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he started to climb down, one of the men fired his own gun at him and hit him in the shoulder. His body jerked and he toppled into the water with a splash.
    The two men started to row frantically, pulling away from the Fearless who, incredibly, was still alive, hissing garbled curses and trying to swim after us. At last, he went under the water and didn’t come back up. Then Mum made a noise that was half-groan, half-howl. ‘It’s coming! It’s coming!’ she gasped, sitting up.
    One of the men thrust his oar at Ian Denning, and he and Mr Brightman scrambled to help her. I’d always thought having a baby would take ages, but within ten minutes, it was over. My brother was born while Hope Island was still rising up out of the water in front of us and the docks and the mainland were still falling away behind.

HOPE



THE RULES OF HOPE ISLAND
    As drawn up by S. Brightman, Island Mayor, the
Hope Island Governing Committee and the
Captain of the Patrol in the first year of
occupation (Invasion Year Zero).
Amended I.Y.3; I.Y.5
    1. No outsider is permitted to land on Hope without a vote first being cast by the IGC and the island’s residents . Any trespassers will be shot by the Patrol.
    2. No Islander will have children without the permission of the HIGC. This is essential to conserve resources for the community.
    3. No Islander will take food or any other items belonging to another Islander, or take food or any other items from the Exchange without presenting the appropriate number of tokens. Any Islander caught stealing will be locked up in the cells for a period of no less than one week.
    4. No Islander shall cause deliberate injury to another Islander. To do so will result in the perpetrator being locked up in the cells for a period of no less than one month.
    5. No Islander shall deliberately cause the death of another Islander. To do so will result in the perpetrator being outcast.
    6. All Islanders aged 17 and over are expected to contribute to the community on Hope Island by working in the roles chosen for them by the HIGC.
    7. All Islanders aged between 5 and 17 years must attend school from Monday to Friday.
    8. No decisions are to be made that affect the island community without consulting the HIGC.
    9. Any Islander who leaves the island without permission may be denied re-entry.
    10. Any Islander who is taken by a Fearless and does not return of their own accord, unAltered, will be considered lost.

Chapter 5
    Seven years later
CASS
    When I look at myself in the piece of mirror fixed to the wall above my sleeping mat, even my restless night can’t dull my excitement. My shirt and trousers, although patched and faded, are clean, and the worn leather of my boots gleams in the light from the oil lamp. My armband is blue, embroidered with the words
Hope Junior Patrol
. If my assessment goes well, today will be the last time I wear it.
    On the mat beside mine, Jori stirs and sits up. ‘
Please
can I come and watch you do target practice?’ he says as he kicks his blankets back, the same question he’s asked a hundred times a day since he found out I was graduating from the Junior Patrol. His breath forms clouds in the chilly air.
    ‘
No
, Jor.’ I twist my mousy curls back into a knot, wishing, not for the first time, that I’d inherited Mum’s flaming red hair like my brother did.
    Jori pushes his lip out. ‘But I want to!’
    ‘
No
. It’s too dangerous.’ I help him tug his favourite bright green T-shirt down over his head. ‘But you can join the Junior Patrol when you’re twelve, and then you’ll get to learn to shoot a gun yourself, eventually.’
    Jori rolls his eyes. ‘But that’s
ages
. I’ll be
old
.’
    ‘Are you trying to say I’m old?’ I lunge at him and he shrieks, trying to dodge away, but I grab him and start tickling him while he squirms in my arms and giggles.
    Then the Meeting Hall bell starts to ring, signalling breakfast. Jori wriggles free, still giggling breathlessly, and I