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the knots to test them. ‘After all, this is my contraption.’ He handed Alex the machete. ‘We’ll catch you up.’
    Alex got his map out of his belt kit. It took just moments to reorientate himself. He looked at Hex and Li. ‘Ready?’
    They nodded. Hex looked back at Amber. ‘Make sure you nail the squirmy little beggar firmly into the ground.’
    ‘I’ll get him, don’t you worry,’ said Amber. She wished she felt as confident as she sounded.
    Hex and Li headed off after Alex, counting paces. Amber’s heart thudded in time with their feet crunching on the leaf litter. Hex trod on a branch and the crack flooded her brain with images: the crashes and the screams in the night, the trail of destruction as the poor, panicking donkey tried to escape the pain of the snake bite.
    Paulo coiled up the free end of the vine and stood behind her. He handed her the stick. ‘Just slide it into the ground, in front of where you’ve got your foot. Make sure it’s firm.’
    Amber took the stick. ‘If it doesn’t work, do I get my money back?’ She positioned it behind the snake’s head. It reared back, eyes watching her like black sequins. She rammed the stick into the ground hard and it slid in like a garden fork.
    Paulo gave a tug on the vine.
    ‘Don’t do that!’ hissed Amber.
    ‘Just testing. Now take your foot away.’
    ‘Are you sure?’
    Paulo nodded. ‘It’s held securely.’
    Very slowly, Amber raised her foot a millimetre. The snake felt the pressure release and humped its back. Amber froze.
    ‘Keep going,’ said Paulo. ‘Its head is still pinned.’
    Sweat was running down Amber’s face. She held onto Paulo and slowly lifted her foot. She looked down. The snake was held firmly by the stick, as though it had been stapled into the ground.
    Paulo took her arm and moved her away. ‘Now we follow the others.’
    The snake hissed at them, showing pale fangs. It knew they were moving.
    Amber couldn’t take her eyes off it. ‘What if it slides out?’
    ‘It can’t. It’s a close fit.’
    Amber turned round. The others had vanished but they were easy to follow thanks to the path Alex had cut with the machete. Behind her, Paulo paid out the vine, looking backwards all the time. If it got caught, it might release the snake before they had got far enough away.
    Li’s voice sang through the trees. ‘Are you there?’
    Amber called back. ‘We’re coming. Go on ahead.’
    Paulo continued to pay out the line. ‘We’re nearly at the end. Ready to run?’
    ‘Sure.’
    ‘Go!’ As Paulo started to run he felt the vine snag and pull free. The snake was released.
    ‘Go go go!’ he yelled.
    Amber ran. Demons pursued her, images of what would happen if she didn’t run fast enough. Her bergen thumped on her back, pushing her on. Eventually, Paulo, Hex, Li and Alex closed in around her, pulling her back, telling her she could stop.
    She collapsed in a heap on the jungle floor, getting her breath. ‘Has it gone?’ she gasped.
    Paulo was nodding. ‘Yes. It’s gone.’
    Amber pulled herself up onto all fours, still breathing heavily. She looked up at Alex. ‘Can we just do some boring navigation for a while now? After all, that’s what we came for.’
    Paulo in front, Alex and Amber next, Hex and Li at the back. Every ten metres, stop and check. They felt they were getting better at this. They slipped into the routine more easily, each playing their part like components in a machine. It was repetitive, but now they were all working so well together there was something satisfying about it.
    ‘Hey,’ said Paulo, ‘there are some more of these drystone walls.’
    Alex bent down and brushed aside some of the vines. The stones formed a mound, sloping away from him into the undergrowth. ‘No, they’re different. Look.’
    The others stopped and looked. The mound was at least as tall as Alex was.
    Alex knew what it was. His dad had described them. ‘That,’ he said, ‘is a pyramid. A tomb.’

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