When Zach and Jocelyn reached the campfire pit, the campus was quiet. His friends and classmates were nowhere to be found.
“Where is everyone?” he asked.
“I think most of them are over there in the parking lot.” Jocelyn pointed to the yellow school bus parked on the other side of the cafeteria.
“Is everyone leaving? What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure what the plan is exactly. But I know everyone had a pretty good scare when you and the others disappeared, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re all heading home. Why don’t we head over to the bus and see what’s going on. I think they’ll be pretty happy to see you.” Jocelyn smiled, leading Zach toward the parking lot.
Zach followed behind her. On the left side of the school bus, three police cars were parked side by side. They were empty. On the right side of the bus were five other cars. One was a tan Honda Accord. Exactly like his …
“Zach!”
Mom’s voice.
She ran down the path from the administration building and grabbed Zach, pulling him close to her. “You’re here. I’m so glad you’re here. I thought I’d lost you too.” She clenched him like a vice, swaying back and forth, her frizzy hair rubbing against his cheek.
“I’d better get back to my students down at the ropes course,” Jocelyn said. “I’m glad you’re okay, Zach.” Jocelyn gave a wave and left Zach and his mom alone.
“Thanks,” said Zach. “Mom, you’re kind of crushing me here.”
She loosened her grip. “Are you okay? Where have you been? You scared me to death, Zach. The whole drive up here I wondered if I would ever see you again.”
“I’m fine, Mom. Have you seen Dad?”
“No, but I just got here a few minutes ago. Honey, you don’t look fine. You’re all scratched up. What happened?”
Zach didn’t answer right away. “I … I just went out to do some exploring and got lost.”
Zach’s mother hugged him again. “What is going on with you, honey? Why do you keep pulling these crazy stunts?”
The door of the administration building opened. Jenny, Michael, and Tristan wandered out on to the path.
“Mom … Umm … I’ll be right back, okay?” Zach backed away from his mother and walked quickly up the path to meet his friends. “You made it,” he said.
“Yeah, we’re okay,” Jenny said. “You pointed us in the right direction. We just had to battle the forest and some hills, but it didn’t take long to get back here.”
“How’d you get away from that thing?” Tristan asked.
“I wouldn’t exactly say I got away from him.”
“So, what happened?” Michael asked.
Zach looked into the eyes of his allies. He then turned around to see his mom, watching him, her arms wrapped around her body. “Where’s Logan?” he asked, changing the subject.
“He’s inside. They have a medical clinic in the back. A nurse is checking him out.”
“Is he gonna be okay? Can I go see him?”
Jenny answered, “I think he’s going to be fine, but we haven’t seen him since he got in there. Maybe you can go in?” She looked at Michael and Tristan for confirmation. They nodded. “The nurse will probably want to take a look at you too,” Tristan said. “You look pretty beat up.”
“I’m fine. Just some scrapes and bruises. Nothin’ big.”
They were interrupted when the door to the admin building opened. Logan emerged, hobbling on crutches. “Hey, you made it!” He rocked himself over to Zach, and then held out his right hand.
Zach gave him a high-five. “Yeah, I’m here. But what about you? You look terrible.”
“My right thigh stings a little, but the nurse says they’re pretty minor burns. They were worried I had hypothermia from being in that creek, but I checked out okay. I’m supposed to go to the doctor as soon as I can. My mom’s in there talking to the nurse right now.”
“Your mom is up here?”
“Yeah. All of our parents are here,” Logan said. “When we disappeared, Lomeier called them and they all came.”
Zach turned back to his mom. He waved to her.
She waved back.
“Have you guys seen my dad? Did he make it back?” he asked, facing Logan and the others again.
They were silent. Everyone looked away from Zach, except Logan. “We haven’t seen him,” he said.
“He’ll probably show up,” Jenny added.
“He should have been back by now,” Zach said, looking around frantically. Zach looked back at Logan. Miranda, he thought. Maybe she knows something. Maybe Dad went to see her. “I have to go.”
“Zach, where are you going? You just got back!” Logan called as Zach ran down the path toward the cafeteria.
“Zach? What’s going on?” his mom asked as he sprinted past her.
“I’ll be right back!” Zach called.
