Karabo and Isla didn’t miss breakfast on Saturday morning. In fact, they didn’t miss one dish. They were starving. Mzi and William walked into the breakfast room just before they were closing up and sat down very slowly and carefully.

‘You guys OK?’ chuckled Isla, trying hard to suppress full- blown giggles.

‘Fine!’ hissed William.

‘Touchy,’ said Isla. ‘Let’s go swim Karabz. Looks like the boys are feeling sensitive,’ she squealed and ran off. Karabo quickly pushed her chair out, smiled nervously and ran after Isla. Most of the day was spent on the beach, and when Mzi and William eventually joined the girls, they seemed to be in better spirits after a decent meal. Isla managed to keep her jokes to herself, and the majority of the morning was spent in the water or under the trees on the beach.

‘When are the folks expected?’ asked William, flicking through Isla’s magazine.

‘About now,’ said Karabo. ‘I spoke to my mom last night, and she said they had a meeting with the Frenchman planned for this evening. They’re planning to get back, freshen up and then head over to his place,’ explained Karabo.

‘Great news,’ said Isla.

‘And my mom?’ asked William. ‘Did they prove she deserves to be a citizen of this island?’ asked William. He had already hinted that he couldn’t believe his mother would want citizenship of Madagascar — a poor and overpopulated island.

Karabo shook her head. ‘Sorry Will, no. My mom said they hadn’t managed to get hold of the guy yesterday, and wasted an entire day waiting,’ explained Karabo.

William shrugged and tossed Isla’s magazine back to her.

‘I’m going to nap before the big gigs tonight,’ he said and stood up. ‘Not a bad idea,’ said Mzi and followed William.

‘We should probably too,’ said Isla looking at Karabo expectantly.

Karabo shook her head. ‘Go for it. I think I’m going to take a walk,’ she said, as she wrapped her sarong over her head and shoulders and walked down the beach. Since the dream where William walked away from her, she had a gnawing feeling of unease — as though something bad was going to happen. A part of her knew it meant something, yet another part of her put it down to the excitement of the festival, and being with Isla and the guys in this beautiful place. The walk along the beach helped her feel more grounded, and by the time she came back she too decided to lie down for a nap.

During dinner, Jez regaled everyone with her perspective on the trip to Antananarivo. Cedric and Anathi were in stitches as Jez described the look on Cedric’s face when he was offered fruit bat as a delicacy.

‘Sounds like it was fun,’ said William, but he didn’t mean it.

‘It definitely wasn’t,’ responded Anathi. ‘I would much rather have been with you lot, swimming and partying at the music festival…which is still on tonight?’ she asked.

‘Yup. We’re going to head off after dinner. Aren’t you guys meeting the Frenchman tonight?’ asked Mzi.

Cedric nodded. ‘And the head of police is going to pop in before we go there, so we can meet him and update him. In fact, we may need him to help us apprehend Edward if we get the chance!’ explained Cedric. ‘He needs to know where we are going in case anything happens.

The table fell silent and everyone eyed their plates nervously. Jez quickly broke the silence with another story, and all thoughts of the dangers that came with Edward English were swept aside.

***

Question: Has the trip the adults planned to the capital worked out?