Navigating Early

Early can’t find any more ones; there are a lot of zeroes, and the numbers are changing color, but Early insists they must keep looking for the Great Bear, as she is a mother, and a mother’s love is fierce. The boys find more paw prints, but there are also traces of blood, and Early says it looks like the zeroes, “Liquid and red” (223-24).

Early takes the lead as they follow the bear trail. They come across an abandoned logging camp, but one of the shacks appears to have been recently inhabited. Early examines the place and insists they must follow the bear further north. The terrain gets steeper and more rugged, which Early insists is right, as the numbers are getting harder and bumpier. The boys decide to find a rock to sleep under and split ways. Jack’s path leads him to a prehistoric-looking gorge with large stone slabs and pools of water; a waterfall pours over the top of the gorge.

Jack sees a flash of red behind the waterfall and follows it, realizing it is Early’s jacket. He finds a path with footprints leading behind the fall and into a series of dark, stone caverns. Jack realizes Early has been looking for this place, paralleling the catacombs from Pi’s story.