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Episode 2
- Starting out on Sentinel Trail
- Agnes was up early. Hiking the Palisades trails could be hard work, and she wanted to make sure everyone had enough fuel to last until lunchtime. Ham, bacon and cheese omelets, toast and fruit should provide a sensible start, she reasoned.
- After studying the trail maps, Agnes thought it would be best if they hiked a moderate trail in the morning when everyone was fresh, including Mike, enjoy sandwiches for lunch and then walk along one of the paved trails in the afternoon if Mike and the twins were up to it. Otherwise, she and Mort could tackle one of the more advanced trails while Mike and the twins could go back to the cabin for rest and play. She hoped they could end their trip with the Sunset Trail before heading back home tomorrow evening.
- Mort and Mike awakened to the bacon and coffee odors wafting up to the second floor bedrooms.
- “Top o’ the mornin’ to ya, Aggie,” Mike greeted Agnes, in the fake Irish brogue he liked to affect every once in awhile.
- “Top o’ the mornin’ back at ya, Dad,” Agnes responded in rather poor imitation.
- “I’m famished!” said Mort from the top of the stairs. “Smells like breakfast.”
- “Well, it should,” Agnes replied, winking at Mike. “I’ve been up hours and hours already, slaving over this hot stove. Would you please wake up Mal and Mel, let them know they’ll miss breakfast if they don’t make it snappy? We’ve got some serious hiking to do today.”
- Before the twins came downstairs, Agnes showed Mort and Mike a park map with trails she marked 1, 2, 3 and 4 as suggestions for morning and afternoon hikes on both days. “What do you think?”
- Neither Mort nor Mike had read much about the park, so they both said “fine.”
- Agnes rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. “Leaving all the details to me, eh?”
- After breakfast, they headed off to the Sentinel Trail. Agnes picked it for their first morning hike because it was described as being a bit steep but only a little over a mile in length. Even if we go very slowly, she thought, we should be ok because we should be done well before lunchtime and the heat of the day sets in.
- Rufus leaped out of the car as soon as they opened the doors at the trailhead. Not being very disciplined, he tugged and pulled on his leash, causing Mort to tell him in a very stern voice that he either settles down or gets left in the car. Rufus didn’t exactly understand Mort’s words, but he seemed to get the idea that he was in danger of missing out on a lot of fun if he didn’t behave.
- Agnes got out the trail map. “It says here that there are caves and sinkholes, so we need to keep close together and stay on the trail. I was thinking that Dad and the twins should be in the middle, and Mort and I at the front and back. Mort and Rufus can lead the expedition, and I’ll be the caboose. Mort?”
- "Well, they say it’s better to be the lead dog, right Hon?” Mort was happy to be in front, where he could assess the difficulty of the trail and let Rufus run ahead on his long leash while Agnes could keep a watchful eye on his father and the twins. He would have preferred starting out on a less-strenuous hike, but agreed with Agnes that the easier trails should be left for the afternoons.
- Crossing the arched bridge at the trailhead, the family entered a new environment, a real forest wilderness. Rufus was eager to get on with it, panting and straining at the leash that Mort kept grasped firmly in his left hand.
- The trail didn’t seem all that difficult, so they walked leisurely through the green lushness that surrounded them. The adults pointed out interesting plants and insects to the twins and allowed them plenty of time to investigate whatever piqued their curiosity.
- Rufus, in typical dog fashion, weaved from one side of the trail to the other, covering at least twice the distance as everyone else. Mort let out more of the leash, hoping Rufus would expend even more energy and eventually settle into a less-frantic pace.
- Eventually the trail got a bit more rugged, but still not overly challenging for any of them.
- “How are you doing, Dad?” Agnes asked Mike.
- “Fine, just fine. It feels good to get out of the “urban jungle” once in awhile,” Mike replied. My exercises are paying off, he thought. Good thing Mal and Aggie weren’t aware how out of shape I was.
- “You’re doing almost as good as I am, Dad,” Mort said with a smile. “Rufus is quite a handful.”
