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  William picked out his model kit, had it wrapped in brown paper, and we headed home with Shadow close behind.

  Chapter 12

  I savored the string of rock candy, then bit off one of the crystals from the end and rolled it around in my mouth until it dissolved into sweet nectar. Shadow stopped to drink from a puddle, then cantered to catch up.

  “William?” Elsbeth asked through a mouthful of bubble gum.

  He cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, kiddo?”

  “Can we go back the long way home? By the hill? Please?”

  William gazed longingly at the package under his arm, and then back at her expectant face. Finally, he shrugged and smiled. “Okay. I guess it would be all right.”

  Behind the Anderson’s farm was a thin copse of trees that hid three rolling fields surrounded by stonewalls. Beyond the hills stretched a network of logging trails that ultimately led to the lake.

  We walked back through the wildflower meadow and reached a wooded path. William led the way and we followed single file, emerging into a protected glen. Already laughing with anticipation, we dropped our packages beside a stonewall and raced to the top of the hill. William settled down in the shade to watch.

  At the top, I lay on the grass beside my friends and crossed my arms in front of my chest. With a slight push to overcome inertia, I logrolled down the hill, lifting my face with each revolution to avoid smashing my nose into the grass. I rolled faster and faster and in a split second, the course of my direction changed. Now traveling in a large semi-circle, I headed straight for Siegfried. We crashed, laughed hysterically, and raced up the hill to do it again. Shadow followed each time, happily barking beside me.

  After a dozen spins down the hill, William stood and motioned for us to rejoin him. I popped an Atomic Fireball into my mouth and dusted wispy pieces of grass from my clothes and hair. Shadow bounced along behind us. We headed home through the logging roads that eventually joined up with camp. The route was ten minutes longer than our usual way, but there was rarely any traffic. The trails eventually skirted along the sparsely settled west side of the lake we’d seen Sharon Adamski being chased by her drunken father. I shivered, remembering his craggy face and the smell of him as he’d passed so close.

  We’d been walking for about five minutes when I turned to Elsbeth.

  “Wanna trade?”

  She peeked into her bag of candy. “What for what?”

  I decided to be generous. After all, she was one of my best friends in the world. “Fireball for a piece of your bubble gum?”

  Without hesitating, she dug into her bag. “Okay. Here you go.”

  I knew she’d been watching me enviously as I sucked on my first fireball, exclaiming over its fiery properties and frequently taking it out of my mouth for a break.

  We swapped and I pocketed the gum, deciding to save it for later.

  William and Siegfried had taken the lead, walking two-abreast. Elsbeth trotted to catch up to her brother. I lagged behind, thinking of Sharon.

  Why aren’t they searching in this area?

  We’d told the sheriff last night, our parents, and the men in the store that we saw Sharon and her pursuer in these woods along the shoreline.

  Don’t they believe us?

  The cold truth hit me.

  They don’t. They believe her father…the liar who claimed to have lost her around Black Bear Point.

  I couldn’t believe the authorities listened to a drunken adult over three kids. Falling a little farther behind, I kicked a stone along the road, puzzling over Sharon and her plight. The sunlight dimmed and sketchy gray clouds rolled overhead. I shivered, thinking of the poor girl alone in the woods.

  She’d been outside since last night. With no breakfast and no lunch, she had to be starving by now. And she’d probably frozen during the evening. It was cold in the Maine woods, even in summer.

  Where would she go tonight? How would she survive?

  I stared into the darkening woods and pictured myself in the same situation. I figured I could pick blueberries and drink water from the lake. That would take care of the hunger and thirst for a while. I might find an abandoned jacket, or get brave and steal an old blanket from someone’s barn. In her situation, I guessed that staying away from her tormentor was more important than obeying the law. When they found her, they’d most likely return her to her father and not believe her claims of…whatever it was he did to her.

  I sighed, wishing that I’d joined the Scouts like my friends at home instead of the 4-H club. Maybe I would’ve learned more about survival in the woods instead of how to pick out horses’ hooves. I slowed a little more, glancing around me. There were probably dozens of edible things right under my nose.

