ers day, tort ec for miles around and every living creature stops to look and listen. t guns of ing season startled and put t. Scouts fanned out along ts or s, listening for trudge of men seeking out deer, p, turkey, grouse, rabbit, fox, or black bear. Sometimes ters brougiful— mottled pointers, featters, blueticks, black-and-tans, retrievers. t along every pat.

    My great fear in setting out alone is ting up ray or er, rail and surprised us at rest in a sream of flaseetinct, scrambling toy of a bramble t. itride ook in retreat, t. ttle cry, and o tangle of topped at t, confused and whimpering.

    But on ter day, t, ttered curse, or t of tantly cretcte to a piner. Poaco ing season, er ness of trees gave o bareness, to bitter cold, and o listen for  out  of fallen leaves, or in rees. e did our best to become unseeable, as if  exist. t or dripping- days e from tense boredom of ant fear mingled  of November.

    Back to back to back in a triangle, Igel, Smaolac c ed noto do  since t day years before rying to speak s of footsteps approac. tepped into a meadoience  t seven or eigo please. tgun, ready to fire. t and ao carry as ruggled out of tcs and billed caps  to listen to tion in tillness. itice and concentration over to decipheir speech.

    quot;Im cold,quot; said the boy.

    quot;Itll toug found ;

    quot;e  even seen one all day.quot;

    quot;t ;

    quot;Ive only seen tures.quot;

    quot;; said t;aim for ttle buggers .quot; ioned for to follo into the shadows.

    quot;Lets go,quot; said Igel, and o trail t a distance.  our second sucop, I tugged on Smaolachs sleeve.

    quot; are ;

    quot;Igel t;

    e moved on, resting again whe quarry paused.

    quot;One ; I asked.

    quot;A c;

    tous route along empty pat said more tained an uncomfortable silence, and I could not understand erest at all. to a green pickup parked on tepped into t of truck, ttered, quot;t ake.quot; Igel scrutinized tensity, and as truck pulled ae numbers, committing to memory. Smaolacent on e ruminations.

    quot;rack t do you mean, ;

    quot;to burst.quot; Smaolacudied the darkening sky.

    quot;You can smell it coming.quot;

    quot; is o do?quot; I yelled. Up aopped in racks and ed for us to catch up.

    quot;; Igel asked. quot; does your stone calendar say?quot;

    Ever since t day ial. quot;I dont kno;

    inued. quot;Ive been looking and ing since you arrived, and its my turn no boy may be to for t green truck. If you see it again, or t me knoo scer, brot me kno;

    quot;Of course I ;

    o  up tterly freezing rain began to fall, and I ran t fes to escape from being drenced by Igel and Lucer on sucery nig of time claustrop. to tunnels, and  along in til I sensed thers.

    quot;; I called out. No ansive muffled sound.

    I called out again.

    quot;Go a; It was Béka.

    quot;You go a. Ive just come in from t;

    quot;Go back t;

    I tried to reason ;Let me pass by, and Ill sleep somew;

    A girl screamed and so did ;S my damn finger.quot;

    quot;;

    Speck sed out in t;Just go, Aniday. Ill follo.quot;

    quot;Vermin.quot; Béka cursed and let  in to tinging rain gattened it against , and ted on our eyelasreamed doood still, unable to say anyto eaco explain or apologize, but rembled and eettered. Grabbing my o ter of anotunnel. e cra of t not in t stand t tructions. Speck took it all in  speaking a word.

    quot;Squeeze out t er from your ; s;It er t op dripping do;

    quot; does ;

    quot;Im cold,quot; s;and tired and sick and sore. Cant alk about t;

    quot; did  ing since I got ;

    quot;. o c boy.quot; S. Even in te ser t to alloter sense of her presence.

    quot;I dont understand o go.quot;

    S my naiveté. quot;t to youngest. Igel makes all ty, and s to go next.quot;

    quot;;

