A Rational Explanation

Billy was expecting pandemonium when they got back to camp. But everything seemed… normal.

Not only were all the cabins still standing, but all the other groups were back, waiting expectantly around the tree stump. Expectantly. Not worriedly. Relaxed, and not at all like they might just have narrowly escaped being crushed by a falling boulder or tree.

No, all the others had returned, completely unharmed, and each group had their respective item.

Charlotte pulled up short when she saw that they were the only group to have failed the challenge.

‘This is my worst nightmare,’ she said, the blood draining from her face. ‘I can’t go out there. I never lose.’

‘We were just chased by a tiger and survived an earthquake, and this is your worst nightmare?’ asked Dylan.

‘We’re alive. And, if I’m not dead, I’m coming in first,’ said Charlotte. ‘The earthquake apparently didn’t slow down the others at all. We’re the only ones who let it impact us. I’ve never been so embarrassed.’ She covered her face with her hands.

‘I can think of at least twenty-three times that I’ve been more embarrassed,’ said Dylan. ‘This doesn’t even come close.’

‘You must do very embarrassing things all the time then,’ Charlotte retorted.

‘I think we should just be glad that everyone else looks like they’re okay,’ said Billy, feeling slightly wary. Something was off. How come everyone else seemed completely fine? If he hadn’t been with his friends, he might have thought he’d imagined everything that had happened in the forest.

‘Is Jeremy holding a bit of bamboo? Bamboo? That isn’t hard to find at all!’ Charlotte huffed.

‘I want to let them know we’re okay,’ said Ling-Fei. ‘They must be worried!’

‘They don’t… look very worried,’ said Dylan.

The four emerged from the forest, covered in dirt and with torn clothes, and empty-handed.

‘Aha! Our final group has returned,’ said Old Gold with a wide grin. Then his forehead creased in concern. ‘Why are you all so dirty? Are you all right? What happened?’

‘There was an earthquake,’ Billy said. ‘Didn’t you feel it?’

Everyone stared at him.

‘Are you losers pretending you were in an earthquake to explain why you came in last?’ scoffed JJ. ‘Pathetic.’

Ling-Fei looked at Old Gold. ‘We really did feel an earthquake – the trees were jumping and everything!’

Old Gold’s mouth flattened into a stern line. ‘Ling-Fei,’ he said, ‘don’t make up stories. Especially not about something so dangerous!’

‘But…’ Ling-Fei started. Old Gold hushed her with a quick shake of his head.

‘That’s enough,’ he said. ‘I was hoping you would be able to help your team, Ling-Fei, not hinder them.’

‘She was an excellent help,’ said Charlotte. ‘We solved the riddle! Dragon fruit. And we were on our way to find it through Monkey Pavilion when we saw a tiger!’

There was a pause before JJ started laughing. Loud and mean. ‘If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable. There are no tigers in this forest.’

The other kids began to giggle.

Charlotte turned red. Billy wasn’t sure if it was from anger or embarrassment or both.

‘And Monkey Pavilion?’ said Old Gold, his frown getting deeper. ‘Ling-Fei, you know that is off limits. You broke the rules and didn’t even complete the task?’

‘Typical Ling-Fei,’ sneered JJ.

Ling-Fei looked as if she was about to cry. Billy stepped forward.

‘I know what we felt,’ he said, trying to make his voice as confident as he could, as if he was someone to be taken seriously. ‘Something happened in that forest.’

‘Yeah, you got lost,’ said JJ, snickering.

‘Billy,’ said Old Gold more gently, ‘I am sure you are all disappointed. But, if you are going to lose, lose with dignity. Lying doesn’t help anyone.’

Billy looked at his team and shrugged. It was obvious nobody was going to believe them.

‘We’re sorry, Old Gold,’ Dylan blurted. ‘We got carried away. It’s my fault. I thought I saw something in the trees and we followed it and got lost. That’s what happened.’

‘I see,’ said Old Gold. ‘Well, I must say, I’m disappointed. Especially in you, Ling-Fei.’

Ling-Fei hung her head.

‘You’ve not only come in last, but you’ve ruined the celebration for the team that came in first,’ he said, pointing at the group with the bamboo. ‘Instead of celebrating their win, we are focusing on your loss.’

‘Well done,’ said Billy half-heartedly, giving the other team a thumbs up. It felt ridiculous to be chastised for being poor sports when they were still reeling from surviving both the earthquake and the tiger. Charlotte may have been upset that they had lost, but Billy felt more frustrated that nobody believed what had happened.

‘Congratulations,’ said Charlotte through clenched teeth. Dylan managed a smile, but he could see Ling-Fei was still too distraught to say anything.

