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cocooned from the outside world by a protective barrier, keeping civilisation and all of its problems away.
    Feeling the need to share her good news (or secretly gloat), she took out her mobile phone.
      As though he had eyes in the back of his head, Drake turned around. “Sorry, mobile phones don’t work here.”
    Although she didn’t want to believe him, she disappointedly saw that he was right, and that there was no reception available to make a call.
    She put her phone away.
    Watching Drake stride off, she was suddenly struck by his resemblance to the man she had seen lurking in the doorway opposite the wine bar the other night and an uneasy feeling settled over her.
    Apart from Jane, no one knew where she was.
    Come to that, she didn’t even know where she was herself.
     

CHAPTER 3
     
    “Go on, Ratty, I dare you.”
    Peter Rathbone , otherwise known as Ratty, stopped picking at his fingernails with the Swiss Army penknife and looked at the undulating wall of fog; he bit his lower lip.
    “Not scared are you?”
    “Course not. Why, are you?” He turned to look at Isabelle Adams who was sitting on the stile, swinging her legs and smoking a cigarette. Her shoulder length, blonde hair hid her features until she lifted her head, revealing her clear complexion and bright blue eyes. Her pert nose wrinkled as she shook her head, disagreeing with his accusation.
    Tendrils of fog swirled around his feet, making them feel unnaturally cold in what was otherwise a bright summer day. Almost sixteen, Ratty was six months older than Izzy , but she had the annoying knack of making him feel like a baby. Although he really liked her, she was always teasing him, especially in front of the rest of the gang who now stood around watching and sniggering. And now here was his chance to prove he wasn’t a coward, but he couldn’t. The fog was too intimidating and he’d heard too many horror stories about it. Snapping the penknife shut, he dropped it in his pocket.
    “Come on Ratty, we haven’t got all day. The school holidays will be over by the time you actually do it,” Spotty Smitty said, spitting out the blade of grass he had been chewing.
    “Fuck you, Smitty .”
      “Not scared of the bogey man are you?” Zak asked, breaking off from kissing Julie Rogers long enough to draw breath.
    The sudden roar of a low flying helicopter made them all jump as it appeared to materialise out of nowhere, black and sleek. They all watched it disappear over the horizon.
    “ Ratty’s scared of the bogey man.” Izzy jumped down from the stile and flicked the butt of her cigarette into the fog.
    “There ain’t no bogey man.” Why did she have to keep teasing him?“Then what about all them stories?” Smitty said. “You know, them people who disappeared after going into the fog. They say the whole village has disappeared. Everyone’s dead.”
    “There ain’t no bogey man,” Ratty repeated. “Besides, they turned up. No one’s disappeared. My granddad lives in Paradise and the police say everyone’s fine.” He hoped he sounded more convincing than he felt.
    “No. My old man says they’ve gone for good. ‘Won’t find ‘ em now’ he says, ‘bogey man’s ‘ad ‘ em ’.”
    “Then your old man’s as daft as you, Smitty .”
    “Say that again and I’ll fuckin ’ twat yer .”
    “Daft as a brush.”
    “That’s it, yer in fer a kickin ’.”
    Smitty advanced with his fists raised and a scowl on his face. Ratty took a step back, then another. The last thing he wanted to do was to start fighting. Running a hand through his crew cut, he shook his head. With his tall, skinny frame, he was made more for running than fighting.
    “This is stupid.”
    “So now you’re calling me stupid, are you?”
    As Ratty stumbled back into the fog, Smitty became less distinct, his shape beginning to blur. Starting to panic, Ratty suddenly tripped over his own feet and slipped; although he tried to keep his balance, he fell into the