Mia shakes her head, embarrassed. “I don’t know. But something. Imani, any ideas?”

Imani nods firmly. “We should say a prayer.”

We bow our heads.

“God, we want you to know that Anthony Meeks wasn’t bad, not in his heart. He did stupid things sometimes, but please forgive him. We do. We forgive him. Amen.”

“Amen,” we echo.

We trudge along the river for an hour and then make camp. Rigging the tarp, making a fire, boiling water, sharing a meal. There’s not much talk, and no joking around. We can feel him back there, under the stones, tugging at us with an invisible rope. Reminding us what happened. Asking us, without words, that we never forget him.

We never do.

Day Six

37. Between a Scream and a Crying-Out

The next morning, things change. Not only that we’re escorting a prisoner. The river itself is changing, straightening itself out. The curves are no longer tight and crazy. The high ravine walls get lower and lower until finally we’re hiking at river level, with a forest of aspen trees running right up to the water’s edge.

And the rain has stopped, at least for now. The clouds remain low and dark, with tendrils of mist that reach almost to the ground. It’s a great relief not to be showered on, or drizzled on, or pelted by a downpour. We’re all feeling better, excited to think that our rescue might be around the next slow bend.

Mia is in an especially good mood. “When we get back, I’m never eating freeze-dried anything ever again. Everything fresh!”

“Know what I miss most?” Imani says. “Breakfast cereal with cold milk. Honey Nut Cheerios, they rock the bowl.”

“Cinnamon Toast Crunch!” Just the words make my mouth water.

“What about you, Deke? What food do you miss?”

He keeps trudging along, not saying a word. I have to hurry to keep up with him.

“Deke? Earth to Deke?”

He turns to look at Imani. “Don’t pretend you care. I’ll be a good little boy, I won’t fight the rope. But we all know that when we get back home, you’re going to tell everyone that Tony was my fault. I’m the bad guy, you’re the heroes. That’s your story.”

Mia says, “Deke? Take a chill pill. We might surprise you.”

“Whatever. Let’s get rescued. Let’s get this over with.” He charges ahead, dragging me along.

We cover a couple of miles like that, before Deke stops to drink from the river. A few minutes go by before Mia and Imani catch up. But it’s not like Deke is trying to escape. Like he says, he’s in a hurry to get it over with, whatever shame or punishment is coming his way.

The way he’s acting, sneering at himself, I’m pretty sure he thinks he deserves it.