Sorry for publishing this again, but I decided that the last little bit needed to be in this chapter. Thank you so much for your patience and support!

The boy got an older ranger to come help with the paperwork. I just needed to give a little signature, but the whole process took longer than I expected.

"I'm going to get the papers from my office. You sit here with miss . . ." The ranger started, waiting for my name.

"Heather." I stated, looking up from a cut on my arm.

"Miss Heather. I'll be back in a few minutes." The ranger said, giving me a polite smile before climbing into his utility truck.

We watched him pull out of the crowded parking lot, another car snagging his spot a millisecond later.

We stood there awkwardly until the boy said something. "Um, would you like to sit?" He said, offering the large wooden bench I had just been sitting on.

"Sure." I said tersely.

My legs were sore from tumbling down the hill, so I eased myself down like a robot that needed an oil change. The boy followed me in a slightly less awkward manner.

"Um, are you alright? From the bear, I mean. You've got lots of cuts, but that bear was pretty scary." He said, gesturing towards the cuts and bruises on my hands and face.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Luckily I had my jacket on, it protected me pretty well." I lifted my arm and shook my loose sleeves. "As for the bear . . . I'll be ok. Just a little shocked right now. I'm lucky you were there."

He shrugged, looking down at his feet, which were drawing circles in the dirt. "It's the least I can do. It's my job to take care of Acadia and the visitors."

"You're not a park ranger, though." I stated.

He scowled at me. "Yes I am."

"No, you don't have a badge." I corrected, pointing at his shirt pocket.

"I do everything a park ranger does, and I even get paid for it." He said.

"I bet you're no more of a park ranger than I am." I said smugly.

"Really?" He asked sarcastically, sitting up straight.

"Yep. I did the junior ranger program when I was nine. I even got a sticker badge and an activity packet, more than you've got."

He rolled his eyes. "The girl who litters. A junior park ranger. Makes perfect sense."

"Hey! I thought you had forgiven me for that!" I folded my arms crossly.

"No, just because I rescued you from a bear doesn't mean I forgive you. I still have to clean your mess up." He folded his arms as well.

"You didn't rescue me, I could have gotten out of that myself." I said angrily.

Did he think I couldn't handle myself because I was a girl?

"Whatever." He said, avoiding my angry gaze.

"Hey, you can't talk to me like that!" I pouted.

He waved me off.

I scoffed in frustration. This kid was so stubborn!

I sighed with relief when the ranger's truck pulled up again. He climbed out with a pen and paper in hand, then came over to us and handed them to me. "Just fill out this bottom portion." He said, pointing a shaky finger to the lower half of the paper.

I scratched out my information and signature as quickly as I could then handed it to the ranger. "There." I huffed.

"Thank you, 'mam!" He folded the paper neatly then tucked it into his shirt pocket. "My shift is just about done, Roan. Let's get home and rustle up some grub."

The boy pushed himself off the bench then waved to me. "See ya."

I scowled in return. I never wanted to see that grub-eating butt hole again.

My friends found me pouting soon after. Jaelyn, one of my three buddies, had been soaked from her blonde hair to her Nikes. We decided it was time for lunch and a shower.

We filed into Georgie's blue civic, Jaelyn doing her best to get as little of the seat wet as possible.

"Guess what happened while you guys were gone." I said once we were all settled down and pulled out of the tight parking space.

Lucille turned around from the front passenger seat. "You saw a moose?" She asked excitedly.

"No, I would have preferred a moose," I said.

I explained to them what had happened, elaborating on my encounter with the bear and how rude the ranger boy had been.

The story took up the short ride's duration from thunder hole to Aunt Eleanore's house.

"Wow, that must have been pretty scary, black bears can get pretty big. Is this blue house Eleanore's?" Georgie asked.

"Yes, this is it. It was huge!" I exclaimed as Georgie quickly decelerated, turning right into the gravel driveway.