    Sed in ;I dont know.  one ;

    quot;Youre kidding.quot; t;;

    quot;ill you please let me sleep? e can figure t in t;

    In talked at lengt tory of te it all do t I can do is re-create from memory  day, e to begin  knoory and could merely summarize or speculate. Still, I ion ructing memories.

    t my good friends could one day leave profoundly saddened me. t of cers, in fact, constantly revolves, but so sloime t t players. Igel , folloeentury. Onions arrived in t decades of tietury, and Cs  influenza epidemic of 1918. Besides myself, Speck olen as a four-year-old in t Depression.

    quot;I  younger t of t; s;Except for to take unless very young. And ake babies. too mucrouble.quot;

    Vague memories stirred ts. wins before?

    quot;Lucc you. Youre ttom of totem pole.quot;

    quot;And Igel ing for urn for a ;

    quot;o bide ime. Noion of suc caused o s  a tree trunk, feeling  a constant t, but occasionally I alloo dream of leaving ted, Speck ed, drawing in air as if each was a chore.

    quot;So ; I asked.

    S;;

    I noticed t e ser  to look for a replacement as we searche boy.

    In gloters, t front read OSCARS BAR, and alone in t beers green pickup. o its bed and rode, undetected by to t in try. Sion, ser t nigion in  in motion our reconnaissance and assigned ss of teams to co learn ts and s. ructed us to pay close attention to ter and demeanor.

    quot;I  a detailed account of ers? Uncles or aunts? Grammy and Gramps? Does  sort of games does ime activities? Find all to kno ionss. reat o daydream? to  by ;

    I transcribed ion book and ake sucask. Igel ood in front of me, glaring do my scribbling.

    quot;You,quot; ; a complete record. You are to be ell Aniday  come pestering me ail. ory is complete, you can tell it. t perfect cory. Find me a ne;

    Before I sa as if I kne t er ation of o plot out , er years of mere self-preservation and maintenance, try and devotion to task bordered on tic.

    I o c t I rarely boto look for  is by c  all.   front. From my  observation cion in te-glass reet, ed ransparent.

    tle-broly to ime ed tairs  ired of tered over to to pump and pull o tered. I c ion, content to play alone until  a eraction baffled me. Parents and cake sucs for granted, as if there is an endless supply.

    s forgotten me completely? ter me t long-ago morning surely o go see ers one day soon. Perer unate bastard from topped, and ts in tipped by to t sorry for t cural order. ure ep tohe line for me.

    ts ement nor alarm as a student, and o be almost invisible. Ragno and Zanzara, tic for monted t aside from peas and carrots, te anyte milk  on rubber ss, and spent a lot of time in tc let one knooo, up to tretced t o play outdoors in a sandbox by t up an elaborate tableau of small plastic dolls in blue and gray. tisfied to go on living life as it is. I envied him.

    No matter ered o . e  of paper in McInness book, and one more dispatc only be a e of time, but a e of precious paper as racted, and burdened by ties of leaders to  ty of freedom. oic disposition co a general peeviso dinner once  under her eye.

    quot; o you?quot;

    quot;t son of a bitc me, and all I asked  I meant ready to go, but all I meant ;

    No one kneo say to her.

    quot;I cant  till ired of t;

    I stood up from tormed to confront   to be found in o trance, but no anso spy on t be found, so I spent several il caring at ion in ter.  I forgot my anger and quietly crouched down beside him.

    quot;Igel? Are you all rig; I addressed ter.

    quot;Do you remember,quot; ;your life before t;

    quot;Vaguely. In my dreams, sometimes my fater, or maybe t. But no, not really.quot;

    quot;I  sure I kno;

    quot;Speck says t only one ending for us all.quot;

    quot;Speck.quot;  out ;S as foolis;

    quot;You s. It will ;

    quot;I o be rid of suc  to talk to you, Aniday. .quot;

    ood up, brus from t of s, and walked away. I hoped he would disappear forever.