They were red and puffy, tear tracks on her pale face. So not all cried out, then.

"Hola, chica," he said softly. "We were wondering where you had gotten to."

Stella sniffed and nodded briskly down at the lagoon; the two men could still be seen on the boat, getting the final preparations ready as the sun sunk lower behind the horizon. "I thought someone should keep watch."

"Ah. Yes. A good plan." He paused, then added, "But maybe next time, let us know your plan first. We were worried about you."

Stella scoffed. "No you weren't." She turned to face Paulo with a scowl, and he could now see just how upset she really was; her entire face was puffy, nose red as well as her eyes. She had been absolutely bawling her eyes out. "I heard you," she said, then hesitated and added, "Well… Not you, exactly. But Alex. And Amber and Hex. Especially Amber and Hex." Turning back to watch over the lagoon, she sniffed again and dragged the back of her hand across her face. "No one wants me around."

Paulo felt immense guilt, even though- as Stella had said- he hadn't been taking part in the verbal slinging match. "Oh, chica, no. We are very glad you are here, and that you are okay."

"I heard, Paulo," Stella snapped. "Alex doesn't want me going with him and Li, Amber and Hex don't want me going with you guys… You all think I'm useless."

"That is-"

"The truth, Paulo. I heard you all."

Paulo sighed as Stella continued to frown out at the lagoon. He clearly wasn't going to made any headway there. They were on a time crunch, and he knew that, but if Stella was going to come back to the group and they were going to try and execute their plan as best they could, if they stood the best chance of it going well, he needed to get her to calm down and not feel so alienated and attacked.

"You're all just like everyone else in my life," Stella continued before Paulo could come up with a tactful way to try and steer things back on course. "Want me out of the way, think I'm a hinderance. Pack me off to boarding school, pack me off to summer holiday camps and programs, just put me to one side so you don't have to worry about me stuffing up things."

Realisation dawned on Paulo. This was way bigger than just the few snide comments from Hex and Amber which, in the scheme of things, had been mean but not so bad that they should have reduced someone to the level of distress that Stella was in. This was a vulnerable fourteen year old girl who was maybe finally feeling part of something, even as a tagalong, and had just had that unceremoniously shattered behind her back.

"I'm glad you guys saved me," Stella said in a small, sad voice. She still wasn't looking anywhere but down at the lagoon, but Paulo could see that she absolutely wasn't cried out yet as more tears pooled in her eyes, a couple slipping over and tracking down her already tear stained cheeks. "Because my dad wouldn't have paid any ransom they asked for."

"I am sure that is not true, Stella."

She gave a weary nod. "Yeah, it is. And it wouldn't be because he couldn't afford it, because he could ten times over, and it wouldn't be because of not bargaining with kidnappers, which is what he could claim it was about. It would purely be because he wouldn't see the point, and he wouldn't think I was worth it."

The only thing that Paulo could think to do at this point was to gently rest an arm around the small girl's shoulders and give her a brief squeeze. She didn't recoil, so at least Paulo thought she might not be that mad at him- not that she actually seemed mad at all, really. She was just sad, and Paulo didn't like it when anyone around him was sad or upset. He wanted to keep the peace, keep everyone happy and safe, and not being able to find the right words- to find any words- to say to help Stella feel better was just an awful feeling.

"Stella," he finally said, keeping his voice firm but gentle and kind. Taking his arm away from around her shoulders, he waited until she finally turned and actually looked at him. "You are worth it. That is why we came back for you. And," he added, as she opened her mouth to say something, "that is why we were talking about who you should go with. Because we want to keep you safe."

"It didn't sound like that was what was happening," she argued, although the early bitterness didn't quite make it into her words this time. "It sounded like no one wanted to be lumped with the dead weight."

"You are not a weight," Paulo insisted, thinking that, given the circumstances, dropping the dead was probably for the best. "But we all have things we are good at, and things we are not so good at. And ignoring that is estúpido. This is why Li is not going to look at the boat engine, and I am not going to be tiny and sneaky in the bushes."

Finally, he got the tiniest flicker of a smile from Stella. The tears that had been swimming before had also dried up, most having never ended up falling.

"I don't know what I'm good at," Stella said. "You guys all have these really cool skills, you all seem to know what to do and I'm just… I'm just there." She shrugged.

"I will let you in on a secret." With an exaggerated motion, Paulo beckoned her closer, pretending to glance around to check they weren't being overheard. In a stage whisper he said, "We do not have a clue. We are making things up as we go."

"But…" Stella was determined, stubborn, not letting it go. "None of you have cried, gotten 're all just… getting on with it. I'm so stressed and upset I feel like I want to be sick constantly. I feel like I can't function."

This time, Paulo shrugged. "And that is okay," he said firmly. "This whole thing-" he waved an arm at the island in general "-is stressful."

"So how come no one else is going to pieces like me?"

Another shrug. "Like Li said: perhaps we are the un normal ones."

"It's abnormal, but same difference." Stella gave a tiny smile. "And I'm really grateful for that, actually. I don't think I would have been still alive if I had gotten kidnapped along with Justin. He wouldn't have had the guts to come back and save me."

Paulo laughed. "Maybe if you had kept his comb for security."

It was Stella's turn for a tiny chuckle, but then the smile was back off her face again. "I'm really scared, Paulo," she said in a tiny voice.