Aunt Eleanore's house was odd, but not by New England standards. The blue walls of the two-story home were covered in all sorts of lichen, barnacles and ivy. We walked through a small but overflowing garden protected by a white-picket fence to a pink door, guarded by a waist-high, carved wooden lobster holding a wipe your claws sign and sporting festive Easter bunny ears.

The door bell made a loud chiming noise that rang through the house, alerting Eleanore that her long-awaited visitors were finally here.

The pink door swung open, rattling a wreath of brightly colored lobster buoys. Aunt Eleanore smiled widely, pushing her wrinkled, freckled face into the happiest smile I had ever seen.

"Heather!" She pulled me into a bear hug, squeezing me so tight I got a few more bruises on my arms. Her blue and white stripped dress smelled like coleslaw and lemons. "It's so good to see you! You are so big, finally taller than me!"

She pulled away to examine me. "You've turned into such a fine young lady! You look so much like your mother."

All I could do was agree awkwardly. The reference to my mother made me wince. My parents had split up recently, and I wasn't quite ready to talk about her in such a nonchalant way.

"Come in girls! I've got fried cod sandwiches!"

Eleanore ushered us in like little sheep to her warm, lavender-scented home. I normally would feel awkward walking into a relative's house, especially an older one I didn't know much, but her home felt comfortable and relaxed, as if she always entertained guests. To the left of the entrance was a family room with a piano, a flower print couch and a bunny-eared tv playing black and white reruns of I Love Lucy at the perfect volume; loud enough to be heard if you wanted to watch, but quiet enough to not distract conversations. To the right was a spiraling wooden stair case that looked like it had been built much earlier than the rest of the house. The kitchen ahead of us had been hurriedly cleaned: half washed cutting boards rested in the enamel sink and water was splashed across the counter, curling the faux marble vinyl. A table was almost set for us, but the mayo jar and a plate of sandwiches had been left on the wet counter.

"I got the cod this morning from a vendor, right outside the park." Eleanore called out, not looking at us as she waddled into the kitchen to spread mayo on the sandwiches. "not sure 'e had a permit to catch 'em, shifty fellow 'e was. But I got quite the bargain!" She had a deep New England accent, deepening all her vowels and sharpening the consonants that mattered.

I followed Eleanore into the kitchen and my friends followed behind. Jaelyn did her best to keep saltwater off the hard wood floor.

Eleanore chuckled, carrying the sandwiches to the table. "Any who, how's the park been? Seems like your friend could use a fresh change."

"Actually, yeah, could she take a shower?" I asked.

"Of course!" Eleanore beckoned Jaelyn closer then patted her on the back. "Thunder rock, was it?"

"Yes, 'mam." Jaelyn said politely.

"Call me Eleanore. There's a shower upstairs, first door down the hallway. Towels are in the closet. Go clean up. You don't mind if we start without you?"

Jaelyn shook her head. Eleanore patted her back again, crinkling her face into a smile, and Jaelyn headed upstairs as if that had been her cue to leave.

"Let's eat, then we can catch up." Eleanore said, shepherding each of us to a seat. None of the chairs matched; they were all in different styles, colors, and levels of repair. I sat in a green fold-out chair with a slight wobble.

"Thanks for letting us crash here." Georgia said, pulling her tight curls of hair into a bun so they wouldn't get in her food.

"No problem at all. I love seeing family and friends." Eleanore said, adjusting her wide hips on cushioned stool.

We said a blessing before timidly reaching for food. These sandwiches would have cost at least ten dollars each in any New England restaurant; I felt a little guilty eating such expensive food, but Eleanore insisted that we eat as much as we like.

"Introduce me to your friends, Heather." Eleanore said.

"This is Georgia," I pointed to her as she smiled, her dark skin crinkling by her eyes, "Lucille," she nodded, looking up from her sandwich with comically-wide eyes, "and Jaelyn is getting showered."

"It's so nice to get to meet you all. Are you friends from Heather's new school in Boston?" Eleanore asked conversationally.

"Yeah, but Jaelyn's known her since elementary." Georgia said.

"I hear Heather does cross country. Do you three run as well?" Eleanore asked.

