Wilder Boys by Brandon Wallace

Author:Brandon Wallace
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

14 With new determination, the boys followed the trail north, hugging the west side of Jenny Lake. They left Inspiration Point behind, just like their dad had said to in his letter. Passing smaller lakes along the way, they eventually headed toward the base of the mountains, keeping off the trail so as not to attract any attention. They scrambled through bushes and up and over rocks; fortunately, the terrain wasn’t too steep. However, the lack of food quickly began to take a toll. Jake had to push himself up even small inclines, and Taylor fell farther and farther back. They had to find a base where they could rest for a while and think of how to get some food.

As they approached the three streams that fed into the lake, Jake heard Taylor suddenly yelp and cry, “Oh, gross!”

Jake spun around and hurried back to Taylor, fearing the worst.

Taylor held up his arm.

Jake expected to see a horrible gash or other wound, but instead his brother groaned, “Jake, a bird just pooped on me!”

Despite the gnawing in their stomachs, both brothers burst out laughing.

“I’m glad it picked you,” said Jake. “Good thing it didn’t hit your head.”

Taylor gave him a glare. “It’ll be aiming for you, next.”

“Go ahead and wipe it off. We’re almost there.”

Taylor bent down to wipe the bird poop off on some lichen, but then paused to study it.

“What is it?” Jake asked.

“Jake, there’re berry seeds in this poop!”

“So what? Let’s—”

Then Jake realized what Taylor was getting at.

“Oh, I get it!” he told his brother. “Let’s keep an eye out. If the bird found berries, there have to be more nearby.”

As they made their way to the spot they’d picked out, they walked slowly, examining every shrub for berries. Soon, Taylor found a bush full of dark purple berries.

“They look like blueberries,” he said. “Didn’t Dad draw something like this in his journal?”

Jake quickly dug out the prized book and flipped to a drawing that showed the exact plant they were looking at. Below the sketch, their dad had scrawled: Huckleberry—safe!

Taylor plucked one from the bush and popped it into his mouth.

“Wow! I’ve just found my new favorite food!”

He and Jake quickly stripped the bush and began avidly searching for others. Soon they came upon a different kind of plant, this one covered with thorns and red berries. Jake didn’t need his father’s journal to recognize this one.

“Raspberries!” he exclaimed.

“Oh yeah!” Taylor said, plucking off a couple of the riper fruits and popping them into his mouth. “Jake, I can get used to this.”

The boys decided to collect as many of the berries as they could, using Jake’s extra shirt as a bag. Jake moved ahead, carefully studying each of the bushes, while Cody and Taylor trailed behind him. They filled half of the T-shirt until they hit a stretch without any berry bushes at all. “Well, I don’t see any more around,” Jake said. “Taylor, what are you doing?”

As soon as Taylor turned around, Jake saw his brother put a glossy red berry into his mouth.

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