- “Mal, Mel, how about you?” Mort asked.
- “Doing great, Dad,” Mel answered.
- “Yeah, this is really neat!” said Mal.
- Wooden fences marked the trail boundary in steep drop-off areas.
- “Hold onto the handrails,” one or another of the adults warned as they climbed or descended wooden stairs leading to another level of the trail.
- A Cave, a Dog and some Bats
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- “According to this map, we should be coming close to the Bat Cave,” Agnes reported, as she traced their route on the map.
- Agnes' map-reading was right on target. Within a minute or so Mort came upon some steps leading down to what appeared to be a small entrance to a cave.
- "That must be it," he said, pointing downward.
- "Let's go down there!" Mal exclaimed.
- "It looks fairly small," Mort cautioned. "But sure, let's take a look."
- Now Rufus wasn't exactly a chicken-dog, but he wasn't at all interested in using the wooden steps to get down to the place where the cave was. Mort decided to let him find his own way down and let go of the lease while the humans carefully made their way down the steps, each holding onto the wooden handrail.
- Rufus easily found his own way down and was busily sniffing around the cave area when they all reached the bottom.
- "Can I go inside, Dad. Just a little way?" Mal asked.
- Mort stooped down, couldn't see anything immediately threatening like a bear or a deep hole, and said "ok, but just to the entrance, absolutely no farther."
- Mal stooped down to take a look before venturing in. Rufus, noticing the interest in the cave, sped by father and son and raced into the cave.
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- A Dog, a Boy and a Woods
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- Before anyone knew what was happening, Rufus flew out of the cave, yelping. He streaked past everyone and disappeared into the woods.
- "What...?" "Did he get stung by a bee?" "Where...?
- A rustling sound came from within the cave and several bats flew around near the entrance to the cave before settling down again.
- "Oh, no. Do you suppose he got bitten by a bat? I didn't think these were vampire bats," said Agnes.
- "I don't think Rufus was in there long enough to get bitten," said Mike. "Besides, wouldn't there have been some kind of warning to visitors if they were vampire bats?"
- "We've got to find him!" Mal shouted as he ran in the direction where Rufus took off.
- "Mallory Joseph Maloney, you get back here this instant," Agnes called after him. Like parents everywhere, Agnes tended to use her children's full names when exasperated.
- "Mal, stop right where you are. Don't go any farther. Rufus won't get lost. He'll be back right away," Mort called out.
- Mal, of course pretended he couldn't hear his parents. He was afraid Rufus might get lost, since he knew that Rufus wasn't exactly the smartest dog in the whole world, and finding Rufus was the only thing on his mind.
- After running at full speed for a few yards into the dense wooded area, Mal slowed down and focused straight ahead, trying to see any movement that might be Rufus. The only sound he could hear was his own breathing and twigs breaking under his footsteps.
- "I'll go get him," said Mort. "Wait here."
- "Be careful. We don't want you getting lost too. That boy's getting a real talking to when you bring him back," said Agnes.
- "Rufus...Rufus. Where are you, Rufus? Come here, Rufus. I've got a nice doggie treat for you." Mal figured Rufus wouldn't remember the promised treat once he came back to Mal.
- "Mal. Where are you? Mal!" Mort called as he tried to follow where Mal had run.
- Mal didn't hear his father's call because he suddenly saw Rufus about 25 feet ahead and just to the right, the end of his long leash caught on a small branch of a fallen tree.
- 'Rufus!' Mal shouted. "Stay right there. I'm coming."
- Oops
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- Mal was so intent on freeing Rufus that he didn't see the sinkhole separating himself from Rufus. The loose ground gave way at his right foot and Mal, losing his balance, found himself flat on his back at the bottom of the sinkhole. Fortunately, it wasn't very deep, not quite four feet from the surface, and the ground was fairly soft so he wasn't hurt. But he could barely breathe and couldn't call out, as his breath got knocked out of him.
- "Mal!" Mort called, his voice more stern. "Mal. Why don't you answer me?"
