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noticed that my phone was almost out of charge.
    ‘Where can I charge my phone?’ I asked.
    Izzy waved her hand towards the back of the tent. ‘Just over there.’
    I crawled to the end of my mattress, feeling around. By then Izzy and Mia were giggling.
    ‘There’s no power point in here, is there?’ I groaned.
    Mia shook her head, trying not to laugh.
    ‘I can’t charge my phone, can I?’ I said slowly. ‘Because we don’t have any power.’
    ‘My mum doesn’t even let me bring a phone,’ Mia said.
    ‘Oh great,’ I sighed, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. I looked at my phone again. It was dead.
    At least I’d made plans with Persephone before my phone died. But how was I going to survive the rest of the week? It felt like my right arm had been severed. In fact, that might have been preferable.
    ‘But I can’t live without my phone,’ I whimpered, staring at my precious device. It wasn’t the coolest phone around, but I’d saved for a year to buy it and I loved it so much.
    Izzy gently took my phone from my hand. She tossed it on top of my bag and smiled. ‘Now, back to more important things,’ she said. ‘So I think the guy in the red shorts is called Sam, or it might be Dan or –’
    ‘I think he looks like a Calvin,’ Mia said.
    ‘Calvin?’ Izzy said, making a face. ‘How does he look like a Calvin?’
    We stayed up late getting our cool handshake right and talking through our waterfall plans for the next morning.
    When Mia and Izzy launched back into their conversation about which camper was cuter, I pulled out my sketch pad and started doodling. At least that didn’t need charging.
    Before long I’d drawn Rio, looking out to sea. It wasn’t my best effort, just a quick sketch. But Izzy and Mia thought it was really cool.
    I tore the picture out of my sketch pad and tucked it under my pillow. As I drifted off to sleep, I was sure I could feel Rio’s big brown eyes watching me from the other end of the bay.

The next morning I woke to the smell of frying bacon. Izzy and Mia were still fast asleep, even though light was streaming into the tent and it was feeling a bit like a sauna. As I lay in bed listening to the sounds of the camp, I realised that we were probably the only ones not up. The boys were shouting about who was going to get the last piece of toast.
    I stretched across to check the time, but, of course, my phone was dead. Dead to the world, a bit like my friends.
    ‘Do you girls want breakfast or not?’ Izzy’s mum called from outside the tent.
    Izzy groaned.
    ‘I’ll take that as a no,’ said her mum.
    A few moments later, I heard our tent door being unzipped. BB crawled in and flopped down onto Izzy’s mattress.
    ‘Buzz off, rodent,’ Izzy mumbled.
    ‘Get up, ya lazy old lizard! We’re going fishing,’ BB said, bouncing on her mattress. ‘Dad’s got the boat ready.’
    ‘Too early,’ Izzy grumbled, trying to swat her brother without lifting her head.
    ‘No, it’s not,’ BB said. ‘It’s ten.’
    Izzy sat bolt upright. ‘What? Ten o’clock! But we were supposed to leave at seven.’ She flicked her brother with a towel, sending him scurrying out of the tent.
    ‘Guess we’d better get ready, then,’ I said, and gently shook Mia, who was still asleep.
    ‘In a minute,’ Mia mumbled and went back to sleep.
    It was midday by the time we set off. Our late start meant it was unlikely that we’d beat the cute campers to the waterfall. But Izzy was determined to go anyway. She set a fast pace to the edge of the camping ground where the track to the Valley of the Beeches began.
    Izzy was confident that she remembered the way and led us along a dirt track that went deep into the forest. It was a bit muddy and slippery because it had rained overnight, but it was a beautiful walk. Until we entered leech territory.
    No-one had to tell me we were now in the Valley of the Leeches. I could feel goosebumps springing up on my arms at the thought of those tiny little