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of victory had caused the bear to pause and rethink his next move. Both boys were naked, and the bear was standing on the same side as their clothes and rucksacks.
    “Can bears swim?” said Jem.
    As if to answer Jem’s question the bear stepped closer to the water and pawed at the water, testing its depth and temperature. It then made a few false lunges, hesitating in its decision and tormenting the boys. “We’re trapped.” said Thist, stating the obvious and looking at the high rocks at the other end of the plunge pool.
    “Thist!”
    Thist turned to Jem with a panicked look on his face. “What?”
    “Scream. Scream like you’ve never screamed in your life before.”
    Jem covered his ears and shut his eyes.
    Thist turned; his eyes filled with tears as he focused on the bear, his heart raced as he exhaled all his air and drew breath as if it was his last, for indeed it could be.
    Jem heard the sound of the forest fade and disappear and everything seemed quiet.
    Thist opened his mouth, his lips pulled back over his teeth and his cheeks rode up his face causing his eyes to become narrow slits. A sharp light emanated from Thist’s right eye and then it came, like a sound from the lowest hell, Thist screamed like tortured demon fodder.
    Jem’s body jerked as if he had been hit by lightning, his hands splashed in the water as he tried to stabilized himself. Thist screamed to the extent of one full breath. Jem felt as if someone had plunged two sharp daggers deep into his ears and the points were grinding on each other in the centre of his head.
    The bear reared up and moaned as it miss-stepped, lost its balance and fell forward. The bear landed face down in the plunge pool causing a huge splash. Jem choked and thrashed in the water like a drowning cat. Thist grabbed Jem by the arm and pulled him to the side, letting his arms rest on the rocks as he caught his breath.
    He pushed at the floating bear and it lodged itself in the plunge pool outlet.
    “Are you all right Jem?”
    “Oh no.” moaned Jem, “My head!”
    Suddenly there came a loud splat sound like something soft and wet striking the ground nearby, then another and another. Jem and Thist looked up to see a small flock of geese falling from the sky.
    Jem turned to look at Thist, “You killed them too?”
    “Yes.” said Thist as he pointed to the ground a little distance away. “Look over there, I got those squirrels, those finches and I nearly got you too. I guess if you were in front of me I would have. What do you say?”
    “I say we get out of this forest, and don’t scream again even if I tell you to.”
    Jem clambered out of the water, sat down on a dry rock and held his head.
    Thist held a jar toward Jem. “Have some hum. It should help for that headache.”
    “It sounds like you’re losing your voice.” said Jem.
    “It does, doesn’t it? But I’ll tell you what I haven’t lost, my appetite, and those geese look ready for plucking.”
    Jem looked at the geese. “I’ll get a fire going.”
    In a matter of minutes the boys had goose cooking on hand-held sticks.
    “Man this feels good.” said Jem as he held the pouch of diamonds in one hand and the jar of hum in the other. “Two victories in one day.”
    “Three.” said Thist as he pointed to the bear.

6
     
     
    Jem winced.
    He was just trying to escape out of the back door when his mother caught sight of him. The thought of his mother scolding him again was enough for him to want to become religious. “Maybe I should join a monastery.”
    “What was that, Jem? What did you say?” shouted Jem’s mother.
    “I’m just thinking aloud Mom.”
    “It’s thinking too much that gets you into trouble so often.”
    Jem’s mother had been taking him to task for a week because of his trip to the forest the previous week. He and Thist had snuck out of town in the early hours of the morning in poor light, which was forbidden. They had told nobody where they were going or when they would be