stones, some large, some small. When we’re done, we toss our rocks into a pile. “Now what?” asks Rae Gonzalez, from Erica Felstein’s suite.
Rosie squats in front of the stones and turns different ones in her hands, examining them.
“Maybe if we put them together right, they’ll make a message,” Maddie suggests.
Rosie nods thoughtfully. “Maybe you’re right,” she agrees.
We instinctively break into groups of two and begin lining the rocks up in various configurations. It becomes like a giant game.
“Can we borrow the word
to
from you?”
“We almost have a sentence. Anyone got the word
tree?”
“We have an extra rock with the word
water
written on it. Could anyone use it?”
The group works together with total cooperation. Mrs. Brewster and the staff had created the perfect team-building activity. At the end of an hour this is what we have:
Things you must find
White birch leaf
Water sample
One bug, identified
Moss sample, identified
Make camp at large boulder due south of present location. Find the face.
Calculate 36 hours from official end of Monday breakfast and return to cafeteria.
No one seems to know how to figure that last part out — anything that tells time was handed over on our first day, whether it was a phone, a notepad, or a watch.
Shielding her eyes, Rosie gazes at the sun. “Judging from the position of the sun, it’s almost one o’clock in the afternoon,” she figures.
“Evelyn, would you write this message down in your notebook so we don’t forget anything?” Rosie requests.
“Okay,” Evelyn agrees, but from the reluctant tone in her voice I can tell she doesn’t like her secret notebook being mentioned so openly. Just the same, she takes the book out and writes down the message written in rocks on the ground.
After she’s done, Evelyn and Rosie put their heads together — Rosie with the map, Evelyn with the compass — and they figure the best route due south. I don’t know how we’re ever going to find one boulder in a forestfull of them. And what does
find the face
mean? When I ask that question, everyone looks to Rosie for the answer.
“No idea,” Rosie admits. “I’m just hoping this face, whatever it is, will find us.”
Fortunately, it does.
We hike back down into the dense forest once more. Descending isn’t quite as difficult as going up, but it uses different muscles and I find my calves getting sore. It seems we’re walking for a long time.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” I ask, coming alongside Evelyn, who’s checking her compass every few minutes.
“Of course I’m not sure,” Evelyn answers.
I begin to think finding this boulder and this face is hopeless.
“I see it!” Maddie is the first to observe. “Right there.” She points to a large, almost triangular boulder.
I laugh when I see that a sort of face is traced out in moss on the wide, flat northern surface of the boulder. It reminds me of the crater-formed face of the Man in the Moon.
“This is the spot. We’ll make camp here,” Rosie says.
We quickly see that someone from CMS has been here ahead of us. A large blue tarp covers a big black chest. Inside the chest are three .22-caliber rifles, the kind we’ve been practicing with, and three quivers loaded with arrows. There are also six two-person tents that are still collapsed and some pots and a pan for cooking.
Suddenly Erica Felstein gasps. “How come there’s no food in there?” she asks Rosie.
Rosie surveys the rest of the area. “I guess we have to get it ourselves,” she replies.
Erica throws her head back in despair. “I’m so tired and hungry! I can’t find my own dinner! This is horrible!”
“Don’t be such a baby,” Rosie scolds her. “They gave us rifles and arrows. Obviously they expect us to catch our own meal.”
“I wouldn’t be able to catch anything even if I wanted to — and I
don’t
want to,” Erica insists. I’m annoyed by her whining, since it’s already
Rosie squats in front of the stones and turns different ones in her hands, examining them.
“Maybe if we put them together right, they’ll make a message,” Maddie suggests.
Rosie nods thoughtfully. “Maybe you’re right,” she agrees.
We instinctively break into groups of two and begin lining the rocks up in various configurations. It becomes like a giant game.
“Can we borrow the word
to
from you?”
“We almost have a sentence. Anyone got the word
tree?”
“We have an extra rock with the word
water
written on it. Could anyone use it?”
The group works together with total cooperation. Mrs. Brewster and the staff had created the perfect team-building activity. At the end of an hour this is what we have:
Things you must find
White birch leaf
Water sample
One bug, identified
Moss sample, identified
Make camp at large boulder due south of present location. Find the face.
Calculate 36 hours from official end of Monday breakfast and return to cafeteria.
No one seems to know how to figure that last part out — anything that tells time was handed over on our first day, whether it was a phone, a notepad, or a watch.
Shielding her eyes, Rosie gazes at the sun. “Judging from the position of the sun, it’s almost one o’clock in the afternoon,” she figures.
“Evelyn, would you write this message down in your notebook so we don’t forget anything?” Rosie requests.
“Okay,” Evelyn agrees, but from the reluctant tone in her voice I can tell she doesn’t like her secret notebook being mentioned so openly. Just the same, she takes the book out and writes down the message written in rocks on the ground.
After she’s done, Evelyn and Rosie put their heads together — Rosie with the map, Evelyn with the compass — and they figure the best route due south. I don’t know how we’re ever going to find one boulder in a forestfull of them. And what does
find the face
mean? When I ask that question, everyone looks to Rosie for the answer.
“No idea,” Rosie admits. “I’m just hoping this face, whatever it is, will find us.”
Fortunately, it does.
We hike back down into the dense forest once more. Descending isn’t quite as difficult as going up, but it uses different muscles and I find my calves getting sore. It seems we’re walking for a long time.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” I ask, coming alongside Evelyn, who’s checking her compass every few minutes.
“Of course I’m not sure,” Evelyn answers.
I begin to think finding this boulder and this face is hopeless.
“I see it!” Maddie is the first to observe. “Right there.” She points to a large, almost triangular boulder.
I laugh when I see that a sort of face is traced out in moss on the wide, flat northern surface of the boulder. It reminds me of the crater-formed face of the Man in the Moon.
“This is the spot. We’ll make camp here,” Rosie says.
We quickly see that someone from CMS has been here ahead of us. A large blue tarp covers a big black chest. Inside the chest are three .22-caliber rifles, the kind we’ve been practicing with, and three quivers loaded with arrows. There are also six two-person tents that are still collapsed and some pots and a pan for cooking.
Suddenly Erica Felstein gasps. “How come there’s no food in there?” she asks Rosie.
Rosie surveys the rest of the area. “I guess we have to get it ourselves,” she replies.
Erica throws her head back in despair. “I’m so tired and hungry! I can’t find my own dinner! This is horrible!”
“Don’t be such a baby,” Rosie scolds her. “They gave us rifles and arrows. Obviously they expect us to catch our own meal.”
“I wouldn’t be able to catch anything even if I wanted to — and I
don’t
want to,” Erica insists. I’m annoyed by her whining, since it’s already
Similar Books