"That is okay. You are allowed to be scared. But," he added gently, "you also must be brave. As brave as you were alone on that boat."

A little shudder went through Stella's body. "I thought I was going to die."

"And you survived. And you were all alone then." He gave her thin shoulder a gentle pat, then a firm squeeze. "You are not alone now, Stella. We can help you be brave."

She paused, thoughtful for a moment, considering his words. "I still don't have anything I'm good at, though," she admitted sadly.

Paulo smiled at her. "I would say you have done a good job at being tiny and sneaky in the bushes," he said, which got a tiny smile out of Stella.

Down on the lagoon, out of the corner of his eye, Paulo could see movement. The two men were boarding the tender. The sun was just about down, it would soon be nightfall, and they were out of time.

"It's time to go, Stella," Paulo said. "Will you be brave?"

She took a deep breath. Her eyes were glassy with fear, her lip wobbled, but this time no tears fell. "I can try," she whispered.

"That is all we need. Come on, let's go."

When Paulo and Stella returned to camp, Paulo was ready to leap in and defend her if anyone dared start up at her again, however no one said a word. Maybe Li had gotten in with a reminder first, or maybe it was the reality and gravity of the situation putting it all into perspective, but even Amber just kept her mouth shut and her attention on her own business. In the shadowy light of dusk, they made their final preparations, which mostly was just ensuring they had something to eat and drink so they weren't running on empty. They were travelling light, keen for speed and stealth and not wanting bulky packs to slow them down, but they needed a few items to help them with their plans.

Hex had a backpack on with a few random tools that they had located in the storage hut; Paulo wasn't sure if he would need them, but figured better to have and not need then need and not have. He could probably improvise with them in a pinch anyway.

Li and Alex had even less. Alex's belt pouch was strapped around his waist, the map folded up as carefully as was possibly and shoved inside; the zip had protested the entire time it was pulled close, and the pouch felt bulky where it normally was almost unnoticeable. Alex also had Amber's spare insulin pen crammed in there, and along with his survival kit he was really testing the limits of the bag.

Stella's mouth opened, her expression wary, but before she could get a word in Li said gently, "You're with us, Stella. Come on. Alex knows where we're going; we're going to just follow him as quickly and quietly as possible."

Stella looked at Paulo, who gave her an encouraging nod and then a brilliant smile as, after a moment's wavering, Stella squared her shoulders and moved over to stand with Alex and Li. She still looked absolutely terrified, but she was coping, and in the situation that was really any of them could hope for.

"They are heading to shore," Paulo said. "How long until they are here?"

Alex looked thoughtful. "We left the lagoon and headed straight back here, at a pretty rapid pace, and that took us… what? About two hours?"

"'Straight back' is probably not the real correct words," Li reminded him. "We were zigzagging all over the shop, guessing the direction best we could without a reference other than 'ahead'."

"So maybe less than that. If they're familiar with the island."

Ty and Francis being familiar with the island was an almost certainty, and a fact that hugely worried the teenagers. They had yet to even explore the entire half of the island that lay to the south of the cabins; Li, Alex and Stella were going into unknown territory, at night, running for their lives. It was almost pure insanity, but they had no other options so they tried not to dwell on just how potentially suicidal what they were about to attempt actually was. The way Alex saw it, they either sat there and waited to be shot, or they took the slim chance they could out manoeuvre the men for long enough to ensure that Amber and Paulo had a clear run at the boat. And then hope like hell that the rest of the hastily outlined plan worked, and they all survived the evening.

"We need to make sure they follow our path," Alex said, directing it to Li and Stella since they were part of the 'we'. "So we can't just take off. We need to lure them away from here, away from the lagoon."

Li saw Stella's sharp intake of breath, and silently begged the other girl to keep it together. Stella's next breath was shaky, but she didn't cry, didn't collapse, just continued to pay attention as Alex outlined the rest of what he was planning for them. Li had no idea what Paulo had said, but he had clearly worked some magic and got Stella's head back on the right way after her meltdown. Definitely a way with the ladies, that one, but she suspected this had more to do with him just being kind and listening and much less to do with attempting to flirt and charm.

"So," Li said, as Alex finished bringing Stella up to speed, "we need to be obvious, but not too obvious. Like little hints here and there just to keep them moving after us, after the initial trail, but not as easy as Hansel and Gretel would make it for them."

"So no breadcrumbs?" Stella asked, attempting to keep her voice light and breezy but not quite managing it. 'Scared' was not even close to being a big enough word for what she was feeling.

"No breadcrumbs," Alex agreed.

Meanwhile, Paulo was catching up with Amber and Hex's plan, which seemed a little vague. It basically involved heading west to the ridge that they had originally tried to hike up, and then following the coast down and looping around the top half of the island, hugging the coast the entire way if possible, to get to the channel that they had crossed what felt like weeks ago, and then around to the lagoon. Hex would stick to the rocks while Paulo and Amber swam out to the boat and investigated. All going to plan, Hex would have a boring watch and then be ready to take the tender that Ty and Francis would have left on the beach around the headland to the south, collecting the others right as they reached the water on the south side of the island. He would then whisk them back, and all would be aboard unharmed and ready to set sail for safety.

All going to plan.

The camp now only lit by the glow of the almost full moon, and their eyes adjusted to the available light as well as they would be, the two groups said their goodbyes and split up, one heading to the west and one heading to the south. They all hoped like hell it wouldn't be the last time they would see each other.