by Alan Tucker
“Kansas?” Todd interjected. “We live in Idaho.”
Sara snorted. “Wizard of Oz, you dork.”
Several kids snickered and Todd opened his mouth to retort when Ms. Pap held up a hand. “All right. Enough.” Todd scowled but remained quiet. “We have some decisions to make and I think we should discuss our options, such as they are.
“We have no idea how it happened, but we’re obviously very far from home with no apparent means to get back. We haven’t seen any signs of civilization and the land around us has changed. We need information.”
Mrs. Osorio asked, “What do you propose?”
“I think, in the morning, we should have one or two groups do some extensive scouting and find us a likely direction to travel,” Ms. Pap said, looking around at the class.
“Travel!” Mrs. Minch cracked. “What if whatever brought us here happens again and we’re not around when it does? We may have already missed it by moving here to the river!”
The class exchanged uneasy looks.
“I saw a movie like that once,” one of the twins, Ethan or Nate — Jenni could never tell them apart — said. “These guys got transported back in time —”
“Oh, yeah,” the other twin chimed in. “It was so cool when they —”
“Would you shut up?” Brandon said, glaring at the twins.
Everyone began talking, offering opinions.
“Let’s focus, please.” Ms. Pap regained their attention. “Kathy, while I understand your apprehension about leaving the area, we have other things to consider.” She held out a finger. “One, we have a very sick girl here who’s in desperate need of medical help. Two, we will shortly run out of food, if not water. And three, we are very exposed here if the weather should turn bad, so we need to find some form of shelter. We have little in the way of tools or resources to work with.”
Mrs. Minch sighed and grumbled. “All the more reason to wait back there and hope we get sent back.”
“I suppose the possibility exists, but I’m not willing to gamble all these lives on that chance.” Ms. Pap held the woman’s gaze before Mrs. Minch’s shoulders slumped and she looked away. Next to her, Carrie held her head in her hands.
The fire popped and water bubbled in the pot. Ms. Pap’s eyes searched the class. “Does anyone have anything to say or add?” Frogs by the lakeshore gave the only response in the form of croaks and song.
“Okay. We’ll work out the details in the morning. I think we need to set up watches for tonight. We need to keep the fire burning for heat and protection. Mrs. Minch, would you be willing to take the first?”
Surprised to hear her name, Mrs. Minch looked like she might refuse, but then said, “Sure.”
“Thank you. Teresa, Roger, any preferences?”
They glanced at each other and Mr. Kain nodded to Mrs. Osorio to pick first. “I’ll take the last spot, I guess,” she said. “I’m an early riser anyway.”
“I’ll take third then,” Mr. Kain said.
“Very well, Kathy, if you will wake me up in a couple of hours or so, I’ll relieve you. Also, please keep an eye on Deena and let me know if her condition changes.”
Mrs. Minch nodded with a sullen expression.
“As for the rest of you, get as much sleep as you can.”
The knot in Jenni’s stomach didn’t feel much like sleeping.
4
What little sleep Jenni got was filled with strange dreams she couldn’t quite remember when she woke, but left her feeling uneasy nonetheless. Her family had never camped much and she found herself waking at every little noise or movement from those around her. From the bleary-eyed looks of the others in the morning, no one else had fared much better.
Jenni went to the shoreline and splashed a little water on her face. The bracing cold served to perk her up somewhat. She walked back and sat with the others to nibble on snack food and have a drink. Their food was running out quickly — they needed to find something edible soon or they’d be in bad shape.
Ms. Pap got Deena to sit up for a few minutes and take some water and crackers, but she looked worse. She had thin, black lines crawling down her arm to her wrist and up toward her shoulder. Her whole arm was red, in contrast to the paleness of the rest of her skin. Afterward she lay back down into a fitful slumber.
After everyone had eaten, and taken turns at the latrine, they organized two groups of three people as scout parties. The first group, consisting of Mrs. Osorio, Marco, and Todd, would head up and over the eastern ridge. The second group of Ms. Pap, and Will, and Vic, would go to the northern end of the lake. They already knew a gorge ran to the south, and the western mountains looked too difficult to climb. Mr. Kain and a group, including Jenni, Sara, Brandon, and two of the other boys would try to collect some of the nuts they had seen the day before. Mrs. Minch would stay at the camp with the rest of the students, gather more firewood, and keep the water supply in good shape.
