When at last Elijah pedaled to a stop, Alice ’s legs were so tired she could barely stand without trembling. Buddy was nowhere in sight; she only hoped he could find his own way home, because she sure wasn’t going to go looking for him. Not now, not with Elijah standing here, smiling at her, his eyes glittering. He leaned his bike up against a tree and hoisted his book bag over his shoulder.

“So where’s your house?” she asked.

“It’s that driveway there.” He pointed down the road, to a mailbox rusting on a post.

“Aren’t we going to your house?”

“Naw, my cousin’s home sick today. She was throwing up all night, so let’s not go in the house. Anyway, my project’s out here, in the woods. Leave your bike. We’re gonna have to walk.”

She propped her bike up next to his and followed him, her legs still wobbly from the ride up the mountain. They tramped into woods. The trees were dense here, the ground thickly carpeted by leaves. Gamely she followed him, waving at mosquitoes. “So your cousin lives with you?” she asked.

“Yeah, she came to stay with us last year. I guess it’s permanent now. Got nowhere else to go.”

“Your parents don’t mind?”

“It’s just my dad. My mom’s dead.”

“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say about that. Finally murmured a simple “I’m sorry,” but he didn’t seem to hear her.

The undergrowth became thicker, and brambles scratched her bare legs. She had trouble keeping up with him. He was pulling ahead of her, leaving her with her skirt snagged on blackberry canes.

“Elijah!”

He didn’t answer. He just kept moving ahead like a bold explorer, his book bag slung over his shoulder.

“Wait!”

“Do you want to see this or don’t you?”