‘Now, where were we?’ said Old Gold. ‘Ah, yes, congratulations to our winners! You have won our Great Race.’

---

Later, the friends sat huddled round a small table in the back corner of the canteen and spoke in hushed voices.

‘I don’t get it. How did nobody else feel the earthquake?’ said Billy, taking a bite of stir-fried noodles. The other campers kept glancing at them and whispering, and he was glad to have the other three with him. They really felt like a team now.

‘I don’t understand,’ said Dylan, shaking his head. ‘It’s… well, not impossible, but highly implausible.’

‘And how do you explain the disappearing tiger?’ said Charlotte. ‘And you know what? For as much as JJ is an absolute jerk, I don’t think he was lying when he said there aren’t tigers around here. Something weird is going on.’

They ate in silence, trying to make sense of it all.

‘To be honest, I wouldn’t believe it if the three of you hadn’t seen the same thing,’ said Dylan.

‘Me neither,’ said Billy. He paused and looked down at his noodles, feeling too awkward to look his new friends in the eye, considering what he was about to say. ‘I’m glad we were all together for it.’ Even though he had only met Dylan, Charlotte and Ling-Fei the day before yesterday, after what they had been through, he felt like he’d known them much longer.

‘Same,’ said Charlotte.

‘Me too,’ said Ling-Fei.

‘How are you feeling, Ling-Fei?’ said Billy. ‘Old Gold was hard on you.’

Ling-Fei shrugged. ‘He’s right to be disappointed,’ she said. ‘I shouldn’t have taken you out of bounds.’ She raised her hand to her neck, and suddenly started looking around frantically. ‘My necklace!’ she said with a gasp. ‘It’s gone! It must have fallen off when we were chasing the tiger.’ Billy could see she was blinking back tears. ‘My grandmother gave it to me. It’s been in my family for generations. It’s my most treasured possession.’

‘Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?’ said Charlotte.

They all stared at her.

‘What is?’ said Billy.

‘We have to go back,’ said Charlotte.

‘What?’ sputtered Dylan.

‘We have to help Ling-Fei find her necklace,’ said Charlotte. ‘And it isn’t just that.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Didn’t you all feel… whatever that was? By the mountain?’

‘I felt the earthquake,’ said Dylan. ‘And it made me want to stay as far away from the mountain as possible. And that tiger.’

‘But the tiger disappeared,’ said Billy. ‘Like it was…’ He paused. None of them had said the word out loud.

‘Magic,’ said Charlotte. ‘Like it was magic.’

Dylan rolled his eyes. ‘Oh, please. It wasn’t magic! There’s no such thing as magic. Just like there is no such thing as a river of dragon blood. Trust me, I’m from Ireland, the supposed home of fairies and leprechauns and all kinds of magic. I would know if magic was real.’

‘So how do you explain the disappearing tiger?’ said Charlotte.

‘Maybe it just jumped into its hidey-hole in the mountain,’ said Dylan. ‘Maybe it was a group hallucination. That can happen, you know.’

‘The only way to figure out what it was is to go back,’ said Billy. And, as he said it, he realized that he was glad they had a reason to return to the forest. Glad to go back to where something extraordinary had happened to him and his friends. Part of him was scared, but another part of him was drawn to the mystery of it. He wanted to know what had happened. Even if it had been terrifying, it had also been exciting.

‘It’s my necklace,’ said Ling-Fei, pushing a strand of her dark hair out of her face. ‘I can go on my own.’

‘No way,’ said Charlotte emphatically. ‘We’ll find it faster if all of us look.’

‘She’s right,’ said Billy. ‘We should stick together.’ He still had the feeling he’d had immediately after the earthquake – that they had survived because they’d been together.

Dylan sighed and put his head in his hands. ‘Fine,’ he said. He looked out of the window. ‘But it’s already getting dark. You aren’t going to make me go fumbling around in the forest in the dark, are you?’

‘No, we should wait till morning,’ said Charlotte. ‘Let’s go first thing. Right after sunrise. That way nobody will miss us. We have free time tomorrow morning, remember? We’ll just make sure we’re back for class in the afternoon.’

‘That’s really nice of you all,’ said Ling-Fei in a quiet voice. ‘I don’t want to get you in trouble again.’

‘You heard Charlotte,’ said Billy. ‘We’ll go so early nobody will even notice we’ve gone.’

Dylan groaned and put his head in his hands. ‘This sounds like a terrible idea.’

‘Well, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to,’ said Charlotte with a huff.

Dylan looked up with a small grin. ‘Like I’d let you lot go off on an adventure without me.’