At any other time Lillian would have been delighted to be exploring a new stretch of woods. But today she was aimed right smack up against something that she felt was maybe too big for her. Bear people. The very idea made her tummy flutter, but she couldn’t help feeling a little excited at the same time, never mind John’s stupid story.
She followed a deer trail through the autumn woods, admiring the colorful foliage and thinking about having crafted grapevine-and-leaf wreaths with Aunt last fall. She hoped that the bear people would be able to set things right.
It felt good to have a sense of purpose. It had been a long stretch of whenever since she’d felt she was doing more than just getting through a day. Maybe she ought to have gone to see Aunt Nancy a lot sooner.
The land rose slowly toward to the ridge that John had told her to look for. Oak and beech gave way to sprucy-pine. Under their tall spreading boughs there was less undergrowth, and her lone footsteps crunched noisily on the carpet of needles. Mushrooms sprouted from deadfalls, alone and in clusters: red and white, bright yellow, mustard yellow. The bare granite bones of the land pushed up out of the ground in ever-larger formations.