He stalked away.
Sahalia watched him go, then started after him.
I thought she was probably going to beg him to take her along.
I didn’t think about it too long, because Mr. Appleton said, “Now, if you kids will please go to your school area, you may each write a letter to your parents for Robbie and me to deliver.”
I was throwing away the remains of our meal when Alex came back. He held a small storage bin with some electronics in it.
“Can I show you something?” he asked me.
“Of course.”
I was happy he was even bothering to show me anything. We weren’t getting along like we should be.
Alex took two video walkie-talkies out of the bin. One of them had an extra-long antenna attached and some extra wiring, all held together by some blue electrical tape.
“It’s a video walkie-talkie but I amped up the transmitter with this antenna,” he explained. “I’ve been testing it and, so far, it works pretty well in the confines of the store.”
“That’s cool,” I said. “Are you thinking we could use it as, like, an intercom?”
“No,” he said. “I thought maybe Mr. Appleton would take it with him. That way we could see what’s going on outside.”
Again, again, again, like always, I was bowled over by my brother’s brilliance.
“That’s incredible, Alex,” I said. “That’s such a great idea. They’re going to love it.”
He went off to show it to Niko and Mr. Appleton.
I sat down to write my letter to our parents.
I tried to tell them what had happened to us. I wrote that Alex and I were taking care of each other and that I’d make sure to keep him safe, no matter what.
I had to do a better job of that.
But it’s hard to take care of someone who doesn’t want or really even need your help.
Mr. Appleton and Robbie came to the Kitchen with Niko and Alex a little while later.
I had seen the four of them in the bicycle aisle. They had picked out two sturdy high-end mountain bikes. Now that their success was linked to our dreams of finding our parents, we wanted them to have everything they wanted. They could take the whole store, if they wanted. Just get us our parents back.
“Dean,” Niko said. “Have you given some thought to the food we can send with these guys?”
I had.
I had a plastic storage bin filled with stuff:
2 boxes of granola bars
1 box protein bars
2 bags trail mix
4 cans RavioliOs
4 cans of beans
1 bag of dried beans
1 bag of rice
1 box instant oatmeal
2 jars of instant coffee
1 box powdered milk
I had also set out four gallon bottles of water and six liter bottles of Gatorade. I don’t know, that seemed like the most they’d be able to carry.
“You guys can take as much dog food as you want,” I offered.
Robbie shrugged.
“Luna does pretty well for herself,” he said. He seemed down. He was looking at the floor.
He didn’t want to leave. That was clear.
Mr. Appleton started rummaging through the plastic box.
I went over to Alex.
“Are they going to take the walkie-talkies?” I asked him.
“Yeah! They thought it was a great idea. Mr. Appleton said I am very ingenious.”
His serious face looked proud.
I put my arm around his shoulder and kind of gave him a hug. He shrugged it off and went to stand next to Niko.
They were best buds again, I guess.
I tried not to care.
Mr. Appleton lifted the tub, and seemed okay with the weight. Going through it, though, he discarded the RavioliOs.
“Do you have any beef jerky?” he asked me.
“Sure,” I said. And I turned to go get it for them.
“I’ll go with him,” Robbie said.
Robbie and I went back toward the snack food aisle.
“I feel like I can trust you,” Robbie said to me, putting his hand on my shoulder. “I’m in a bind and I don’t know what to do.”
“What’s wrong?” I said.
“Craig wants to leave right away. But I don’t think he’s well enough to go.”
“I know that Niko had said you guys could stay at least another day,” I said.
“Yeah! And now Craig wants to go today. He wants to go right now and I’m just not sure he’s up to it.”
We had reached the jerky and he skimmed his hand over some packs.
“I think he’s afraid he’s gonna die. He wants to try to get to Denver before he dies.”
Robbie turned to me.
“I think the longer we stay, the better. I mean, I want to get your letters to your folks. I do. But I don’t know what kind of chance we have with him the way he is.”
I had to agree.
“I feel really bad, Robbie,” I said. “But I don’t know what to do. Truthfully, I think before we all knew about Denver, most of us would have wanted you to just stay. Like forever.”
Maybe it was too much to say that. Maybe I had crossed a line, but I felt bad. To have to go back out there after everything he’d been through, when it was safe in the store and we all wanted him to stay. It was rough.
“But I also have to say”—and this was the truth in every way—“if you can go to Alaska and find our parents, you would be our hero forever and ever.”
Robbie sighed.
“That’s true,” he said. “I would like to help you kids.”
When we got back, Niko was helping Mr. Appleton pack up two large-frame backpacks and two bicycle saddlebags. I saw on the ground two small camping stoves—the kind that are just a can of fuel and a metal thing that goes on top. Also two thermal sleeping bags—the very thin space-blanket kind. And a bunch of matches and some Ziploc bags. Ponchos, flares, camping stuff from the Sports Department. Alex’s video gear was in a heap next to the clothing. Most key: a Ziploc bag containing a list of our names and our letters.
Niko and Mr. Appleton were methodically packing the stuff up.
“Mr. Appleton, I was just wondering.” I had to try, on Robbie’s behalf. “I mean, it’s fine with us for you to spend some more time here. We all want you to make it to Denver with our messages, why don’t you just wait until you feel a little better?”
“I have already discussed this with Niko,” he said stiffly.
