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It had grown late by the time we finally found a place to stay for the night. We made camp in a small clearing and spent many anxious hours taking watches from inside the tent. The normal night noises surrounded us as we sat awake. No glow of fire warmed us because we were too afraid of being found. I fell asleep on my watch without waking Kevin up for the next. Thankfully, nothing came to eat us in the night.
Even with a small fire built near the tent, we shivered in the cold air that next morning. The sky had grown gray and overcast. Not a speck of sunlight seeped through the cloud cover and it looked like it might rain. We were running short on supplies and with no idea where we were, we decided to eat sparingly. Breakfast mostly consisted of what was left of the marshmallows and granola bars. The majority of the candy had been eaten already and we were saving the rest of the jerky for lunch that day, hoping we would be home in time for dinner at the very latest.
Kevin tried to figure out where we were as the camp was pulled down. Without any landmarks nearby, his simple map he’d torn out of his father's atlas was almost useless. As we finished packing, he called us over.
Holding out the creased page and pointing he said, “See the river? It runs directly through the center of the woods. No matter where we are, if we head due west we’ll come across it eventually.”
“And then we can follow it home,” Kit finished his thought.
“Exactly,” Kevin agreed. Taking out the brass compass once more and holding it up in front of him he said, “Follow me. We need to get as far as we can before the rain starts.”
I glanced up at the sky. There was no doubt it was going to rain and it wasn’t far off. Grabbing our packs, we fell in line behind Kevin as he took off through the trees at a fast clip.
By noon, we still hadn’t reached the river and the skies were growing darker by the minute. Whatever was heading our way wasn’t going to be a simple rain shower. We decided to eat while we walked, stopping only for a brief moment to fish some food out of our packs. Few words passed between us and our once-joyful, carefree attitudes had been replaced with a sense of urgency. It had sunk in that we were lost in the wilderness and our only hope was finding the river. But even then we didn’t know how far we had wandered and the trek home could be a long one.
An hour later the first raindrops began to strike the tops of our heads. Kevin was still charging ahead as the rest of us debated whether or not we should set up the tent. The sky was threatening us with black, roiling clouds and the last thing we wanted was to be caught out in a thunderstorm.
Just then, as we were chatting amongst ourselves, we heard Kevin call back to us. Sprinting forward, worried something was wrong, we broke through the underbrush to where he was standing. The trees parted, giving way to rocks and the beautiful sight that lay before us. The river. We’d finally found it! Although we had no idea how far along it we were, we knew that it would assuredly lead us home. Chris slapped Kevin on the back, congratulating him on being such a good navigator. We all thanked him in turn and then stopped, our ears perking up to a new sound.
Rain. And it was coming fast.
We scrambled back through the underbrush as the large drops fell slowly, striking the leaves and filling the forest with their percussive sound. As fast as we could muster, we erected the tent, making sure the rain fly was secure before we dove inside. Just as it was zipped shut the first brilliant flash of white filled the sky. Within a few seconds a thunderous boom echoed across the world. The swollen rain clouds, given the green-light by the thunder, began to wring themselves out. A tremendous downpour swept across the forest, filling our ears with rainfall so loud we could barely hear one another over the din.
The torrent fell mercilessly and the thunder cracked with such ferocity that we thought it would be short lived like other summer storms. But we were wrong. For hours it poured, long after the thunder had rolled into the distance. Streams of water carrying pine needles and once dry leaves were visible outside the tent flowing across the forest floor. We set our canteens outside in the hopes they would fill up in the rain.
Later, when the rain had finally died down to a normal pace, Chris started telling ghost stories. He made sure to keep away from stories about the Snatcher or about the woods, not wanting to revisit our most recent brush with the unknown. He passed around the cheap flashlight, giving everyone a turn. Kit told the scariest by far, frightening even Chris.
Night came early under the cloudy sky. With Kit already curled up on his sleeping bag near me, I found myself growing tired before the day had slipped completely away. It wasn’t long before the dull sound of millions of tiny raindrops lulled us all off to an early sleep.
I awoke some time in the night to the sound of the tent flap zipper. Glancing up in the moonlight, I saw Kit trying to open it as carefully as possible. Sitting up on my elbows, my sleeping bag rustled, causing him to look back.
“Pee break,” he whispered to me, turning back to the door. He paused for a moment and looked back again. “Will... will you come with me?”
I nodded, hearing the trepidation in his voice. “I’ll watch your back,” I replied, knowing he was still on edge about the horror that befell us the day before.
Without a word, he turned back and stepped out into the night. The sealed tent had grown unbearably hot with all four of us stuffed into it and I was more than happy to escape for a moment, leaving the door open behind me. Following Kit a few yards away, using only the light of the full moon to guide us, I turned my back as he did his business. Like a good friend, he watched our surroundings as I took my turn after him. Returning to his side, I made my way back towards the tent, but Kit turned toward the river silently. I followed.
Picking our way through the underbrush, we came to the water’s edge and the boulders that stretched out into the stream. Without a word Kit began clambering over the rocks until he found a large flat one, beyond the overhanging reach of the trees. He stood on the surface, silhouetted against the bright glow of the moon that was dancing over the flowing water. I made my way over to him, slipping a couple of times and dunking my foot into the water by accident. My shoe squelched a bit as I came up next to him. The storm had washed away the heat of the day and I stuffed my hands into my pockets for warmth, pressing my arms close to my body.
Kit stared up into the sky, his mouth hanging open slightly. The summer constellations were easily visible in the clear night sky. The Milky Way was clear and bright, being so far out in the country. I could just make out the Cygnus constellation and the bright star Vega that shone in the eastern sky. I was surprised I could remember their names, but then again, the school field trip to the planetarium had been my favorite so far. I continued to search the night sky, wondering how many more I could name.
“Ryan...” Kit said suddenly and quietly, “Thank you... for being my best friend.”
I turned back down to Earth to find Kit staring back at me, the moonlight reflecting in his eyes. Before I could respond, his face pressed against mine, hastily planting a kiss on my lips. I didn’t know what to do, having never experienced anything like that before, so I just stood there. It didn’t feel wrong, but I never imagined my first kiss would be from a boy. Kit’s green eyes continued to stare into mine, waiting for me to speak.
“Kit... I...” I began, but I never got a chance to respond.
At that moment a beam of light struck the side of my face, causing me to startle. I threw up my arms to shield my face, unable to make out the person behind the light. Kit instinctively took a step backwards.
“Hey,” Chris called out, “get back to the tent. I don’t need your dumb asses falling in the river.”
With no more than a quick glance at one another, Kit and I carefully picked our way back through the boulders. Chris said nothing else as he led us back through the underbrush to the tent. Kevin was awake when we climbed back inside.
“Where did you guys run off to?” he asked, looking at Kit and I. Chris turned to look at us expectantly, no snarky comments following.
“Pee break,” Kit said flatly, not making eye contact with anyone.
“Yeah, that...” I chimed in, looking away as well.
Off to the side of my vision I saw Chris heave a silent sigh and roll his eyes.