Page 32 of The Boy Who Cried Bear
“He left. I didn’t think about where he might be going. I just wanted to play my game. Mom came in just after that and said she was having a drink before dinner. Max and I were supposed to meet her at the Roc at six thirty. I didn’t set an alarm or anything. I knew Max would be in by six—that’s the rule. So I went back to playing my game, and the next thing I know, Mom’s there, saying we’re late for dinner and asking where Max is.”
“And you said?”
“That I didn’t know. Which is true. I wasn’t hiding anything. Not then. She didn’t ask when I last saw him, and I figured it didn’t matter. I said he wasn’t at home, and she took off to find him.”
“What did you do then?”
He shrugs. “I put away my Switch and got a sweater. Then I was hungry—I hadn’t noticed that because I was busy playing a game. I found some bars in the kitchen and ate half of one before I went out to help Mom look for Max. I was mad. I wanted dinner, and he was being a baby, running off and hiding because I hurt his feelings.” He sneaks a glance at me. “That’s what I was thinking.”
“So you helped look for Max.”
“I checked some spots he likes. Then I heard Mom yelling at Gunnar and Yolanda. Mom never yells like that, so I went running over. She was saying they were the last ones with Max. At first, I thought that was good—they’d seen him recently. Then I realized she meant they saw him before I did. They asked whether he could have gone home, and Mom said no, I was there, and I never saw him.”
“Ah.”
“She must have figured I’d have said if I saw him, but I honestly didn’t mean to hide anything. She came home and asked where Max was, I said I didn’t know and she took off. Then she was telling everyone I hadn’t seen him, and I … I didn’t want to make her look bad.”
And make himself look bad. Risk his mother’s anger when she found out he hadn’t told her the full story. I get that, but I only say, “Okay.”
“At first, I thought it wouldn’t matter. I was mean to Max, and he took off and hid somewhere. Everyone was sure he was hiding, so what difference did it make why he’d hide? Then I started wondering whether he might have gone into the woods to look for his Bigfoot, but by then, you guys were back and Sheriff Eric and Storm were already searching the woods.”
“What made you decide to come tell us now?”
“I … I had a dream and…” He tugs at his collar, as if it’s suddenly too tight. “It was about something bad happening. With the Bigfoot.”
He’d had a nightmare. Once he fell asleep, his subconscious poked at his conscience. That’s why he came running over. He woke in a panic and ran to tell us the truth.
“Does your mom know?” I ask gently.
His gaze drops, and he whispers, “No.”
“Okay. Let’s talk about how we want to handle this.”
* * *
Carson and I agree that I’ll tell Dana what happened. That’s not as much about saving Carson from the experience as making sure it’s conveyed correctly, which I suppose is still about saving Carson from an experience—that of breaking down in a puddle of guilt and self-recrimination that will panic his mother even more.
I relay the situation to Dana succinctly. Max thought he saw the bear-man again. Carson figured he was imagining it. They argued. Max stormed out, and when he went missing, Carson presumed he was hiding because of the fight.
Dana is upset, of course. Carson should have come forward. This is vital information. But I make the case for it being less vital than it seems—we were already searching the forest. The only difference now is that we know why Max might have gone into the woods.
I leave Carson with his mother to work it out. Then it’s time to call a small breakfast meeting because this really does put a different spin on the situation, more than Carson could have guessed.
Max went into the forest to get a better look at his bear-man—the creature that, at the time, we all presumed was a bear. That’s bad enough. But after what the miners said, we’re pretty damn sure it wasn’t a bear at all. It was a person, and that is so much worse.
CHAPTER TEN
Another staff meeting. This time, remembering how Yolanda felt being excluded from the last, my initial plan is to have all the staff attend. Then I realize that would include Gunnar.
Do I believe he could be involved in Max’s disappearance? No, yet he must remain a suspect, whatever my gut says. I don’t want him at the meeting because I don’t yet have a firm sense of how much I can trust him to keep his mouth shut. And if he’s not there, then I need to comb through the invitee list more carefully. Otherwise, everyone will know he’s been snubbed, which pins the label of prime suspect on his chest.
Dalton and I decide to limit the list to staff who’ll be part of the search teams: Dalton and Anders, obviously, and also Kenny, Yolanda, Kendra, and Phil. Phil won’t join the search, but as the de facto “mayor” he should be there. The doctor should be available whenever possible, so I exclude April. Mathias and Isabel would join the search if prodded, but we aren’t at the prodding stage. As for Gunnar, he needs to stay in town for the time being.
I start by telling everyone about our encounter with the mining-operation leader.
“Does he have a name yet?” Kenny asks.
“Mr. Rogers,” Anders says. “Or that’s what I’m calling him. Because I really wish he wasn’t our neighbor.”