Zach barged into the cafeteria and made his way to the kitchen. “Dad? Miranda? Are you here?” He looked around the cafeteria, but it was empty. The only sound was a faucet running in the back of the kitchen. “Miranda? Are you back there?” he called just as the cafeteria door opened behind him. Zach turned around.
“Zach!” his dad called, hugging his son.
Zach wrapped his arms around his father. “Where were you?”
“I just got here. I tried to follow you in the woods, but I’m not in the shape I used to be,” he said with a smile. “I had to find my way back to the trail. It took some time. I saw your mother outside and she told me you ran in here. What are you looking for?”
“I was looking for you. I thought you might have come here to—” Before he could finish, Zach heard footsteps emerging from the kitchen. “Hello, Zach.”
Zach backed away from his father, turning toward the familiar voice. “Dad, this is Miranda.”
Robert’s smile vanished.
“Nice to meet you,” she said, holding out her hand.
Robert looked at Zach and then at Miranda. “Miranda Leppla?”
“That’s right,” she said.
“My son has told me a lot about you,” he said, shaking hands with Victor’s granddaughter.
“Has he?” Miranda rubbed Zach’s head. “So, Zach, you decided to go on a little adventure, I hear.”
Zach looked up at her. “I guess you could call it that,” he said.
Miranda looked back at Zach’s dad. “You have a very brave boy here.”
Robert nodded. “Yes, I do,” he said, looking at Zach. “Miranda, I understand you’ve given Zach some help.”
“I don’t know about that, but let’s just say, Zach and me have some things in common,” Miranda said.
Robert nodded.
“Zach, I’m sorry for ignoring you during KP duty,” Miranda said. “You were looking for answers and I abandoned you. I’m afraid to talk about my grandfather in front of others.”
“It’s okay,” he said. “I get it.”
Miranda looked Zach in the eye. “You know where to find me,” she said.
“Find you for what?” Zach asked.
Robert pulled his son closer to him. Zach could feel his dad’s strong hand on his shoulder.
Miranda smiled. “Even heroes need help sometimes,” she said.
“So, what did you tell everyone when you got back?” Zach asked his friends as they huddled in the parking lot. Zach’s dad was talking to his mom outside the cafeteria. “Did you tell them about Victor and the house?”
Logan, Jenny, Michael, and Tristan shot glances at each other, smiling. Then Logan explained. “As soon as we found our way out of the woods we made a pact. None of us were gonna say anything about Victor Leppla or the disappearing cabin.”
“No one would have believed us anyway,” said Michael.
No one but Miranda, Zach thought. “You’re probably right,” he said, nodding. “So, what did you tell them?”
“The police had been searching for us. When we got back a couple of cops were with Lomeier, so we talked to them first,” Logan said. “We kept it simple,” he said with a grin.
Michael interrupted. “Tristan and I told the police and Mrs. Lomeier that we had wandered off into the woods because we had heard a wolf cry. I’ve always wanted to see a wolf, so I had to go, right?” he said. “We never found the wolf, but we did manage to get ourselves lost. Luckily for us, Logan and Jenny found us and led us back to camp.”
“All the credit goes to you, Zach,” said Jenny.
“What do you mean?”
“You went searching for Michael and Tristan first. We never would have found them had we not come after you,” she explained. “You’re a hero,” she said, playfully slugging Zach in the arm.
Zach nodded. Then he looked at Michael and Tristan. “Your wolf story has some truth to it, you know.”
“What do you mean?” Tristan asked.
“The wolf found you,” Zach said.
Everyone nodded quietly.
Jenny broke the silence. “You never explained how you got away. What happened after we separated?”
Zach looked away from his friends.
“Zach?” Logan said. “What happened?”
“Let’s just say that Victor’s gone.”
“What do you mean, ‘he’s gone?’” asked Michael.
“He’s gone. For now anyway.”
Zach’s friends looked confused, but didn’t pry any further.
“Hey, look behind you,” Logan said, pointing.
Zach turned around. His mom and dad were hugging. Something Zach had not seen them do for a long time. Not since the day Chris went missing.
“Zach, I think the police might want to talk to you,” Logan said, pointing up the walkway. Two police officers were walking toward them, Mrs. Lomeier following behind.
Zach ignored Logan. Instead, he jogged over to his mom and dad. He stood next to them as they embraced. His mom and dad put their arms around Zach, pulling him closer.
Not even a magical stone could warm him like this.