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civilization.”
    â€œWhat does that have to do with this?”
    I stopped and pulled on her arm. “I’m just saying I’m not a complete idiot. I did listen to dad.” Not a complete idiot. Maybe a total idiot, though.
    â€œWhat’s that?” I said, pointing off into the forest.
    Sara saw it, too. “What was that?”
    We stared at each other for a moment, and then both searched the forest again for movement. I was sure it was the same “thing” I saw cross the road.
    â€œMaybe it was a deer?” Sara offered.
    â€œDeer don’t walk on two feet,” I said, shaking my head.
    â€œWhat about the bear?”
    â€œBear don’t walk on two feet either.”
    â€œI saw them on the Discovery Channel,” she said. “They can stand on their back feet.”
    â€œStand, yes. But not walk. Or run.”
    All I could think about was the story Danielle had told us last night. The Hobgoblin. But that was just a story. A story meant to scare us. Well, I didn’t want to mention this to Sara, but I think it was finally starting to work.

11
    We had been going in a straight line for some time when Sara stopped suddenly.
    â€œWhat now?” I asked.
    â€œI have to go to the bathroom,” she whispered.
    â€œGo behind that tree,” I said, pointing to a smaller one a few feet away.
    She hesitated and did as I told her. She kept talking the whole time, though. Will we get to the road soon? How far are we from the road? I tried to answer her questions, but I had to admit to myself that I didn’t know.
    To Sara I simply said, “Not far, sis.”
    Her disposition had changed when she rounded the tree. She had a smile on her face.
    â€œWhat?” I asked.
    â€œI had to go a long time ago. Now which way?”
    â€œThere,” I said, pointing down a small hill. “Wait.” I held Sara back with my hand. I whispered, “Look.”
    Just down the hill a ways was a creature moving through the grass. It was dark brown with lighter brown along the sides. It looked like a short little bear with a fat tail, with ears like a beaver.
    â€œWhat is it, Ben?”
    The animal stopped at a stump and ripped it open with its long claws. Then it stuck its nose in like an ant eater and shoved aside the rotten bits of wood.
    â€œI don’t know. But it looks mean.”
    We watched the beast for a while, frozen in our own tracks, until it moved into the thick underbrush and vanished.
    At that very moment I wished we had let Lucky come along. But did I tell Sara that? No!
    â€œLet’s go,” I said.
    We didn’t walk far when I saw a ball of fur ahead barely above a patch of tall ferns. The fur was as black as night and was moving slightly.
    I held Sara’s hand. “What’s that?”
    Then I realized that she was shorter and probably couldn’t see it, even though it was only about twenty yards away.
    Suddenly it rose above the ferns.
    Its huge head swiveled about, sniffing the air. Its long arms dangled down like wilted tree limbs.
    Now Sara could see it.
    She gasped.

12
    â€œA bear!” Sara screeched as loud as she could.
    With that, the bear dropped to all fours and crashed off into the forest in the opposite direction.
    Sara had a tight hold of my arm.
    And, I’ll admit right now, I was more than scared. I had never seen a bear that wasn’t in a zoo cage—fat and lazy. But this one...this one looked hungry enough to eat the both of us and still have room for berries for dessert.
    My heart raced.
    Where did it go, I wondered, searching the forest in every direction. Would it come back? Maybe it would sneak up behind us and smack us with its big paw, knocking us both out cold. Then it could eat us alive. I was thinking all of this. What did I tell my sister?
    â€œYou scared it away, Sara,” I said. “I knew that big mouth of yours would come in handy some day.” I tried to laugh, but