- Woof.
- "Rufus!" Mort also saw the leash caught on the branch and, like father like son, didn't see the sinkhole.
- Fortunately, Mort was able to regain his balance before tumbling into the sinkhole as his son just did. Looking down, he saw Mal lying on his back, eyes wide and mouth open as he struggled to regain his breath.
- "I found them both!" Mort shouted back to the others. Then he sat down at the edge of the sinkhole and let himself down. Mal was still lying on his back. His stunned look fading as he finally was able to gasp some air into his lungs.
- "Son. Don't move. Don't try to talk. Just nod your head. Are you hurt?" Mort feared for the worst, but hoped his fears were wrong. How long would it take to get his son medical help? Did he break a leg or puncture a lung?
- Mal quickly recovered his breath and, in a quavering voice, told his dad that nothing hurt, that he was alright. Mal's fear was that he was going to be punished and have to stay in the cabin with Grandpa the rest of the trip.
- "Did you see Rufus?" Mal asked.
- "Yes, Rufus is fine. He's not going anywhere with his leash caught on that branch. Here, let me feel your back. Does it hurt here? or here? How about your chest? Do you think you can sit up?"
- Mort tried to ask all the questions he could think of before allowing his son to move.
- "I'm fine Dad. Really. I just couldn't breathe for a little bit, Mal answered. He felt relieved that his father appeared to be concerned, rather than angry.
- "Ah, so your fall knocked the wind out of you. Bet you were pretty scared, weren't you?" Mort asked.
- "It was kinda weird, but I'm ok now," said Mal.
- Mort understood. "That happened to me once when this big kid ran into me in the playground. He was so scared when he saw me laying on the ground, he ran away.
- "Well, we'd better climb out of here, rescue Rufus and get back to Mom, your Grandpa and sister."
The Rest of the Trail
- "Young man. You're in serious trouble," Agnes said to Mal when they got back to the bat cave clearing, dragging Rufus, who obviously didn't want to go anywhere near the cave.
- "I'm sorry, Mom. It's just that Rufus..."
- Mort interrupted. "Hon, Mal found a sinkhole. Like the ones described on the map. They can be pretty dangerous. Good thing Rufus didn’t fall into it.”
- “Did you examine Rufus? Did you see any kind of bite mark?” asked Mike.
- Whew, Mal thought. Glad they’re thinking about Rufus. Maybe they’ll forget about me running after Rufus.
- Mort replied, “We knew you were worried, so we ran right back here. We didn’t take the time to look.”
- “He sure doesn’t want to go anywhere close to the cave, Dad,” Mel observed. “There’s something in there that scares him.”
- Agnes thought a moment. “I wonder. Dogs have really good hearing. That’s why they make such good hunting dogs. And, they can hear sounds that we can’t. High-pitched sounds.
- “Don’t bats send out signals so they can hear echoes bouncing back from insects when they come out at night looking for food? I guess that’s also why hundreds and hundreds of them can fly around in that small dark cave without bumping into each other. We didn’t hear any bat squeals, but Rufus probably did when he disturbed their sleep.”
- “That seems to be a pretty good explanation, Aggie,” said Mike. “We can inspect Rufus once we get back up to the trail. And how are you, m’boy?” Mike asked Mal.
- Oh no, Mal thought. Don’t ask anything about me! “I’m fine, Grandpa.”
- “From the looks of your shirt, it seems you had a tumble. Are you sure you’re alright?”
- Agnes noticed the dirt and leaves sticking to the back of Mal’s shirt as well. She was relieved that Mal appeared to be unharmed, as he was walking normally, no limping. The relief turned to annoyance at the shirt stains that would resist her best efforts to remove. On the other hand, she thought, I suppose ‘boys will be boys.’
- Please click HERE to continue reading.
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- LINKS: BOOK 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION TO THE BIOFABLES SERIES
BioFables 1 Teaching Brief
BioFables 1 & 2: Word Counts, Reading Levels
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