“It wasn’t really the way Chris made it out to be. I blew up the bunkhouse with five or six of them inside. The other two were in the barn where they had Chris and Joel tied up. One almost ran into the spear. The other one I shot with a flare gun.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, wow,” said Tom. “I didn’t really think about it at the time. I just didn’t have much choice.”

George had the same look on his face that Oscar had shown earlier, a mixture of intrigue and awe, but he put it into words. “I guess we’re all wondering what we would’ve done in the same situation. I like to think I would’ve done what you did, but who knows?”

Again, Tom was struck by the fact that they thought he was brave or a hero, when he didn’t feel like he’d been either.

“Yeah, well, the truth is, I’m not even sure I’d do it again. None of us knows, not until it happens.”

George accepted the point but Kate said, “No, Tom, I think you’d do it every time. You might not know it, but it’s who you are.” She smiled mischievously, adding, “I mean, if you did it for Joel, you’d do it for anyone.”

“Maybe.” But he was grateful for her mild teasing, grateful that Kate also seemed to think no less of him for what he’d done.

It was left at that and little by little the camp settled down again. The only real difference was the dog, which various people fussed over, though it always came back and sat next to Tom. Julia had never let him have a dog, but he was glad for this one now because, for all the bad things that he’d done back at that camp, at least he’d also done this one good thing too.

CHAPTER 42

Tom was woken at first light by the dog growling. He opened his eyes, saw that same stained-orange sky hanging low overheard. The dog let out a bark and growled again. Tom heard one of the girls, half-asleep, saying, “What’s he barking at?”

Tom thought of the men from the camp and jumped up, but the dog was facing the river, growling, running forward toward the water before retreating again. He stood, rubbing his eyes even as the others were also getting to their feet.

His first thought was something in the water, a caiman or anaconda, but as he approached he couldn’t see anything, and in fact, the dog seemed to be focusing on the opposite bank. Tom stared over there, but again could see nothing at all.

Tom scratched the top of the dog’s head and he calmed for a moment and settled by him, but then jumped and barked again.

Kate was nearby now and said, “What’s he barking at, Tom?”