Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 LATER THAT NIGHT. The sun dropped down behind the mountains, and the sky turned bright purple. They'd changed out of their sweaty clothes and were now in the dining room eating dinner. The sounds of happy chatter and clinking silverware rang out around them. But the mood at their table

was grim. Mel picked at her bowl of beef stew. She pictured it sitting in the dump, covered in flies. They talked quietly about what they'd learned that day and who Cassie was planning to call once they got back to the cabin. "I'm pretty sure National Geographic is going to want the story," she said. Mel could tell she was itching to get started. Pops had an old typewriter in the cabin, for writing letters. Cassie figured she could have the article finished within a few days. But then it would be at least two months before it was published, maybe more. Mel wished she could press a button and instantly send this story to people all over the world. But this was real life in 1967, not some science fiction story set a thousand years from now. The dining room was buzzing with excitement. There were about thirty people here, including a

family with little kids. They'd overheard Greg talking about the even bigger crowd that would be there over the weekend. "Every room is booked," he'd said. "We'll have people out in the campground, too." How many of those people were coming to see the grizzlies eat garbage? Mel didn't want to know. Thinking about it made her nauseous. Dinner was winding down. The waitress brought them all fat slices of chocolate cake. But none of them took a bite. A woman at the next table stood up. "It's time for our sing-along!" she exclaimed. People clapped and cheered. Steve turned to a man at the next table. "What's happening?" "It's a Granite Park tradition," the man said. "Every night after dinner. There's a sing-along." Cassie groaned. "I have a voice like a screeching parrot."

Steve chuckled. "Bet you it's better than mine." The woman started to sing, and everyone quickly joined in. Row, row, row your boat… That song… the last time Mel had heard it was that night, in the car. The night of the accident. Mel broke out in a cold sweat. Her heart started to pound. She felt as if cold hands were gripping her throat. Everything around disappeared. Her mind seemed to snap. "I… I'll be right back," Mel stammered, pushing herself back from the table and hurrying away. She rushed out the door and into the night. She wasn't thinking. She could barely see. She had no idea where she was going. She sprinted wildly through the darkness. She ran until the sound of the blood pounding in her ears was louder than the singing voices in her head. She collapsed into the grass, buried her face in her hands, and let the tears come pouring out.

Slowly the spinning stopped. Mel sat for a minute, trying to make sense of what had just happened. She felt dazed, like she'd woken up from a nightmare. She remembered hearing that song, how the room had started to spin. This wasn't the first time this had happened to her. That her panic had sent her on a wild sprint when something reminded her of the car accident. Once, at school, a teacher walked by and Mel caught a whiff of her spicy perfume — the same perfume that Mom always wore. Next thing Mel knew, she was a quarter mile from school, in the middle of a park. She had no idea how long she'd been there. Another time she was at the supermarket with Dad, and she heard an ambulance scream by. It sounded like the ambulance that had taken Mom away, after the crash. That time Mel wound up a block away, sitting on a curb behind a bakery. It always took a few minutes for Mel's mind to really clear. And now she realized she'd better

figure out where she was. Steve and Cassie must be looking everywhere for her. She was just standing up when she heard something. A low, gut-twisting growl. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Mel froze, and then slowly looked around. Suddenly she knew exactly where this blind dash had taken her. She was at the back of the chalet, just a few yards away from the garbage dump. And just ahead, glowing in the moonlight, was an enormous grizzly.