From the corner of Faith's eye, she caught a flicker of movement in the trees. She closed her book and studied the forest. Twenty feet from her, she'd thought something covered in brown fur had darted behind a bush. But after a full minute, she hadn't seen it again, so she blamed it on her overactive imagination. At least that's what her mother called it— Faith liked to believe it was a healthy fear of the unknown.

After all, the world was full of mysteries that adults chose to explain away. But not children. They noticed things. Scary things. And Faith had seen more than the average kid. Because of that, creepy tales fascinated her. Stories about aliens, sasquatch, lake monsters, and werewolves helped her cope. Mostly factual accounts but fiction too.

The book in her lap was about a boy raised by ghosts in a graveyard. It was probably too old for her, but she'd always been smart for her age. Which was another reason why she didn't have many friends. But in her defense, girls her age were lame. They only wanted to play with dolls and make-up. And when they did read a book, it was a story about a cute boys or pony. Boring. No. Faith preferred to hang out with her older brothers when they'd let her, especially Jonah.

Before she could reopen her book, Jonah and Logan exited the family tent. Jonah shouted, "We're going down to the stream to look for crawfish."

"Don't be long. Dinner's almost ready," Mom said, stirring the franks and beans cooking on the camp stove.

Logan zipped the tent shut. "We won't."

"I wanna go." Faith jumped from her chair.

"No way!" Logan moaned. He was the middle child of the family and two years older than his sister. "You'll fall in, and I'm not going to fish you out of the water."

Dad set the stack of wood he'd collected next to the campfire and rested a hand on Faith's head. "Your brother's right. Why don't you stay here? You're not dressed to trapse around the woods."

"No. I am. See." Faith lifted the hem on her short yellow dress to reveal a pair of denim shorts. Her wardrobe was another one of her eccentrics. She wasn't a fan of princesses, but she was partial to Belle who loved to read and had the courage to stand up to the Beast.

"I'll keep an eye on her," Jonah said, the oldest of the siblings at twelve. "Come on, Faith."

Mom smiled. "Thank you."

"Fine. Twenty minutes," Dad growled. "And then get your butts back here for dinner."

Logan waited for his parents to turn their backs before he stuck out his tongue at Faith. She returned the gesture. Jonah rolled his eyes at both of them. "Come on. Let's go before we run out of time."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Logan jogged to the trail leading to the river. Jonah was right at his heels.

Faith scrambled after her brothers. "Wait for me!"

"You're such a baby. I hope a bear gets you," Logan said once they were alone.

"Shut up."

"Knock it off, Logan," Jonah said, glancing over his shoulder.

Logan shook his head. "Why do you always stick up for her?"

"Because you always act like a jerk."

"Whatever." Logan sprinted ahead. He stumbled over a gnarled tree root but managed to keep his balance.

Jonah slung an arm over Faith's shoulder. "Don't worry about him. We'll find a big ol' crawfish together."

"Cool."

Branches scraped their tan arms as the pair headed down the narrow path. Faith had to take two steps for every one of her brother's, but she refused to fall behind. Along the trail, the trees were so thick it was twenty degrees cooler than at their campsite. Which was good; Faith had been sweating while reading her book.

After a quarter mile, they spilled back into the blinding sun. The river made a melodious tune as it burbled over sand and stone. It was thirty feet across and chest high at its center. Faith slipped off her shoes and socks and waded into the ankle-deep water at the shore. Squatting a few feet from her, Logan stared into the rushing water. Smiling, Jonah pointed to a still pool near a fallen tree. Faith followed her wiser brother to the calmer waters, though Logan quickly joined them when he realized his mistake.

Jonah pried up a large rock from the riverbed. "Do you see it?"

Faith pointed at the tiny crustacean in the hole. "Can I pick it up?"

"No. You'll let it get away." Logan elbowed her aside.

He shoved his hand in the hole and jerked it out when its pinchers locked onto his thumb. Crying loudly, Logan shook his hand until the crawfish flew off. He examined his damaged finger. Tiny drops of blood peppered the skin. He popped it into his mouth and sucked on it. "Wow, that hurt."

"Now, who's the baby?" Faith smirked.

