Chapter 10

Where can he be?

It was a small island, but a person could get momentarily lost in the jungle that took up the majority of available space. A search party could easily locate a missing person, but someone deliberately hiding could remain undiscovered indefinitely.

“Edgar!” he shouted from the slope of the volcano. “Edgar!”

He waited, watching the jungle at the foot of the volcano like an eagle watching for prey. He called again and again, standing in readiness to run to greet his beloved friend. Yet, as the sun slipped across the sky, drawing the day ever closer to night, Lucien was forced to descend the volcano with a heavy heart.

* * * *

“I can’t think what’s happened,” he told Abel later, when the man had woken up. “He’s never done this before.” Then he thought of something. “When you stepped into the clearing, did you see him? Did you see which way he went?”

Abel shook his head. “I’m sorry. You were the only person I saw.”

“Are you absolutely certain?”