“I can sew too,” I said.

“Urh.”

“I made my sister a body for her doll. But our dog ate it.” I was going to ask him if he remembered Little Fawn, but I stopped. I didn’t want to talk about Maisy.

In the slanting afternoon sunlight, sleepiness crept up on me. I put my head down on Carl’s folded wool blanket and began to drift. The wool was itchy under my cheek. I saw Carl bringing the mangy squirrel to his mouth, bite away the last of the red thread. Then I was asleep.

I was there and at the same time I was not there. I could hear Carl rummaging around, talking, chuckling. “Altered the, the, the, urh, current. The tipping point is hidden in the node. Expand the truthful verdict. Only birds know everything, they’re so high up. Can’t see me here, no, can’t see me here.” Then, behind my closed eyes, I saw thousands of birds drifting overhead. Settling onto wires that rose and fell. The creek sparkled underneath them. Carl said, “You, Henry. You’re always grumbling. I can’t understand anything you say.” Blue dragonflies hovered and the birds pelted toward them, fat bullets, strings of yellow electricity zapping from each wing.

I woke up to Girl yelping. Leaves crunching. Something was tiptoeing through the shrubs. The sunlight had vanished, and shadows filled the space beneath the bridge. I sat up. My heart drummed. A pulsing pain increased in my tooth. My neck ached as I craned to see.

It had to be Gloria or Telly. Maisy must have told them about Carl and they’d decided to come find me. I was surprised to sense a wave of joy welling up inside. Even though Carl was my friend, I had to admit that I missed my house. I missed my bike. I missed having a pair of clean socks or crawling into my bed for a nap. I missed that nail clippers were in the top left drawer and I could use them whenever I needed. I missed Maisy and hanging out with Darrell and Mrs. Spooner waving to me from her front porch. I even missed Shar, Darrell’s snotty little cousin, snapping her fingers in my face or grabbing half my Popsicle.

Girl scratched the pebbles with her claws, but she didn’t leave Carl’s side. The noise got closer and she snapped her jaws. I held my breath, waiting to see Gloria or Telly’s worried face emerge through the bushes. But when Girl let out a vicious bark, whatever was behind there bolted away. Branches cracked and leaves tore.

It was just an animal.