19

The sky was evening blue, brighter than we expected. The stars weren't out. The moon was, but it could have just as easily been the sun, as the light was still so strong.

'We made it out!' I said, laughing.

'Thank God!' Ema said, more relieved than happy.

I stopped the bike. Ema hopped off and then I did too. We walked up the street, looking at the houses.

'I knew we were close,' I said.

'I know where we are,' Ema said.

'Me too, one sec.' I pulled the map from my knapsack, and spread it over the handle bars.

'We must be, hmm, in Lennoxville.' I said, pointing to the map. 'The path turned south, about here, I think, and we travelled, uh, ten kilometers, maybe. So that means we're right about—here! See here? No wait. Do you see, Ema? . . . Ema?'

I looked up, but she was gone.

'Ema?'

She was running up the street, way ahead of me.

'Where're you going?' I yelled.

I didn't know what she was running towards. Houses surrounded us. Maybe she'd gone nuts. Maybe she was so hungry and tired that she saw a mirage of a hot-dog stand or something. Our adventure was pretty exhausting. She shouldn't have chosen to come, willy-nilly. It takes careful planning and a certain, tough kind of personality.

I watched her run, without going after her. Eventually she ran onto someone's driveway, up to their door and rang the bell. Then I realized: she was asking for help. I couldn't believe it. We weren't in that much trouble. Chris was fine. Besides, who'd she think she was? This was our trip, that she invited herself on, practically. And now she was ruining it. The whole point was to make it on our own.

I ran to stop her. But by the time I caught up, Ema was in the middle of what seemed to be a friendly conversation with the homeowner.

'Hi there!' I said, as I approached the door. 'How are you?'

They both looked at me.

'Ema, who is this woman you're speaking to?'

'This is my Aunt. Aunt Mary, this is Lawrence.'

'Oh! Nice to meet you.' I responded. 'You're not the Aunt who lives in Stittsville?'

'Yes, I am. Nice to meet you too, Lawrence.'

'Hm, I thought we were in Lennoxville.'

'Oh no,' she said, 'This is Stittsville, my dear. Lennoxville is ways away. What are you two doing here?'

I smiled but my heart fell. Stittsville? We'd gone North, a huge detour. The path must have looped up. This would kill the guys. It wasn't really my decision to change paths. It was Chris's. I just wasn't paying attention.

Anyway, Ema seemed unaware. She just went on with the conversation:

'We biked,' she said.

'This far!' Her aunt said. 'How do you plan to get home?'

'I know, I'll explain later. It's . . . We're tired and starving—we're out of food, besides trail-mix . . .'

'It's good mix,' I mumbled, but Ema's aunt spoke over both of us:

'Come in, come in. I'll fix something to eat. Bring the others. Where are they hiding?'

'They're far,' Ema said. 'But we'll get them. Thanks so much, Aunt Mary. See you soon!'

Though I wanted to be independent, the crew needed a lift. This would be it. Besides, it's fine to get a warm meal on a long journey from a friendly house. Ask any adventurer. It's practically requisite.

We walked to my bike. The baking heat of the day had given way to the breezy warm of evening. Goosebumps spread across Ema's arms. Her tiny, black arm-hairs stood on end. I untied my sweater from my waist and gave it to her. She thanked me, and, for some reason, mounted the front of my bike, in rider's position. So I stood on the back, in passenger's.

Ema started biking. Standing behind her, my chest hovering over her, I caught her scent. Ema's deodorant had given way to her body odour. The smell was faint. Just enough to whiff when I got close. We didn't talk on the ride. I held on tight, standing over her. I felt lusty and lunge-y. Although her odour was a bit sour, in a way, it was sweeter than any perfume. More inviting. More intimate. My eyes on her back, her eyes on the road, I had to fight some awfully beastly instincts.

When we returned, Matty and Chris were sitting around the fire. They seemed relieved to see us, though I wasn't thrilled to see them. In a way, I had forgotten about them. It took a moment to readjust.

Ema hopped off the bike, and ran to Matty. She hugged and kissed him, and then ensured Chris was okay. She told them both how we were close to her Aunt's house. They were overjoyed. She was overjoyed. I'm not sure why, but it felt that they were competing against me, and had just scored a point.

'Your Aunt's house?' Chris said.

'Yup!' Ema said. 'Very close.'

'So, then, where are we?'

'About that,' Ema continued. 'The path, it took us off course.'

'Off course?' Chris was pretty worked up. I think hunger was partly to blame, since the bag o' trail mix sat empty beside him. That he nearly drowned moments ago couldn't have helped either.

'Unfortunately, we've been going in the wrong direction this whole time,' Ema said.

'That's it, I'm out,' Matty said. 'This trip has been one bad time after another. It's stupid. It's dangerous. It's pointless. I am out.'

I was too tired to fight back. A little convinced, too. I mean, Chris had nearly died. My ankle was busted. We were way off course. And Ema completely ruined our dynamic.

Finally, someone defended the trip. Ema of all people: 'Come on, Mathew, let's have dinner, and then figure it out. My Aunt said she could drive us to Lennoxville after we eat. There's campground there. Once we're in Lennoxville, we should only be a day from the treasure.'

'When did your aunt tell you that?' I asked.

'Right after you left.' She said, easily. 'Come on, guys. Let's go.'

Ema stood up and turned to me: 'Oh, and thanks again.' She took off my sweatshirt and handed it back to me.

'No problem,' I said, putting the sweatshirt on. It smelled like her. Here and there, for the rest of the summer, I would smell it, sometimes even when I wasn't wearing it, just to see if the scent remained. For a while, it did.