Silver River Shadow by Jane Thomas

Author:Jane Thomas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Junvenile
ISBN: 9781838181345
Publisher: Books & Bicycles Press
Published: 2022-06-24T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

Playing with Fireweed

As the bus pulled into Kenora, Lizzie felt strange.

“I think I’ve been here before,” she whispered to Bobby.

“You can’t have been, you’ve never left the States before yesterday! Maybe it’s deja vu? That thing you get when you feel like you’re re-living, but you aren’t really. It’s just your brain working weirdly.”

Lizzie was unconvinced. Maybe she’d explained it badly. It wasn’t that she’d ever stood in front of that bus station before or looked at that row of shops or walked along that long curving walkway by the lake. It just felt familiar in a way that was right, as if she belonged.

“It’s like I’ve come home,” she said quietly.

“It’s like you’ve gone mad,” he said back. “More important, I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”

Lizzie winced a little, hurt by him brushing off her feelings like that, but she followed him into the store and watched as he gathered up supplies.

“Bikes,” Bobby said firmly as they came out.

“Yup, bikes,” she agreed.

It was the only way for them to get to the lodge. Bobby had read about an abandoned logging road – that was going to be fun to bike… – that they’d need to find after they’d reached Grassy Narrows on a paved road, and he’d marked on a map where he thought it must go. Lizzie figured she’d trusted him so far, now would be a bad time to stop. Now that they were so close. Well, just under seventy miles.

Bobby reckoned it would take two days for them to get there so they rented the bikes for four days. Lizzie insisted on a red bike, just like the one she had at home. She loved the big wicker basket on the front and the shiny silver bell that gave a satisfying ‘tring tring’.

“That’ll help keep the bears away,” Bobby said.

Lizzie looked horrified. “There’s bears here?”

“I was just joking,” Bobby lied. “Honestly, cross my heart, no bears. They’ve all gone north.”

It sounded like he knew what he was talking about so Lizzie believed him. She climbed onto the bike and wobbled out of the parking lot: it turned out cycling while wearing a heavy backpack wasn’t that easy.

Bobby set off at a steady pace and soon realized he was leaving Lizzie behind.

“You go in front. It’s your adventure, after all. Your great-grandparents’ lodge,” he told her. That protective thing coming in again. Lizzie’s face was set in concentration as she wobbled slowly past him and set off into the shadows of the trees.

The path wound around endless miniature lakes. Close to Kenora, Lizzie saw families playing in the water: children shrieking as they leapt from a giant inflatable unicorn, mothers slapping sunscreen onto wriggling toddlers, fathers kicking balls and letting their sons win races to reach the ball first.

Lizzie remembered how Dad used to play with her when she was very small, how she’d spent hours in the little trailer behind his bike before she’d finally learned to balance a bike herself and, pedaling furiously, could just about keep up with him.

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