Free Missing by Gabrielle Lord Page A

little gang went on ten-kilometre runs, getting to see some of the amazing beauty of the island. With Hamish showing us where it was safe to go, we ran through lush jungle, along cliff tops with breathtaking views, and past a spectacular waterfall, where we often finished by jumping into the sparkling water and splashing each other. The uphill jogs carrying heavy packs to build up our endurance were less fun though.
    In our stinger suits, we practised our distance swimming and had a chance to enjoy the ocean too. As I swam past the rocky outcrop, I spotted a large square cement block behind the boulders and rocks of the small island. Could there be someone trapped out here? It seemed just too unbelievable.
    Back in the covered court area behind the main building, we trained with weights, barbells and dumbbells. Hamish offered prizes and turned it into a competition. I did pretty well, but the super-strong guy in our group, Alex, seemed to be the best at winning extra desserts at dinner.
    It was when we started practising taking people by surprise from behind that I started to worry a bit. Why were we being trained in
this
sort of thing?
    Then this morning at training there were only six of us. Puzzled, I asked Hamish. ‘Where are the other two guys?’
    He fixed me with a steely gaze. ‘That’s not something for us to worry about. Try sixty push-ups. Now.’
    As I puffed and grunted and sweated, straining over the last five, questions kept circling in my mind. Why were we training like this? Where had the missing two guys gone? Every day, Shadow Island and its popular and powerful leader raised more questions. From the basketball court I heard cheering and clapping as someone scored a basket. Other kids seemed to be happy, just having fun. Why was I so troubled about this place?
    From now on, I needed to focus on finding the answers. At the back of mind, I also hadthe nagging worry that almost four weeks had gone by since I’d received that mysterious text message. I was no nearer to figuring it out, but the days were still counting down.
1:41 pm
    I saw Sophie Bellamy playing table tennis with another girl in the recreation room, her fair hair tied back into two braids, freckled face tense with concentration. I waited until she’d won the rally and sidled over to her. ‘Can we talk, in private?’
    She nodded, and continued returning her opponent’s serves with a killer spin until she’d won the game. She put her bat down, shook hands with her opponent, threw a towel over her shoulder and dawdled over to join me. We stepped outside and I looked around to see where the nearest CCTV camera was positioned. I didn’t want to be seen at all if I could help it.
    â€˜Let’s go over to the cemetery,’ I said.
    First we made as if we were preparing the kayaks to go out, scooping the water out of them, brushing sand off the hulls, then when we were certain no-one was watching, we crawled past the bushes into the old graveyard.
    â€˜This place is creepy,’ Sophie said, looking around at the leaning tombstones and the almostobliterated names and dates on them.
    â€˜They’re OK,’ I said, ‘they’re not going to say anything to Damien about us being out of bounds,’ I grinned.
    â€˜Where have you been?’ Sophie demanded. ‘I’ve hardly seen you the last few days.’
    â€˜I was invited to join The Edge,’ I said quietly. ‘I’m not supposed to say anything about it to anyone. I’ve been doing adventuring and training hard.’
    â€˜Me too. Damien asked me a few days ago. I joined the girls’ squad and got the same instructions about keeping it quiet. More secrecy.’
    I told her about the weird conversation I’d heard in Damien’s office. Sophie was very sceptical. ‘Lost dog! There are no dogs here. He was talking about a person for sure. Let’s see if Ryan has had any more ideas about