Jenni and her group headed to the nut-bearing trees. They found them after just a few minutes, and stood below, looking up at the leaves and branches that held their objective. Smooth bark, like an aspen tree, only much darker in color, surrounded trunks one to two feet in diameter. They grew straight up and the first branches were at least fifteen feet off the ground.
Brandon and the other boys — Mike and Scott — each tried their hand at climbing, but without much to hold on to, they couldn’t reach the lowest branches. After a few attempts, Mr. Kain had them stop. He looked up at the tree, then back to the students, focusing on Jenni and Sara.
“Have either of you done much tree climbing?” he asked the girls.
They both nodded and Jenni said, “Sara had a tree house in her back yard that we used to play in all the time when we were little.”
“Okay, good,” he said. “Jenni, you’re a little smaller than Sara, do you mind if we try something?”
“Sure, what?”
“Take off your shoes and socks and we’ll give you a boost up the tree as far as we can. You should have better grip with your bare feet.”
Jenni took off her tennis shoes and placed her socks inside.
Mr. Kain turned and stood facing the tree. “Brandon, can you get her onto my shoulders?”
“Sure.”
Brandon stepped behind her. Jenni’s heart raced as he held her by the waist and lifted her up. She could feel Sara smiling behind her, and Jenni was glad no one could see her blushing. She wrapped her arms around the trunk, and Mr. Kain guided her feet so she stood on his shoulders.
“Now, I’m going to hold your feet and push you up as high as I can. From there see if you can climb the rest of the way.” He paused and grasped her feet. “Ready?”
Jenni checked her grip and nodded. “Yep.”
“Okay, one, two, three.” Mr. Kain pushed Jenni up to the extent of his arms. She guided herself along with her hands until she stopped rising, then she hugged the trunk hard and placed her feet on either side to get a grip.
Once secure, she looked up and saw she needed to go up a little farther to reach the first of the branches. She made sure not to look down and she tested her feet. They held, and she scrunched and pushed, moving like an inchworm, up the tree to the lowest branch.
“Well done, Jenni!” Mr. Kain praised. “Can you reach any nuts from there?”
Jenni looked around, holding tightly to the trunk. She spied a few clusters of nuts. “Yeah, I think so.”
She hauled herself up some more, reaching the nearest branch. It felt sturdy and she managed to get to a sitting position. She had a scary moment when she accidentally looked down at Sara and the others. Jenni quickly closed her eyes and let the small wave of dizziness pass, then refocused her attention on the nuts. They were long, about three inches, curved like a banana, and dark, almost black. She reached out and plucked four bunches, letting them fall to the ground.
Jenni heard the rustle of activity below as the others scooped the prizes up from the forest floor. She gathered herse
lf and glanced down at them.
“Not anything I’ve ever seen before, but maybe Ms. Pap has,” Mr. Kain said hopefully. “Drop as many more as you can easily reach, Jenni, then we’ll get you down and go back.”
Jenni nodded and pulled more nuts from the tree. She was even able to work her way around to some branches on the other side before her legs and arms started to tire.
“That’s it I think. I’m coming down.”
Even though the bark was smooth, Jenni still scraped the inside of her arms painfully when she slipped on her descent. After what seemed an eternity, Mr. Kain grabbed her feet. He and Brandon then helped her down the rest of the way.
Brandon gave her a half smile and said, “Nice job, Jenni,” setting her on the ground.
Jenni’s face became hot again, this time in front of everyone, but she didn’t care. She smiled and whispered, “Thanks,” to him. Slightly weak in the knees, she sat down and put on her socks and shoes. After she finished, Sara offered a hand up and gave her a wink. Jenni let out a small giggle.
“Okay,” Mr. Kain said. “Let’s head back and see what else needs to be done.”
Movement to her left caught Jenni’s eye. “What was that?”