  Can you eat pinecones?

  Shadow caught a scent and took off down the road, baying as he ran in the direction of my friends. I hoped he didn’t get lost.

  Something white flitted behind the trees to my right. I spun around, staring into the woods, and then stopped. Seconds later, I saw it again, but farther away this time.

  It flashed quickly, as the fabric of a dress might do when a woman flounces along a street…or perhaps the tail of a nightgown might flap in the breeze when a frightened girl runs through the woods.

  I hesitated. Along with my dog, the kids had disappeared around the corner. If I ran to catch up to them, I’d lose my chance to find out if the person in the woods really was Sharon.

  Deciding instantly, I plunged into the pines in the direction of the white blur.

  “Sharon!” I shouted. “Wait. I won’t hurt you.” I ran for a few minutes and then stopped and listened. There! It was the sound of someone running, making rustling sounds to my right. I jumped over a fallen log to follow the sound. Another blurry spray of white flashed behind the brush. I was after it in a second, flying through the woods.

  “Sharon! Hold on. I have something for you.”

  After five minutes of running, I stopped again to catch my breath and to listen for the sound of her feet. I heard nothing but the ragged sound of my own breathing and the faint yipping of Shadow in the distance.

  She must have stopped, too. Perhaps she was watching me.

  “Sharon, listen. I’m leaving this for you.” I dug out the piece of bubble gum and a licorice stick and placed them on a large, flat boulder. “I can come back tomorrow. I can bring food and clothes. If you take these today, I’ll know you’re here…and you’ll know I’m not gonna hurt you. I know why you’re running. I saw him chasing you.”

  I sat down on the boulder, peering hard into the woods. My heart hammered beneath my chest, but I saw nothing but trees.

  A tiny chickadee landed on the ground ten feet from me. He hopped three times in my direction, cocked his head to the side, and then took off, landing on the branch of a nearby sapling. He continued to watch, safer in his new position high in the tree. Except for the gentle swaying of the branches overhead, all was still.

  “Okay, then,” I called hesitantly. “I’ll come back in the morning. Good luck.”

  I turned to retrace my steps and walked for a few minutes in the general direction from which I’d come, breaking branches as I went so that I could find the boulder again in the morning. After several minutes, I stopped and looked around.

  Nothing looked familiar.

  I quickly swiveled my glance from right to left, then turned in a circle. Pine trees with pillows of moss circling their bases waved crisscrossed branches overhead like geisha girls fanning their lords. Two red squirrels scampered across the pine-needled floor, chirping and tumbling over each other. The birdsongs quieted when I tromped through the underbrush, startling them.

  A trickle of perspiration ran down my neck. I spun around in alarm. Which way was the road? I rubbed my hands nervously against my jeans. Panic rose in my throat.

  A sudden breeze lifted the curly fronds of the ferns carpeting the forest floor. Black clouds piled angrily overhead and fat drops of rain splashed on my chee
ks. I looked back toward the boulder, thinking of Sharon in the dark, wet forest.

  Perhaps I should follow the broken branches back to the boulder and wait for her? I shook my head and rejected the idea. My parents would go berserk with worry and I’d caused enough trouble last night. But fear began to well inside me again, swelling to tall waves that swamped my reason.

  In a panic, I ran. I kept going for ten minutes with a queasy feeling rolling in my stomach. I raced blindly, pushing through wet branches that slapped against my bare arms and face. I pushed on until I slipped on a decaying wet log and went down hard on my side. My ribs hurt like heck and I felt defeated.

  I’ll never get out of these woods.

  I lay on the wet woodland floor and cried. I cried for the pain in my side, for the girl whose bloody, frightened face I couldn’t forget, and for the feelings of intense fear swelling in my heart.

  Finally, the sobs stopped and I sat up, wiping tears from my face with my shirttail. After chastising myself for acting like a baby, and glad my friends hadn’t seen me, I got up again, straightened my shoulders. I chose a direction.

