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you.”
    I had to hand it to him. He got me again.
    I trailed behind my brother as he picked his way along a path leading away from the creek. It was a small, beaten down trail, mainly mud with an occasional rock embedded in it that managed to find the tender spots in the arches of my feet. The path came to a stop in front of a wire fence. It was about four feet high, with one strand of barbed wire at the top. On the other side was a field. There were lots of bushes sprouting up everywhere, and the grass was waist high. It hadn’t been grazed or worked for a long time.
    â€œShould we go along the fence?” I asked, though I knew what was coming next.
    Jack put his foot on one strand of wire, pushing it down while he grabbed the piece right above it, pulling it up. Reluctantly I ducked down and climbed through the hole. I straightened up and tried to do the same for him. The wire was taut and dug into my bare foot.
    â€œPush harder,” Jack said as he wriggled through.
    â€œDo you really think we should do this?” I asked.
    â€œI don’t think the cows are going to mind,” Jack said.
    â€œThere hasn’t been anything in here for a long time,” I said, looking around.
    â€œThat’s why I don’t think they’re going to mind.”
    â€œThat isn’t what I meant. Anyway, I don’t think we should be following those men.”
    â€œWe’re not following them . . . we’re just slowly headed in the same direction, that’s all.”
    I knew that arguing with him wasn’t going to work. Arguing with Jack never worked. I shut my mouth. It was better that we moved without making a noise. Better because nothing could hear us, and I could hear other things more clearly.
    Jack led us straight across the field to a wooded patch. The instant we got into the shade, I felt better. The cover of the trees protected us from more than just the sun.
    â€œDo you know where we’re going?” I asked.
    He motioned with his head. “We’re following that.”
    Off to our left, just barely visible through the trees, was the railroad embankment. We were moving along parallel to it. That was reassuring. As long as we stayed on this route we’d be able to find our way back to the creek when he came to his senses and said we could start home.
    Past the woods was another field, this one much bigger. It had to be close to fifty yards wide, and the grass was beaten down. Whatever was using this field was using it well.
    â€œThat is really something,” Jack said.
    I looked around anxiously. I didn’t see anything. What was he talking about?
    â€œMust be a couple of hundred feet high.” He was pointing up and into the distance.
    I looked up. Towering above the horizon was an antenna, stretching up into the sky.
    â€œWow, it’s gigantic. What is it for?” I asked.
    â€œRadio. What else?”
    â€œIt looks really high. It could get messages from all over.”
    â€œAnd send them.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” I asked.
    â€œThe same aerial that receives radio signals can send them as well. But maybe it isn’t as high as it looks. The only way to tell is to get closer.”
    â€œI don’t think that’s smart,” I said.
    â€œNot smart? I guess you’d be an expert at not being smart. Come on, let’s go,” and he started to walk out from the cover of the trees.
    â€œWe can’t just walk across that field.”
    â€œYou’re right.”
    â€œGood, let’s head back and—”
    â€œWe’ll go around it,” Jack said, cutting me off. “Do you want to go to the left or the right?”
    I didn’t want to go either way, but at least to the left was the familiar outline of the embankment. “Let’s go left.”
    Jack took the lead again. The trees gave way to bushes and shrubs. We picked our way through at the very edge of the field. As long as there was