Lucille nodded, swallowing before she spoke. "Yeah, Georgia and I met her at practice. Jaelyn runs too. Heather is super fast."

"Oh, shut up. I'm not that fast." I said, smiling.

"State champion freshman year tells me otherwise." Lucille said smartly.

We chatted until Jaelyn had come down from her shower and all the sandwiches were gone. I hadn't noticed it when I was younger, but I realized Eleanore was really funny. She told us all kinds of stories, making us laugh until our heads hurt and our throats became sore.

"A few years ago, Kindle (he's a park ranger here) was gonna go lobstering with a few of the older guys 'round here. His grandson was about ten at the time, so Kindle asked me to stay over and watch 'im. Roan was completely capable of taking care of 'imself, but Kindle didn't reckon how long 'e'd be gone. Better too careful than not enough, that's what 'e always says. Anyways, when I got over there, the fire alarm was going off and smoke was all over the place! I was about to call the fire department when little Roan jumped out at me with a plate of burnt cookies! 'I just wanted a snack!' 'E said before I could reprimand him. Once we got the house cleared out of smoke, I taught 'im my secret recipe for making cookies. 'E brings me plates of 'em all the time, but I can tell 'e's messed with the ingredients. Too much salt, not enough vanilla."

We all sniggered at the story.

The silly boy who had burned cookies-Roan-sounded very familiar, but where had I heard it?

"Hey, who was Kindle's grandson?" I asked once the laughing had settled down.

"Roan. He's a good kid, about your girl's age." Eleanore replied, screwing the lid back on the mayonnaise.

"Is he blonde?" I asked.

Georgie, Lucille and Jaelyn looked confused for a second, then they remembered the story I had told them in the car.

"Yes 'mam, why d'you ask?"

"Well," I started, rubbing a particularly sore bruise above my elbow, "I ran into him today."

"Oh, wonderful!" Eleanore said, collecting our used dishes. "How was 'e?"

"Um, a little grumpy."

"Oh, that's Roan for you. How did you run into each other?" She asked, leaving our plates in the sink to rinse.

My friends and I shared nervous glances. I considered lying to Eleanore about not only littering, but refusing to pick it up and running into a bear, but I couldn't. Not after all the kindness she had shown to me and my friends.

"Um, we got in a fight." I started awkwardly.

"A fight? About what?" Eleanore asked, her eyebrows furrowing with confusion.

"So, um, I threw my sunflower seeds in a bush-which I thought was okay, they're biodegradable-and Roan saw me, then he got mad and said I would be fined, then I ran away-"

"Heather Mary Jones." Eleanore said deeply, crossing her thick arms across her chest.

"Yes?" I muttered quietly, flinching at the usage of my whole name.

"Let's step outside. Girls, please excuse us."

Georgie, Jaelyn and Lucille sent me sheepish looks of apology, as if to say sorry we're here, good luck.

I followed Eleanore out the back door and onto the wooden porch. She made sure the door was thoroughly shut before lecturing me.

"So let me get this straight-you littered, and then ran away?"

I looked down at my feet, feeling extremely guilty. It sounded like a horrible sin coming from her mouth.

"Yes." I muttered, not meeting her eyes.

"Heather, I don't care that much about you making a mess, but I do care that you didn't pick it up, and that you ran away. I thought you were better than this."

It wasn't that bad. What would you have done? I thought, wishing I could spit the illogical words back at her.

"How much was the fine?" Eleanore asked.

"I don't remember. Probably more than I have." I said sourly, but quietly, hoping she wouldn't detect my disrespectful tone.

Eleanore sighed. "No worries; I'll call Kindle and ask 'im."

"What? But I don't have any money! And my parents-no, dad-he'd kill me if he needed to pay a stupid fine!" I said angrily.

"Heather, you can't run from from everything. I understand that it's been hard on you since your parent's divorce-"

I scowled bitterly at the word, enough to make Eleanore's stern face soften a tinge.

"but you can't behave like this. If you make a mistake, you need to fix it."

