Wilder Boys: Chapters 14–19

They scrambled through bushes and up and over rocks; fortunately, the terrain wasn't too steep.

Taylor bent down to wipe the bird poop off on some lichen, but then paused to study it.

Below the sketch, their dad had scrawled: Huckleberry—safe!

He and Jake quickly stripped the bush and began avidly searching for others.

Three separate creeks converged here, and as soon as the boys arrived, Jake saw a trout leap out of the lake and swallow a butterfly that had been flying too close to the surface of the water.

Now they had nothing and were once again forced to improvise.

Jake ate a few more berries, then tried to make the camp as comfortable as possible before the night ahead, while Taylor went foraging.

More of their shelter fell, and Jake reached wildly for his brother, clambering up off the ground.

Cautiously, Jake and Taylor returned to their shelter. The bear had transformed it into a pile of kindling and splinters.

"Very funny,” he said, and began walking counterclockwise along the shore, looking for a likely spot to ambush some trout.

Jake had been so elated about catching the fish that he’d momentarily forgotten that they had to cook them too.

Already, his mouth watered at the prospect of eating his first real meal in two days.

They hurried up the rocky ravine.

Jake also gulped noisily from the bottle, and then he took out the topographic map he’d gotten at the ranger station.

“Is that a glacier?” Taylor wondered.
Jake again consulted the map. “Yeah, I think it is.”

Two seconds later, a deafening blast shook the glacial cirque.

By now the clouds had cleared, and the light from the waxing quarter moon illuminated the area with a surprisingly brilliant glow.

The boys redoubled their efforts.

The man chortled. “I don’t think they’d taste very good. You ever seen a wolverine?” The boys shook their heads.

They saw hardly any lights or electrical appliances anywhere, but dominating the center of the far wall was an old wood-burning stove with a black cylindrical pipe rising through the ceiling.

After the heavy meal, fatigue had begun to settle in, but they did as Skeet told them, boiling the water, cleaning up the dishes, and then mixing the rest of the hot water with cold water in a large steel tub about fifty feet from the cabin.

Skeet left again while Jake managed to rouse Taylor.

Skeet glanced down at his sling and scoffed. “Baw, this isn’t anything—probably just a hairline fracture. It won’t slow me down too much,” Skeet said, standing up.

He also brought a kerosene lantern with him and hung it on a nearby branch.

“Yeah, uh, something like that,” said Jake.
Skeet mulled this over for a moment.