Logan pulled his thumb from his lips and made a fist. Jonah stepped between them, so Logan had to settle for glaring at Faith instead. He hissed, "Fine. I'd like to see you try."

"No problem. Watch and learn."

Before she could find another rock, the bushes rustled across the river. Faith's eyes jumped to the spot, but she didn't see anything unusual. Just trees and bushes. But she knew she wasn't crazy because her brothers were looking too. It was probably a bird or a squirrel, but Logan had gotten into her head with his bear comment. They were common in the park. Still, if it was a brown bear, they were on the far side of the creek, so they should make it safely back to camp if it did charge them. Should.

Hesitantly, she returned to her search. Under her third stone, she found a crawfish that was twice as big as Logan's attacker.

"Grab it by its body, just behind the pinchers," Jonah instructed.

"Got it." She sank her hand into the cool water. Her forefinger and thumb posed on each side of its plated body. Carefully, she closed them around the crayfish. It flailed wildly in her hand. Six legs and a tail dug in the sand. Its pinchers searched for something to lock onto, but they couldn't reach her fingers. Holding it tight, she triumphantly raised it above her head.

"Great job!" Jonah shouted.

Logan said, "Let's take it back to camp and eat it."

Turning up her nose, Faith asked, "How would we cook it?"

"You boil it alive."

"Gross."

"Nah. We can't," Jonah said. "We need a bunch of them for a boil, and we don't have time to catch more."

Logan frowned. "True."

Happy that it didn't have to die, she knelt down and released her prize. It scurried off to find a new hole to hide in. Faith made a note of its direction, so she could find it tomorrow before Logan. And scare it away. Besides, she doubted her mother would agree to such a gross meal. Unless her dad wanted it too.

The siblings returned to the shore to put on their socks and shoes. Faith found a patch of grass to sit on. But when she tried to slip her cotton anklets over her damp skin, the bushes rustled behind her. What? How did the bear get to this side of the river without her noticing? Stop! She told herself it had to be a squirrel. Or a bird. But that didn't stop the maddening itch from growing between her shoulder blades. So as quickly as her nerves would allow, she wrestled on her socks. However, by the time her shoes were laced up, Logan was gone, and Jonah waited at the trailhead, shifting uneasily from foot to foot.

She bounced up. "Sorry. I'm ready now."

"Good. I don't want to make Dad mad."

They ran up the path. But with each step, an eerie quiet came over the forest, causing the hairs on her neck to stand on end. She swore they were being watched by someone. Or something. Which really bothered her. Their family had camped in this park forever, and she'd always felt safe. Plus, she was only a hundred yards from camp, and her big brother was just five feet in front of her. Yet, the silly feeling refused to go away, so she ran as fast as her short legs would go.

She'd almost caught up to Jonah when she tripped. The same tree root that nearly caused Logan to fall, snagged Faith's shoe. Yet, she wasn't so lucky. She pinwheeled her arms and tried to regain her balance but to no avail. She hit the packed earth with a dull thud. Pain erupted from her palms and knees. Worse, she couldn't call for help with the wind knocked out of her, so Jonah continued to run back to camp, unaware of her accident.

Refusing to cry like a little girl, Faith climbed to her feet to examine her wounds. She had a cut on her knee, and the skin was torn on both her palms. Not bad, all things considered. Maybe, no one would notice. Who was she kidding? Logan would notice and tease her to no end, which she could handle as long as her dad let her go into the woods again without him watching her every move.

Brushing the dirt from her dress, Faith took a limping step back to camp. But before she could take a second one, a rumbling growl erupted from the woods behind her. It was so deep and loud; she almost peed her pants. Crap. A squirrel couldn't make that noise. It had to be a bear. She was as good as dead.

Faith spun around to find a dark figure hidden amongst the leaves. She tried to back away, but her feet were frozen to the ground. A whimper escaped her lips, but no one could hear it. No one who cared. Her brothers were already back at camp. Her mom too.

A hand reached out from the shadows and locked around her arm. Faith finally found her nerve and tried to scream for help, but another giant hand covered her mouth— along with half her face. She fought against her attacker. She kicked and flailed, but her efforts were useless as he dragged her off into the forest.