Chapter 14

Chapter 14 Waiting for a Bus They couldn't find the tepee. If you'd asked Evan yesterday, he would have said, I can find that tepee blindfolded. But here they were, as good as blindfolded because of the darkness, and Evan had no idea where to look. He and Jessie wandered through the woods, flashing their lights in every direction, but either they'd gone too far or not far enough, because the tepee wasn't there. What if they couldn't find it in the dark? Evan knew his grandmother wouldn't survive a night out in the cold like this. Even if the police managed to get together a search party soon— and Evan hadn't seen a single flashlight or heard any voices in the woods yet—it might be too late by the time they found her. His grandmother

was old, and she had a broken wrist. She got confused. She needed help. He started walking faster, but he had no idea if he was getting closer to the tepee or farther away. "Stop," said Jessie. "We need a system. We can't just keep walking around hoping we're going to find it." So they followed their tracks back to the bell and stared at the edge of the woods they had just come out of. "Where's the Lightning Tree?" asked Evan. They swept their flashlight beams back and forth, but they couldn't see through the thick falling snow. So they split up, each starting at one edge of the woods and working their way to the middle, checking each tree that they came to. Finally, Evan said, "I found it!" And he had. Up close, the tree was unmistakable, burned black and naked without any branches except the single stubby one. The branch pointed their

way into the woods, and they plunged deeper and deeper in. Evan kept telling himself, We're getting closer, we're getting closer, but it seemed to him that they were taking way too long to find Grandma. "There it is," said Jessie, pointing with her flashlight through the trees. And there it was. Just where it had always been. The tepee they'd built the summer before last. The tepee that was strong enough to survive a hundred winters. Evan broke into an awkward run, his snowshoes flopping and slapping the ground. When he reached the opening, he stopped, suddenly afraid to see what was inside. Jessie caught up behind him, looked at him, then reached out to pull back the tarp. "No!" said Evan, grabbing her hand and pulling it back. He didn't know what they would find inside, but if it was bad, he didn't want Jessie seeing it first. He took a step forward so that his body

blocked Jessie's view, then he slowly pulled back the top edge of the tarp, just enough for him to poke his flashlight inside and peer into the circle of light. There was Grandma. Sitting on the ground, cross-legged. Her eyes blinked like an owl's, caught in an unexpected light. How long had she been sitting like that? "Hi," said Evan, afraid to call her Grandma in case that spooked her. It felt to him as though she were standing on the edge of a cliff and any sudden movement could topple her over. He noticed that her hat was crooked and Jessie's scarf dangled from one shoulder. "Is the bus here?" asked Grandma. "I've been waiting for hours." "Grandma!" shouted Jessie from behind Evan. Suddenly he felt Jessie shoving his body out of the way, sliding past him and into the tepee. He wanted to grab her and keep her back, but he

was holding the flashlight and the tarp, and she slipped by before he could stop her. "Why are you here, Grandma?" Jessie was practically shouting, or at least it seemed that way to Evan. "Why didn't you come home?" Grandma looked bewildered. "I'm waiting for the bus. It's been hours. What's the delay?" "What are you talking about Grandma? There's no bus!" "No bus! What do you mean? Of course, there's a bus. I take this bus three times a week." "Grandma," said Jessie, sounding like she was about to cry. "Stop it. Stop pretending. It isn't funny!" Grandma gave Jessie a disapproving stare. "Who are you? Why are you yelling at me? Where's the bus?" "Evan!" yelled Jessie, and now she was crying. Evan could see the first few tears pooling up in her eyes, and he knew if she really got going, there would be no stopping her. She hardly ever

cried, but when she did, it was a thunderstorm. "Jess, it's okay," said Evan, pulling on her arm. She tried to shake her arm free, but he got a good firm hold of her. "C'mon. Come out here." She let him pull her out of the tepee, where they stood side by side in the falling snow. "She's tired," he said. "And she's old. This is how it is now. We have to get used to it." "No! No, no, no!" said Jessie, shaking her head. "I won't get used to it. I'll never get used to it! She doesn't even know me!" "Yeah, she does," said Evan. "Somewhere in her brain she knows exactly who you are. She just can't reach it right now. It's like my bedroom at Grandma's house. It's still there. We just can't get to it for a while. It's off-limits. But she'll remember you again. When she's not so cold and tired." "I hate this," whispered Jessie. He bent his head closer to hers. "I know. But look, we've got to get her home. Can you go in