Everyone stopped to look in the direction she indicated, but nothing appeared. “I thought I saw something by that bush,” Jenni said.
Mr. Kain and the others went over to investigate but didn’t find anything. “I’m sure you’re just tired from the climb, don’t worry about it,” he said.
Jenni shrugged and they hiked back to camp.
They had collected almost half a backpack full of the nuts. Mr. Kain sat down and examined them while the group watched. After being unable to break one open with his hands, he resorted to using a couple of rocks to crack the shell. The meat inside was peanut colored, but had a dark center.
“Will we be able to eat them?” Brandon asked.
“I don’t know,” Mr. Kain sighed. “We’ll wait for Ms. Pap to get back and see what she thinks.”
They spent the next few hours going out in groups to collect firewood and refill bottles from the river to be boiled. Those that stayed in camp rested, or busied themselves with games or music, trying to take their minds off their predicament.
Earlier in the day, Denny had tried to catch fish by using a bobby pin bent into a hook shape. He used one of the utility knives to cut one end off and make it sharp. One of the other girls, Faith, had a knitted sweater he unraveled to use for line, tying it to the end of a sturdy branch. He used a piece of cheese as bait, and cast out into the lake. After a few tries, he managed to get a bite and set the hook. When he tried to pull it in though, the line had snapped and his catch had gotten away. Similar lack of materials foiled other attempts at making nets or snares to catch something to eat.
Jenni and some others built a small lean-to out of branches and jackets to help Deena stay out of the sun in the afternoon. It was warmer than the previous day and she seemed more uncomfortable. They took turns giving her water and adjusting the shelter as the sun made its way across the sky.
Late in the afternoon, they heard a shout from the west. Jenni looked up and saw Mrs. Osorio and Marco, with Todd stumbling along between them. They each had one of his arms over their shoulders and had to drag him toward the camp. Mr. Kain jumped up and ran to meet them along with some of the boys. They took Todd from the Osorios and carried him back to the fire pit where Deena lay.
Todd had a green tinge to his skin, and he sweated profusely. His eyes weren’t focused on anything and sometimes rolled up, back into his head. Someone brought water, but they couldn’t get him to drink.
“What happened?” Mr. Kain asked as Marco and his mother dropped next to the group, exhausted.
“We went over the eastern ridge. We were partway down the other side when we decided to take a break.” Mrs. Osorio paused. “Todd wandered off for a minute, then we heard him cry out. We found him on the ground like this with one of those fruits next to him — he had taken a bite from it.”
Todd moaned, rolled on his side and started coughing. Several drops of blood colored the dirt beneath him. Mr. Kain managed to get him to drink some water, but then Todd rolled back and fell asleep. Mr. Kain checked his pulse, then placed a jacket under his head for a pillow.
He looked up and addressed the students. “No one, I repeat, no one, is to eat or drink anything you find out here until Ms. Pap, or I, say it’s okay. Got it?”
The class gave silent nods in response.
Mr. Kain turned back to Mrs. Osorio and asked quietly, “What did you find?”
“Not much.” She leaned back and took a water bottle with a small smile of thanks. “It looks like we’re at the edge of a mountain range, kind of like back home. We saw big, snow-covered mountains behind us to the west, and to the east were rolling hills and plains as far as we could see.”
“No cities, or towns, or anything,” Marco added.
“Yes, just open space. But, it would be the easiest direction to go from what I could tell.”
Mr. Kain sat back and let the worn out Osorios rest and drink. “Ms. Pap should be back soon. I really don’t like this sitting around and doing nothing,” he said.
A few minutes later, someone spotted the other scouting party. Will, Vic, and Ms. Pap all looked tired, but whole and healthy. The three made their way into camp and everyone shared reports. They had followed a river to the north as far as they could. Tall, snowy mountains surrounded the valley on the north and west, and looked impassable without serious equipment and training. They hadn’t encountered any signs of civilization and only minimal signs of wildlife.
Ms. Pap checked on Todd and shook her head.
