Page 26 of Forsaking All Others

‘I just need to hide and wait.’

I decide to once again pick the tallest tree and climb.

A few minutes later, having reached the highest branch I can, I rest my head against the bark and consider my predicament from every angle. I don’t think there was any other course of action I could have taken once I’d seen the gunman. And I don’t think there’s anything else I can do now that will enable me to solve the puzzle other than to wait it out.

Fortunately, I don’t have too long to second-guess myself, because just a few minutes later the sound of hushed conversation reaches me and, straining, I make out shapes heading towards the clearing from the opposite direction I’d come. They’d obviously forged their own pathway up the mountain rather than follow the map. Surprisingly, the voices belong to the Zurich twins and the Australian — an alliance I hadn’t suspected on the drive over.

I strain to hear what they’re saying as they reach the stump and place their three pieces in the slots that match. But just like me, they still can’t figure out the riddle. And just like me, they meld back into the trees surrounding the clearing. What they plan next I don’t know, because I can’t hear them or see them any longer. Biting my lip, I consider the new variables.

‘If I were them and I had an alliance of three, yet still couldn’t figure out the puzzle, what would I do?’

The answer comes just moments later when Evelyn and Cherry arrive on the summit and immediately find themselves confronted. The twins and Miranda obviously don’t have plans to just wait for the answer after everyone has solved the puzzle, and the argument that ensues becomes close to violent before my roommate and her ally reluctantly hand over their pieces.

I imagine I’ll hear all about this from Evelyn when we return to our room tonight and have to pretend to appear shocked and disturbed. Her suspicion of the twins had been well-founded, or so it seems. I could probably drop from my tree and swing the balance of power in their favour, but I don’t have any reason to want to help either the American or the English competitor. In fact, I’m a little pissed the twins didn’t use violence in the first instance — it would have negated two girls I want out of the game. But without weapons, this was problematic. They really only had threats at their disposal.

Frowning, I roll my eyes as I watch them all huddle around the trunk. Even with five pieces they can’t work it out.

‘For fuck’s sake!’

I shake my head in disgust as all five of them, those who’d lost their pieces and those who’d gained them through threats of violence, resolve with defeated expressions to wait and see who arrives next, before once more melding into the shadows of the treeline. Unlike me, they choose to leave their pieces in situ, perhaps hoping someone else will solve the puzzle and they can, all five, strong-arm them into revealing the answer.

‘And so enemies become allies — interesting. Although perhaps the twins hadn’t decided to murder Evelyn for a reason…ahhh, of course. When she’d told them they couldn’t stay in the room with her and they’d left immediately…. It was right there, right in front of me, and I hadn’t picked up on it. They have a secret alliance.’

Shaking my head at my own stupidity for missing something so obvious, I watch them all disappear into the thick understorey.

Turning, I look in the opposite direction, hoping that from my vantage point I’ll be the first to see any new competitor who might approach, when my eye is caught by a slight movement in a tree close to mine.

I almost fall off my branch in astonishment when I realise I’m staring straight at Laura, the Brazilian, her legs wrapped around a branch just as mine are, as she turns her puzzle piece this way and that. Realising she’s being watched, she looks up and meets my eyes, her own flashing with resolution. I can’t help but be impressed as she stands and vaults to another branch like some kind of giant squirrel before hitting the ground running.

Reaching the tree stump with the puzzle, she slots her piece in amid those on the stump and, turning, her smile wide and triumphant, spins and races from the clearing and back down the mountainside.

Dropping like a stone I reach the puzzle seconds before those who had been hiding further back, and the answer also hits me like a tonne of bricks. Spinning on my heel, I race down the mountain behind her, my path memorised and clear, the answer committed to memory.

It was an Oscar Wilde quote that we had to decipher and repeat: "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

“Whoever thought up this challenge is a complete and utter cazzo,” I puff as I run down the mountainside following the squirrel. I don’t know how long she’d been waiting in the tree just as I had, or if she’d even seen me up until I spotted her. But it’s clear as I follow her that she must have figured out the map, because she’s racing ahead of me along exactly the same route downhill. I know there’s no chance the others will catch up. Firstly, they needed to solve the puzzle minus the two pieces I’d given to the Mexican, which might not be so easy if you’re unfamiliar with literature. Secondly, it was apparent they hadn’t found the trail that Laura and I are running on.

I’ll make her my ally the moment we got back to the mansion. She’s exactly the kind of teammate I need. The impetus I’ll use to get her to accept an alliance with me will be the hate she’ll face from winning this first competition and proving herself physically and mentally superior to us all.

Because although I know that if I speed up I’ll beat her to the beach, I absolutely plan to let her win.

22

The Brazilian, Laura, puffing from the run, delves into her bag to pull out her water bottle, having just reached me and blurted out the answer to the puzzle.

Right beside her the Italian rests with her hands on her knees after racing the Brazilian down the mountainside. As we wait, more and more of the contestants hurtle towards me to shout out the answer, ensuring they’re safe from elimination.

The winner, of course, will enjoy a coveted date with me.

Coveted, it seems, by all but one contestant.

It was clear as day as I’d watched Catriona and Laura run from the trees that Catriona had pulled herself up as she hit the beach. If I’d been watching a horse race I would have said she was deliberately hobbled, the race obviously rigged. At first, though, I hadn’t realised who I was watching, because she was wearing a white bikini.

‘How has she changed clothes? Did she? Did I imagine she was wearing red when she left? No, I have the image of her in that swimsuit seared into my brain. Who wouldn’t? No doubt I’ll learn all about it as the rest of the competitors arrive.’

As directed, I verbally acknowledge the Brazilian as the winner and catch the eye of Catriona as she raises her head and grins before fading back among the other competitors. Most, if not all, stand catching their breath and laughing in relief at having survived the first major challenge.

‘She obviously hadn’t wanted to come last, but she also hadn’t fought to be first. Smart. The winner has a target on them, and she’s always under the radar. Still, it would be to her benefit to get to know me. And I have a great many questions for her. Is that what she’s avoiding?’