-c- 2008 Mcgraw-hill Ryerson Limited | FREE · 2025 |

“Wedged inside a cairn of stones. Two hundred kilometers north of Baker Lake.” August tapped the compass. “The needle doesn’t point to magnetic north, boy. It points to wherever Tivon’s last camp was. I’ve tested it.”

Elias sat down beside him. The sun was setting over the hayfield, turning the grass to gold. A normal sun. A normal field. -C- 2008 mcgraw-hill ryerson limited

At the bottom of the valley, beside the black river, stood a cabin. Not old—ancient. The logs had been hewn with an axe, not a saw. Moss grew thick on the roof. One window was broken. The door hung open. “Wedged inside a cairn of stones

But that was a question for another summer. It points to wherever Tivon’s last camp was

“You’re not my mother,” he said.

He did not shoot the thing. He did not run. He walked forward, past the woman who was not his mother, past the threshold of the cabin, and out into the valley. He walked to the black river. He took the brass compass, wound his arm back, and threw it as far as he could into the dark water.