wrinkles He felt naked without it especially since he had lost the bet a week earlier Zach was a great baseball player Even as an eighth grader the Varsity coaches had scouted him on a few occasions He was a shortstop and a pitcher A rocket for an arm After practice Zach Logan and three other players had been tossing the ball back and forth Out of nowhere Zach called out I bet all you fools I can throw twenty strikes in a row Logan and the other players looked at each other What are the stakes Logan asked I’ll tell you what Zach said You guys don’t even have to worry about it If I don’t throw twenty in a row I’ll buzz my head If I do throw twenty in a row we go to McDonald’s after school tomorrow and you guys buy It’s a win-win for you Deal Deal Logan said I can’t wait to see that bald head of yours Logan got behind the plate crouched down into a catcher’s position and yelled All right Throw em in here baldy Zach stood on the pitcher’s mound staring into Logan’s glove He breathed in deeply calming his nerves Another deep breath And another He blocked out all distractions The other players yelling at him the traffic on the busy street adjacent to the baseball diamond the cool spring breeze chilling his bare arms Nothing mattered but the leather target in front of him He began his windup Strike one Strike two Zach threw nineteen strikes in a row It came down to the last pitch Another deep breath The windup The ball zipped through the air Zach watched as Logan’s glove moved slightly to his right It missed the plate by about an inch He
made no argument A bet was a bet Zach went to the barber the next day His hat now securely on his head Zach sat suddenly somber staring out the window of the school bus Minnesota’s north woods flickered by The repetition of the emerald trees mesmerized him Shaded by the forest Lake Superior loomed in the distance the water stretching to the horizon Logan turned around to face Zach again towering over the top of the seat He had a long thin face with small narrow eyes Zach teased him often about his disproportionate facial features He kept his tight curly blond hair trimmed neatly His sideburns were perfectly groomed into small rectangles Zach had labeled his haircut a halfro We just passed Two Harbors didn’t we Logan asked Did you talk to your dad Are you gonna try to see him while we’re up here Zach had battled his mood swings since Chris disappeared but Logan had always seemed to be there to try to pull him out We aren’t going to be in Two Harbors How would I see him Zach said not taking his eyes off the landscape speeding by Logan left him alone Zach had created a force field between himself and everyone else on the bus His eyes stayed fixated on the repetition of the forest He didn’t speak for nearly an hour not even to Logan Zach had been to this area of Minnesota before His family had taken a vacation to Duluth a year and a half ago The north woods and the ocean-sized lake were all too familiar Zach’s brother Chris at eleven years old had been two years
younger than Zach They would have been going back to school in just two weeks Chris would be in fifth grade and Zach seventh To celebrate the end of summer Zach’s mom had said we’re going on a fun family vacation But the adventure turned tragic Zach dodged in and out of tourists as he and his family walked around Canal Park Little kids played in the water fountains jetting out from the brick sidewalks Lake Superior peeked through the rows of hotels in the distance Come on Chris Let’s go he said to his brother beckoning him to the fountains Hey Zach Chris Your dad and I are going to run into that little gift shop to look for a present for your grandparents We’ll be back in five or ten minutes okay Don’t go anywhere Stay right here Zach you’re in charge his mom said Okay Mom Zach called still darting in and out of the water fountain Chris and Zach continued to run and play in the spout Within minutes Chris began gasping for air and coughing Be careful of your asthma Zach warned Go take a break man Chris sat down on nearby steps that led to Little Angie’s Cantina a Mexican restaurant Zach’s family had eaten at the night before Five minutes passed Zach got tired of running so he stopped Breathing heavily he wiped his eyes with the palm of his hand He looked toward the steps where Chris had been sitting They were empty Chris he called his eyes darting in every direction Chris he said again desperately Zach darted up and down the sidewalk searching every corner and every alley for his little brother Chris was nowhere to be seen He was gone Missing
Vanished The police had searched widely turning up nothing No clues Zach stayed with his grandparents when his parents traveled back and forth from their home in Minneapolis to Duluth They made the two and half hour trip at least once a week for a year working with local police and taking time off from their teaching jobs The only results Zach’s parents had were frustration depression and anger Emotions Zach sensed when his parents walked through the door after each trip The fighting between his mom and his dad became depressingly familiar They fought constantly over Chris’s memorial It’s like we’re giving up his mom screamed We aren’t giving up Zach’s dad said I promise I will never give up looking for Chris I know he is out there somewhere Just think of this as a way to pay tribute to him It doesn’t mean he’s gone I will find him But in the meantime let’s let everyone pay their respects It’s what everyone wants I don’t care what everyone wants This is our child Zach heard the argument over and over He never quite understood his dad’s position If Chris was still alive out there somewhere then why bother with the memorial His dad’s famous phrase quickly became We’ll find him We’ll find him Don’t worry It always made Zach feel like his dad knew something he wasn’t telling them It made him curious and it enraged his mom sparking argument after heated argument between his parents One year after Chris’s disappearance the memorial was held He still hadn’t been found and there still were no real clues No one
