'It looks good!' said Li.

'Don't sound so surprised,' grinned Alex. 'Let's eat.'

'It looks like Amber's already started,' grated Hex, with a voice as hard as stone.

'What?' mumbled Amber, giving Hex a startled glance.

'She just took something out of her belt pouch and stuffed it in her mouth.'

'I did not!' protested Amber.

Hex did not bother to reply. Instead, he grabbed Amber's wrist and squeezed until she whimpered with pain and let her hand fall open. Half a tube of glucose energy sweets fell from her fingers onto the sand. There was a silence as they all stared at the sweets then looked up at Amber.

'How could you?' asked Li, quietly. 'How could you keep those to yourself?'

'You don't get it,' whispered Amber, her eyes big with tears.

'What else is in there?' said Hex, pointing to Amber's belt pouch.

'Nothing. No more food. Just girl stuff,' said Amber, putting a protective hand over the pouch.

Hex lunged for the pouch and yanked hard, trying to pull it away from the belt.

'Wait! Wait!' shrieked Amber. 'You might break them!'

'Show us, then,' said Hex. He stood over Amber, his fists clenched and his face full of anger. She hesitated, looking to the others for help.

'We're waiting,' said Alex, icily.

Slowly, Amber pulled out the remaining contents of the pouch. There was a little metal box with a digital display on the front, a handful of foil-wrapped antiseptic wipes, a clear plastic tube containing a bunch of thin plastic strips and three brightly coloured, chunky plastic pens. Li, Paulo and Hex stared down at the little collection of items with puzzled looks on their faces.

'See?' said Amber. 'No more food.'

She began to shovel everything back into her pouch but Alex gently laid his hand over hers and she stopped. 'Why didn't you tell us?' he asked.

'Tell us what?' demanded Li. 'That she has a thing about chunky pens?'

Alex waited for Amber to say something but she stayed silent with her head down. 'They aren't pens,' he sighed, after a few seconds. 'At least, not the sort you mean. Those two are insulin pens, and the third one is part of a blood sugar testing kit, along with that little box and the plastic strips.'

'Insulin pens?' said Li.

'For injecting insulin,' explained Alex. 'Amber is a diabetic'

There was a shocked silence as they took in this new information. Amber finished repacking her belt pouch, then looked at the others defiantly, blinking the tears from her eyes.

'But that is nothing to be ashamed of,' said Paulo.

'I'm not ashamed!' said Amber. 'I was hiding it because I didn't want anyone treating me differently, like I was an invalid or something. I'm not. I was doing fine on the Phoenix , but since we've been on the island I've been struggling a bit.'

'Are you running short of insulin?' asked Li.

'Oh no, it's not the insulin. These two pens hold enough insulin to last me another month. The problem is, if I miss meals, or use more energy than usual, I can end up having a hypo. Because of low blood sugar, see? I get all sweaty and tired and irritable to start with. Then, if my blood sugar keeps going down, I pass out and – well – worst case scenario? I don't live to tell the tale.'

The other four looked at one another, feeling vaguely ashamed of themselves.

'Sorry,' said Paulo.

'What for?' asked Amber.

'All that snappy behaviour – and demanding to be fed,' said Li. 'We thought you were just-'

'Spoilt? Selfish?' Amber grinned. 'I am! I'm a spoilt, selfish diabetic! Now gimme some food!'

Alex, Li and Paulo burst out laughing. Hex did not join in. Instead, he got to his feet and handed one of the banana-leaf plates to Amber. Then he picked up his own food and scraped half of it onto Amber's plate. Startled, she looked up into his face. Hex met her eyes, nodded once, then sat back down, scowling fiercely. Amber swallowed, but the lump in her throat would not go away.

'Don't worry, Amber,' said Li. 'We'll be rescued within a month, you'll see.'

'Yeah, course we will,' said Amber, through a mouthful of crab.

And there's plenty of food here,' said Alex. 'You'll be fine. We'll make sure of it.'

'I know,' nodded Amber, but her gaze was turned towards the empty sea.

'Good,' said Alex, into the awkward silence. 'As long as you know. Eat up, everyone – and don't hang about. This afternoon we're going to build ourselves a camp.'

THIRTEEN

Amber sat in state under a temporary shelter of banana leaves, eating wild figs while the camp slowly grew around her. It was good to rest with a belly full of food. The grey tinge was leaving her skin and she was feeling better by the minute. Even though she was sitting still, she had plenty to do. She was keeping the fire going, gradually feeding two long logs into the centre of the flames a section at a time, and she was boiling the remains of the fresh water to make sure it was sterile. The storage tin was suspended over the flames, hanging from a stick which rested in the clefts of two upright sticks, one on each side of the fire. Her hands were busy weaving strips of palm fronds into five flower-pot style sun-hats and her eyes were busy scanning sea and sky for a glimpse of a ship or a plane.

Under Alex's instruction, the others had nearly finished constructing A-frame beds, which were raised above the ground to keep them clear of sandflies, centipedes and scorpions. First they had made the head and foot of the beds by driving two pairs of bamboo posts into the sand at an angle and lashing the tops together with split vines. The beds themselves were two long bamboo poles with a mattress of cross-woven vines holding the poles together. Once the beds were finished it was a simple matter to slide the ends of the long poles down the outside of the two A-frames until the vine mattress was pulled taut, leaving the bed suspended well above the ground.

'How are those coconut drinks coming along, Hex?' called Alex, as he and Paulo slotted the last bed into place on its A-frame. 'We're about ready for a break.'

Hex had been using a sharpened bamboo stake to break open the husks of five coconuts. Then he had wedged each coconut into the sand and hammered a sharp stone into one of the black eyes until it pierced through to the sweet milk inside.

'All done,' said Hex, handing round the coconuts.

They sat down, tipped up the coconuts and let the milk pour into their mouths.

'Good,' said Li, briefly, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand before tipping up the nut again for another swig.

'Take your time,' warned Alex. 'Too much too fast and you might be sick.' He laid his coconut aside and checked the wooden handles on the flexible saw. They were holding up well so he put that back into his belt pouch and took out his knife. It was a good, strong, single-bladed knife with a wooden handle and it had been invaluable throughout the afternoon's work. Alex inspected the blade, then took out his piece of sandstone and began to sharpen the knife.

'Didn't you just do that, like, an hour ago?' asked Amber.

'You have to look after your knife,' said Alex, calmly, steadily honing the blade. 'It's the most important tool you have in a situation like this.'

Paulo finished his drink, then took one of the bunk blankets, spread it across the vine mattress of his bed and lay down with a satisfied groan.

'Don't get too comfortable,' said Alex, glancing at his watch and the position of the sun. 'There's a lot more to do before sunset.'

They cooled off with a quick dip in the lagoon then went back to work, wearing the sun-hats Amber had made. Before he left the fire, Alex smashed open the coconut shells for Amber and showed her how to heat the chopped meat by laying it on a flat stone next to the fire. He picked up one of the empty coconut half-shells and handed it to Amber.