  I walked a little farther in what I thought might be a northern course, looking frantically around for a familiar tree or boulder. The rain fell heavily and I was soon soaked through. I stopped and turned quickly in a circle, searching again for a familiar sight. My throat tightened when I realized the unbearable truth. I had to face it.

  I’m lost.

  I sat down on a rock and hugged my arms to my chest, trying not to cry. “Think.”

  Wait a minute. Wasn’t the moss at the base of the trees supposed to grow on the north side? If it were true, at least I could walk north for a while. It should connect with the lake eventually. I used the technique, hoping I’d been right, and walked for about ten minutes in the same direction, continuing to break branches along the way.

  The rain finally let up and the sun returned, shining through the drops that fell from the leaves overhead.

  I stopped and stared in horror at a shrub beside me. I was about to snap the branch of a bush that flaunted a freshly broken twig. I had already broken this branch. Somehow, I’d come full circle.

  Fear simmered in my throat and I thought I’d lose it again, but I stopped and took a deep breath, forcing myself to relax.

  Closing my eyes, I listened. The faint drone of a motorboat purred in the distance. I listened harder and heard the laughing squeal of children at play on the shore. Opening my eyes, I stared in the direction of the sounds. A silver ribbon glistened dimly beyond the pine branches. Relief flooded through me; it was the shimmer of the lake.

  I walked toward it. There was no path, but I made my way around large boulders, through patches of ferns and wildflowers, and past trunks of massive pines, breaking branches as I went along to make a clear trail for tomorrow. I needed to get back to that boulder. After five minutes of tromping in the general direction of the lake, I heard William calling me. I shouted back excitedly and started to run in the direction of his voice. In seconds, I heard Elsbeth and Siegfried as well. I yelled and waved my arms, scrambling toward my friends.

  When I burst out of the woods onto the trail, they fell around me, bubbling with concern and questions. I stood among them while they patted my back and chattered all at once.

  William tousled my hair. “What the heck happened to you, Gus? You scared us to death.”

  I looked each of them in turn, speaking in a shaky voice. “Guys. I saw her. I saw Sharon.”

  “What? Really?” Elsbeth stared with wide eyes. “You saw Sharon?”

  I nodded, lifted a hand to my face, and rubbed at a spot that hurt.

  William said, “Are you okay, squirt?” Concern flooded his eyes. “And are you sure it was that girl? Did you actually see her?”

  “I’m okay.” I looked back at the woods and thought for a moment. “Well, someone was out there. They ran from me. I chased them. It was white and—”

  All of a sudden, William frantically swatted at a mosquito on his arm. I did the same. In seconds, all four of us slapped at our bodies as the blood-sucking insects swarmed around us in their usual post-rain shower fury.

  Siegfried grabbed my arm. “Come on. Let’s get out of here!”

  We dashed down the path toward the lake, trying to evade the pursuing cloud of hungry mosquitoes. I was bitten a dozen times and scratched furiously all the way home.

  Chapter 13

  “Where’d you get those scratches, son?” my father asked, passing the dish of baked beans.

  I scooped out a large spoonful and plopped it onto my plate beside the two hot dogs, trying to decide how much to tell him. “Um, I kinda ran through the woods today, Dad. We took the long way home.”

  When I washed my face before supper I’d noticed a scrape on my face as well as several on my arms. I’d stuffed my filthy shirt under my bed and put on a white tee shirt instead.

  My mother sliced a piece of brown bread she’d baked in a tin can and handed me a warm, aromatic disc. “Well, you be careful out there, honey.”

  I nodded and smiled, hoping to change the subject. “So, who moved into Number Fifteen?” I picked up a hot dog and bit off a huge chunk.

  “Gus!” My mother’s eyes flared in horror. “For goodness sakes, use your fork and knife. We don’t live in a barn.”

  My father’s mouth twitched and he stole a glance at me.

  “Sorry, Mum.” I swallowed, picked up the fork and shoveled in a large pile of beans. “You didn’t answer. Who’s in Number Fifteen?”

  My father sat up straighter in his seat and exchanged glances with my mother. “No one you need to be concerned with, son. She needs her privacy and is here for a rest. We want you to stay away from the cabin. Is that clear?”