Mr. Kain showed the nuts to Ms. Pap, and Jenni watched her study them. Ms. Pap took one that had been opened over to the fire pit and held it close to the flames with her fingertips. After a few seconds, the dark center of the nut melted and dripped onto a rock that bordered the fire. It sizzled and dissolved a hole in the stone.
“Well I’d say that’s a big ‘No’ on the edibility of these,” Ms. Pap stated with wide eyes.
She tossed the remainder of the nut into the fire and sat down, defeated.
“What the hell are we going to do?” Mr. Kain asked her quietly, but Jenni was close enough to hear. He looked at the end of his rope, as did many of them. Jenni shivered in fear.
“I have no idea,” Ms. Pap sighed. “We have two kids that could die without medical attention, no food, and no idea of where we are. I’m at a complete loss.”
Jenni crept back to where Sara and Tori sat, quiet and subdued.
A loud bang, like a firecracker, made her jump and small chunks of burning wood went flying from the fire pit. A couple of kids screamed.
Mr. Kain picked something off his shirt and exclaimed, “The nut! The nut freaking exploded in the fire!” He turned and stomped off toward the latrine.
Jenni closed her eyes and silently prayed to whomever would listen. Somebody please help us. We’re in big trouble here.
5
Sleep hadn’t come any easier that night, even though Jenni and the others were exhausted from their efforts and stresses of the day. The adults had continued their pattern of watches through the night and kept the fire burning. Stomachs growled and grumbled. At least they had water.
Jenni groaned and rolled over, hoping to wake up and find out that everything had been a dream. The rock poking her in the ribs said otherwise, and she opened her eyes to a pink sky with a few wispy clouds. She got up and stumbled down to the shore for a splash of cold water. It helped to clear her thoughts somewhat and alerted her to another need. Sighing, she turned and walked to the latrine.
They couldn’t make a proper one, having no tools to dig with, but the Minches had found an abandoned rabbit hole near the camp. It was sheltered by a couple of small trees, making it somewhat private. They had dug it out some more by hand, then surrounded it with some of the rocks from the river. Most of their s
upply of tissues sat in a small bag next to the hole. It stank to high heaven after two days of use by nearly thirty people, but it was contained, and down wind from camp.
Jenni plugged her nose, closed her eyes and did the deed.
“What are you?”
Jenni’s eyes flashed open and she found herself staring at the face of a small, pudgy man with large blue eyes and a scruffy blonde beard.
She screamed, and he vanished.
She quickly pulled up her pants as she heard footsteps coming from camp. Her heart pounded while she tried to decide if what she saw was real.
“Jenni, what happened? Are you okay?” Sara asked, out of breath.
Jenni took a second to collect herself and redo her capris. “I’m … I’m fine,” she stammered. “Just thought I saw something, it startled me … probably a rabbit or something.”
Sara looked at her. “You sure?” A couple of others had arrived to see what the commotion was.
“Yeah,” Jenni said, composing herself a bit more. “I’m okay. Just let me, um, finish up here.”
“Sure,” Sara said, and she collected the others. “She’s okay, let’s give her a minute.”
Jenni watched Sara walk back to camp with Tori and Marco, the others who had come running. Sara looked back once and Jenni gave her a thumbs up before returning her attention to the latrine.
She replayed the incident in her mind and realized the little man hadn’t just disappeared as it seemed at first. She looked around — There! That rock wasn’t there before. She took a step closer and knelt down. A blue eye winked open and quickly closed.
Jenni breathed a small sigh of relief — she hadn’t gone completely out of her mind. Curiosity took over. “It’s okay, I see you there. I won’t hurt you,” she said quietly.
“Them gone?” the rock asked.
Jenni checked the camp again. “Yes, we’re alone.”
The image of the rock disappeared, revealing the tiny man again. He stood perhaps a foot and a half tall with a round face, overly large nose, and plump arms that ended in only three fingers and a thumb. His skin had the tan of someone who spent a lot of time outdoors, but with few wrinkles. The wiry blonde hair on his head was covered by a simple beige cap that looked to be finely spun wool. His other clothes were of similar weave, but darker in color, and he had dark leather shoes that reminded her of Indian moccasins.
