The area was alive with night noises – rustlings and snufflings, screeches and hooting night birds. I tried not to think about it. Denzil had come this way alone to meet us and he wasn’t worried, so I shouldn’t be either. The clouds thinned to let a haze of milky moonlight through and I could scarcely make out Denzil’s shape ahead of me, moving quickly and silently through the trees. I was warm now, sweating slightly in an effort to keep up, concentrating on avoiding the branches and on where to place my feet. I hadn’t realised that Denzil had suddenly come to a halt, and I only just stopped myself from crashing into his backpack. He raised his right hand and cocked his head to the side. I didn’t dare break the silence to ask why we’d stopped. He turned around and raised a finger to his lips. I turned back to Luc whose eyes were wide and questioning. I slowly shrugged my shoulders. Luc moved closer and the three of us stood there. Listening. There. I heard it. A soft steady shuffling noise up ahead, like muffled rain.
