‘Are we there yet?’ whined Bernie, as he trudged through the jungle, swiping at insects.

‘You know, you are NOT funny!’ said Ivy. She led the way with Lea-Lea at her side. Bernie, as always, was struggling to keep up.

‘I’m not joking,’ insisted Bernie. ‘I’m hot and tired and hungry and thirsty and kind of freaked out by everything that’s happened.’

‘We’ve probably got another twenty minutes or so before we get to the research centre.’ Ivy didn’t look at him as she spoke.

‘What time is it?’ asked Bernie.

Ivy glanced at her smart watch. ‘Just after midday.’

‘No wonder I’m hungry,’ Bernie muttered.

Ivy didn’t respond. Bernie knew she was angry. She’d spent a good deal of their walk grumbling about the buggy being wrecked and about how it would give her dad another reason to tell her off. Bernie figured that was probably true. He didn’t like Mr Meier or the way he didn’t believe his daughter. No matter what, Bernie could always count on his mum to believe him. He smiled at the thought.

Bernie realised that they didn’t have proof of anything. He had dropped the broken propeller and the fungus had swallowed up the last drone. He supposed they could return to the animal hide for the other drone that Lea-Lea had smacked out of the air, but there was no guarantee that it was still there. Who knew how many intruder drones there were, and another one might already have come to salvage the broken one.

‘Sorry I dropped the propeller,’ said Bernie.

‘Yeah.’ Ivy sighed, then stopped and turned to face him. ‘I know you didn’t mean to drop it. We were being shot at, after all. I just wish I had something to show Dad.’

‘How about we talk to my mum first,’ suggested Bernie. ‘I’m sure she’ll believe us. And she might be able to help convince your dad.’

‘Perhaps,’ she said, turning away. ‘Let’s keep going.’ She looked around. ‘Hey, where’s Lea-Lea?’

‘She was here a moment ago,’ said Bernie. ‘Maybe she’s gone ahead.’

‘Probably,’ agreed Ivy.

‘I’ve been wondering,’ said Bernie a few minutes later. ‘It’s a bit of a coincidence that a couple of drones just happened to find us while we were looking for evidence.’

‘Yeah,’ agreed Ivy. ‘I was thinking the same thing.’

Bernie kept going over events in his mind as they continued walking. ‘Professor Bolete was the only person we told.’

‘He was going to tell my dad,’ Ivy pointed out. ‘And who knows how many other people he mentioned it to.’

‘Although . . .’ Bernie replayed their conversation with Bolete in his mind. ‘We never told him exactly where we were going.’

‘Oh!’ Ivy stopped walking and held up her arm. ‘My smart watch.’

‘Yeah?’

‘You know how I said mobile phones don’t work on the island?’ she explained. ‘We all have special smart watches instead. We can only use them to communicate with other people on the island. But . . .’

‘But what?’

‘They each contain a tracking device.’ Ivy made a frustrated growl. ‘Anyone working at the centre could have found my location on the computer system.’

Ivy kicked at the leaves on the ground, then stomped off.

Bernie followed and wondered. If Bolete had told Mr Meier that they had headed into the jungle, he surely would have tracked his daughter. Could the drones perhaps belong to Mr Meier? Maybe he had his own unmarked drones that weren’t part of the official research? It would certainly explain why he’d been so quick to dismiss everything his daughter had said. He wondered if he should share his suspicions with Ivy. Despite the animosity between her and her dad, he doubted that she’d consider something like this. So he decided to keep it to himself for the time being.

They walked on in silence for a few more minutes. And then Lea-Lea jumped out from the undergrowth in front of them, chirruping madly. Clutched in her right paw was the charred propeller that Bernie had dropped.