Small as an Elephant - Jennifer Richard Jacobson [11]
So he threw on his backpack and hustled down the road to catch the Island Explorer again.
“Did you miss your stop?” the driver asked when Jack had reached the end of the bus line. He’d been riding the bus for almost an hour. The island was much bigger than he’d imagined, and he realized that searching for his mother would be harder — a lot harder — than he thought. Each time the bus stopped at a dock, or lake, or town, he wondered if this was the place where he should look first, but the bus always moved on before he made a decision.
“Son?”
What to do? Suddenly, he felt so tired. And now here he was in Bar Harbor — a town that had been on their list for all its fun shops and restaurants. A town that may or may not hold his mother.
I have to start my search somewhere, he figured, and got off the bus.
Standing in the village green, he realized that “searching” was not a plan. You couldn’t just walk around a big island, hoping to find someone. He needed to do this logically. The sun was setting, and while he could try searching some of the shops and restaurants, he knew he had to be realistic, and being realistic meant finding a place to sleep while there was still some light left.
Obviously, he’d have to camp. Not at a campground, which cost money, but in the woods. He’d seen plenty of woods on the bus ride in. With one last look at the bustling streets, Jack turned and walked back out of town.
He walked for about ten minutes down Mount Desert Street, where he passed a stone church, a graveyard with lots of unmarked graves — or so the sign said — and the town library, to Kebo Street. On Kebo, he ducked into a patch of woods. Right away he found a mossy area in the roots of a tree, a soft place for sleeping that was far enough from the road that no one would notice him, but not so far in that he would get lost. He unrolled his dark-green sleeping bag and crawled in. Mom had said they might sleep under the stars one night, and now he was doing it. Check two things off the list!
He tried to come up with a plan. Maybe he should get a map of the town and comb all the streets. He could ask people who worked in the galleries and restaurants and shops if they’d seen her. Or ask at the grocery store — chances were, she’d stopped for something.
Thinking about Mom and the next steps made his brain hurt. So he let his heavy eyes shut, let snatches of dreams about winding roads, pine trees, anchors, and telescopes turn his mind inside out, grab hold of him and pull him down, down, down. Sleep had become his only way out of worry.
But not for long.
A noise woke him — a snuffling noise. Rustling. It took a moment for him to remember that he was not in his tent but out on his own in the woods. And there was someone or something in the dark — nearby. Did other people camp in the woods? Homeless people, maybe?
Jack’s breathing slowed, at times stopped altogether. Buried in the sleeping bag, he didn’t dare pop his head out. He wished, oh how he wished, he had his tent to act as a barrier. He thought of rolling over and flattening himself against the ground — it seemed as if he would be less vulnerable, more capable of springing up and running, in that position — but he couldn’t risk being heard.
Whatever it was made a clicking noise followed by a low rumbling, and Jack thought he’d die of a heart attack before he was discovered. Should he continue to play dead or run? If it was a man or a bear, it was likely he’d be chased. He remained frozen.
It was coming closer, definitely closer. If it was an animal — and, from the snorting sounds, Jack was now pretty certain it was — it no doubt smelled him. What could be in these woods? Bear, moose, coyote. Jack didn’t think a moose would intentionally hurt a boy, at least not one stretched out on the ground, but he was definitely less certain about bears and coyotes. Or wolves. He’d forgotten about wolves.
His flashlight was in his backpack. What would happen if he shone a light in the eyes of a wild animal? Would light frighten it away? Anger it? Jack supposed it