Our excursion up the river was progressing faster than anticipated. We arrived at an inlet with a small island in the middle of it. Charlie and Tadwick requested that we moor up on the island and go for a swim. Nomius and Mr. Thistlewood agreed that since we had made such good progress, we could stop for a couple of hours and still make it to our next planned camping site before dark.

  Upon stopping by the island, all of the boys jumped out of the boats, vacated their clothing, and entered the water. Nomius and Mr. Thistlewood were securing the boats, while I was folding and sorting all of the clothes to ensure that they did not get wet, lost, or mixed together.

  Charlie emerged from the water and asked if I had seen Isaac. I had not. The island was small, but it did have enough trees on it to obscure vision, so I made the assumption that he had swam around to the other side of the tree line. Tadwick swam over in an expeditious manner and challenged Charlie to a race. It was decided that whoever found Isaac first would get an extra sausage when food was served.

  The two swam off and I undressed myself. Once I had finished, Grant requested my presence in the water. I was about to enter, when I looked up at the cliffside on the other side of the inlet. I saw Sir Krajewski at the top of the cliff. He was waving his arms in a panicked manner and shouting something. He was too distant for me to hear his words, let alone be able to discern them.

  I was about to summon Nomius and Mr. Thistlewood, when I heard Tadwick shout to Charlie that there was something in the water. He did not specify what. Grant rushed in the direction that the shout had come from, and I followed. There was nothing there except Tadwick’s hat, which was floating in the water. Despite my protestations, Grant swam over and picked up the hat. He asserted that neither Charlie, nor Tadwick were present in the water.

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  We swiftly traversed the island back to where Nomius and Mr. Thistlewood were securing the boats. We were about to warn them of the abnormal presence in the water, when the boat that Nomius was securing was propelled upwards with significant force. The boat collided with Nomius’ head, causing him to collapse. The water around his head was steadily turning red.

  There was a large splash in the water. Sir Krajewski had jumped from the cliff and was now swimming towards us. At this point, he had become audible. He was shouting at the other boys to get out of the water. As they turned to evacuate the water, we all saw an incredibly large shadow below the surface. It was approaching Oscar. Oscar simply froze in position, staring at the shadow. Sir Krajewski drew a knife. He shouted for us all to get on the remaining boat as he swam towards the shadow.

  Sir Krajewski reached the shadow marginally before it reached Oscar. He started stabbing at the shadow as Olmo retrieved Oscar. There was a commotion and Sir Krajewski disappeared under the water. Oscar was still not moving, so Olmo had to pull him back to the boat with the aid of Freddy. As they were doing that, Mr. Thistlewood, Grant, and Xion were lifting Nomius into the remaining boat.

  Once we were all aboard, Mr. Thistlewood untied the boat and pushed us off. He announced that he would be staying to attempt to find Tadwick, Charlie and Isaac. Grant begged him not to, but Mr. Thistlewood insisted. Grant tried to climb out of the boat to stay with him, but Mr. Thistlewood placed him back in the boat. He told us to keep him in the boat no matter what, and to row to the fort as quickly as possible. He then dived into the water and swam towards the inlet.

  Olmo took charge at that point. He ordered Johnny and I to hold Grant down while he rowed the boat with Zayan, Xion and Freddy. Oscar was still not moving, Nomius was unconscious at our feet and Grant was inconsolable. The rowing speed was increased significantly compared to how we had been rowing previously. As a result, we made it here in approximately two hours. Which brings us to this moment in time.