"What if I don't care that it's fixed?" I barked. "What if I don't care about the stupid sunflower seeds, or that stupid kid, or my stupid parent's divorce-"

"Stop!" My aunt held up her hands as if they could block the flow of angry words. I rambled on until she said it again, waving her hands in the air. "STOP!"

I stood there shaking, my mind cartwheeling with frustration.

"I can't let you finish this trip without paying that fine and apologizing to Roan. My conscience simply won't let me."

"WHAT!" I yelled loud enough to scare a bird away and make my friends look out the window. "No! No way! I am never talking to that stupid idiot ever again! You're not my dad, you can't make me!"

Eleanore scowled again. The angry look on her normally cheerful face made more than a little scared. "Then let's call your father. See if he'll agree."

><><><><><

"We're sorry, but this number is not available at the moment. Please leave a message after the tone."

"He's not picking up." I grumbled, hanging the pink telephone back on the wall. "I'm sorry this is taking so long guys." I called out to my friends.

"It's okay." Jaelyn replied from the family room.

After the argument with Eleanore, I explained to my friends that I needed to call my dad. They were pretty chill about it at first, but as the hour went by, I could tell they were loosing patience. We had a reserved hotel in Bangor, and we had already lost a lot of daylight by stopping at Eleanore's.

"But hurry up." Georgie called out.

"Try one more time." Eleanore said, still standing sentinel by me with her arms crossed. "If he doesn't pick up, we'll just send your friends on their way. They've waited here long enough."

I wanted to argue, but she was right. It wasn't fair to waste my friend's time or money. But if he didn't pick up, I would have to let my friends finish Spring Break without me.

"Fine. Okay." I grumbled.

I dialed my dad's number one last time, praying that he would pick up.

Please please please! I pleaded silently as the receiver buzzed.

After what felt like the millionth buzz, the kind but dreadful voice apologized again. I hung up again, feeling my throat tighten.

"He's probably at work right now." I muttered, trying to keep the cracking of my voice to a minimum.

Eleanore didn't smile or look pleased with herself, which I was grateful for. "That's alright. Let's say goodbye to your friends, then I'll take you over to Roan's."

I had to held down a gag along with a sob. Apologizing to that stupid boy was the last thing I wanted to do. I would rather run a marathon along the Hudson Bay naked and barefoot than talk to him again.

I didn't say anything as Eleanore led the way from the kitchen to the family room, where my friends were watching M*A*S*H on the bunny-eared tv. They turned their heads to us when we entered, ready to hear the bad news.

I sighed. I really didn't want to miss out on our trip; we had been planning it since August. We would entertain the idea of going skiing and finding a hot Canadian boy during our long cross country practices, and we had finally gotten passports and enough gas money to make it to New Brunswick and back. That was all down the drain for me now. My stomach felt like lead.

"He's probably at work, so he won't answer any time soon. You guys can head out now. Thanks for being so patient." I said.

No matter how hard I tried to act cool, my friends could always tell when I was going to cry. All three of them got up and gave me a big bear hug.

"For you girl? No problem." Georgie said.

"We'll miss having you. It won't be the same without Heather!" Lucille exclaimed.

"I'll miss you too." I muttered, squeezing them tightly.

We broke apart, and I awkwardly rubbed my nose on the sleeve of my jacket.

"Hey, don't cry, girl. We'll see you soon. If you can meet up with us, call me on my cell phone. You have the number, right?" Jaelyn asked.

"I've got it memorized." I smiled and pointed to my head.

We hugged again and said more goodbyes. They thanked Eleanore awkwardly for lunch, then filed into the civic and drove off.

As I stood in the driveway, watching the little car disappear into the foliage, Eleanore put an arm around me. "You'll see them again soon." She said, trying to comfort me.

I nodded in agreement, but I wasn't so sure. Something in my gut told me it would be longer than I expected.

"Let's go visit Roan. It's been a while since I've had a chat with him; it will be nice." Eleanore said, patting my back.

I rolled my eyes violently.