  He knew full well I’d pester them until I discovered something more useful about the woman.

  “But what’s her name, Dad? Can’t you even tell me that?”

  He tried to give me his stern look, but it dissolved into a smile as he shook his head resolutely. “Son, I really can’t say. She’s an old woman with a cat who needs some time to mourn. She’s lost a family member recently and is very sad. Can you try to understand that? She needs quiet, Gus. Peace and quiet.”

  I stared into his eyes and realized he was serious. “Oh. Okay.”

  After gulping down the second hotdog, I asked for more bread. “Can I…May I have more bread, Mum? And can Siegfried sleep over tonight?”

  I looked at my mother for this one. She pursed her lips, tilted her head to the side, and pondered the question.

  “Please, Mum?” I begged. “We’ll go to bed early, I promise.”

  She reached over and patted my arm, smiling. “I guess so, honey. If you feed Shadow right after supper.”

  I smiled at her and surreptitiously dropped a hunk of bread to Shadow under the table. I’d been feeding him plenty already. He gobbled it quietly and waited for more.

  Chapter 14

  Siegfried flicked back his pole and cast the line over the calm lake. The water surged gently in one massive, flat entity. Golden-red wisps of color laced the horizon as the copper ball of the sun sizzled into the dark tree line on the opposite shore.

  “So, she said it’s okay?” he asked.

  I nodded and reeled in my fishless line. “Yup. Long as we go to sleep early.”

  Elsbeth pouted on the dock beside us. Her dark curls hung loosely around her heart-shaped face.

  “I don’t see why I can’t come. What’s the big deal?”

  I exchanged a guilty look with Siegfried, cast my line sideways, shooting the hook and sinker way out. “I’m sorry, Elsbeth. You’re a girl. Boys can’t have girls sleep over, that’s all.”

  Her face crumpled again. “It’s not fair. I hate being a girl.” She looked so sad.

  The guilt grew heavier.

  “Hey, maybe you can come over to toast marshmallows in a while. What do you say, Ellie?”

  She looked at me and stuck out her to
ngue. “Okay, but don’t call me that. You know I hate that.”

  I smiled at her, glad we’d made it through the awkward moment. Balancing two best friends could be a challenge, especially when one was a girl. “Right, Elsbeth. Sorry. I forgot.”

  She smiled back at me and tossed her hair with an air of victory.

  The sky darkened to an indigo blue. We cast and recast our lines over the glassy lake. Siegfried caught a small yellow perch and had just released it back into the still water when Elsbeth screamed.

  “Mein Gott!” she wailed, waving her hands wildly around her head. “Eine

  Fledermaus!”

  Siegfried and I dropped our poles and ran to her side. The bats had begun their nighttime diving ritual, swooping through the air searching for juicy mosquito snacks.

  Siegfried grabbed his sister and held her, ducking low to avoid them.

  “Is it in my hair?” she screamed.

  She’d heard stories of bats getting tangled in people’s hair and was petrified of the possibility.

  Siegfried checked her hair, looking nervously above as he walked her to the Wee Castle porch. I walked back to reel in my line, grabbed both poles and the bucket of worms, and followed them up to the porch.

  My mother poked her head out the door. “What’s wrong, kids?”

  “It’s okay, Mum,” I answered. “It’s just the bats.”

  My mother looked nervously at the darkening sky and began to withdraw into the cabin.

  I stacked the poles and bait on the porch. “They won’t hurt you,” I said, echoing my father’s words, “they eat up the mosquitoes. They’re good little bug catchers.”

  She nodded, still nervous.

  “Mum?” I asked before she could retreat indoors.

  She looked at me from the other side of the screen door. “Yes, honey?”

  “Can we toast marshmallows tonight?”

  She didn’t hesitate. “Sure you can. I’ll have your father start the fire. It’s getting a little chilly in here, anyway.”

  She crossed her arms and hugged herself, shivering in the cool night air. She wore a short-sleeved white cotton blouse and plaid shorts. Her hair was in its usual high ponytail.