Winter Has Come | ✔ #1 Winter Series

Chapter 45

They hear our yell and I watch as four heads turn round and four faces convey expressions of surprise almost exactly at the same time. Under other circumstances, it might have been funny.

I speed up a little and when I get there, I can see everyone a little more clearly. They genuinely look happy to see us, excited even.

"Hello," my father says. "Fancy seeing you here."

My mother leans over, trying to catch her breath before replying. "Yeah. We decided to leave. Thought we may be able to catch you guys up."

"Well, you certainly did," replies Dad but he's smiling.

I look round at the others. Angie and Zach stare at us, both with wide eyes and open, gaping mouths. Josh stands there, clutching a bunch of lavender petals and grinning a grin that says, Of course. Only a genius like me could have led them here.

I make a mental note to thank him. If he had not thought of the crushed lavender idea, we would not be where we are now. We may have lost them completely, may have passed them and we would have been going round in circles, looking for each other.

I don't believe in destiny. Only luck.

"Well," says Dad, "I'm guessing we should start heading on together, then. Right?"

Mum nods. She seems pleased to see him. They take the lead, hand in hand, chatting like they haven't talked for years even though it's only been a few days. Angie trudges beside me. Her dark hair is sticky and greasy. They probably missed the river.

"Well this is a surprise," she says lightly. "But I'm glad you're here, though. It's been really boring being the only girl."

I ask her how the trip was. She tells me about how they got here, using a similar route to ours but one that didn't cross the river, as my father didn't really want to get wet. By the end, we've slowed down so much, so deep in our conversation, that we're quite far behind the others.

Angie pulls me to a stop. "Good," she says. "He can't hear us now."

I find myself frowning at her words. "What do you mean? Is there something you want to tell me?"

She glances back to the group ahead of us. I think her eyes linger on Josh for a second too long. Maybe that is what this is all about. "Well, yeah. Thing is, Josh has been really quiet lately. You should maybe talk to him. I think something might be up."

I raise an eyebrow. "That's it?"

She looks pained. "Well, no. I caught him the other night talking on the phone. I don't know who he was talking to or what about but it seemed pretty serious, if you ask me."

My frown deepens until I can feel the creases in my forehead. "And this was last night?"

She nods. "Yeah. After everyone was supposedly asleep. Dunno how he got reception or anything because I've been waiting for that for ages."

Reception is like gold to us now.

I pull her forwards, tugging her by the arm. "Come on. The others will be wondering why we've stopped."

She agrees and we speed-walk to catch up with the others. I feel baffled by Angie's observation. Who could Josh have been talking to? And what did he want with them?