Mara would wear their best boots, which were too big for her, over extra socks. A down jacket and lined jeans. The nights were getting cold now. She couldn’t think yet about where she’d sleep, if she had to sleep on the way. She spent the night in Ashley’s arms and rose at first light, before the sun had even struck the lake.

She paddled the canoe alone and hauled it high onto a bank. Navigation was easy; she would simply follow the river upstream. She went barefoot in the crossing and dried her feet with grass before putting back on her socks. She had scarcely walked an hour before reaching the bog, with its sucking mud, but it was less boggy than she remembered, and she found an easy path around.

When she got hungry, she stopped and ate a can of beef soup on a low bluff overlooking the river. It seemed like the kind of place where teenagers might gather, daring one another to jump into the rapids below. Drinking and kissing as they cheered for their friends. The observation surprised her. There was no way she would have thought about teenagers the last time they passed here. She wasn’t quite human then. It worried her almost, being human now, and the worry grew as she walked upstream. As if humans didn’t belong here, and that was why they had to leave.

Mara passed the remains of one fire, and then another on a bed of moss. There she sat down. This was the place they had spent their first night after leaving camp. She must be close. Though there were hours left of daylight, she told herself it made sense to stop and continue on in the morning.

She could feel the proximity of their old camp. It felt like a buzzing in the air. She didn’t know if the trees were different there, or the plants or what, but already the woods were familiar. She tried not to think about it. She found some hen-of-the-woods mushrooms and cut them up and cooked them in a can of pinto beans and it wasn’t bad to eat. Then she put on the down coat and wrapped herself in the blanket and tried to sleep.

She couldn’t. She had grown used to Ashley beside her, and now she was used to a cot. The ground was cold, and it stole the warmth through her blanket. The night was louder than she remembered, and the sounds came close. Finally she turned on the headlamp, just for comfort. The shadows were long and black, but at least she could see.

Mara couldn’t tell if she wanted the morning to come or if she didn’t. But like every morning, it came.

By full light she reached the far edge of their old lake and veered right, into the woods, to visit the crew camp first. The wall tents were gone, leaving patches of dead grass that were already turning back to green.