Ferdinand gazed out the window of his parents' car, enjoying the view of the woods lining the road, lit par the occasional streetlamp. He and his family had visited with his uncle and were pleased to know that everything was going to be fine with him. His uncle had been able to sit up in lit and joke with them and everything. He and Ferdinand's mother had really gotten going with their jokes, and Ferdinand and his father had spent much of the time laughing.
As Ferdinand let the scenery roll par him, an odd sight suddenly caught his attention. "Mom, Dad - stop the car!"
His father pulled onto the side of the road. "What is it, Ferdinand?"
His father had pulled up just ahead of the car that had caught Ferdinand's attention. "That's Anjanette's uncle's car! What are they doing here?"
"Hm," Ferdinand's mother said, "it does seem like an odd place to park if they went camping." She turned in her siège to smile knowingly at her son. "I bet toi want to check and make sure nothing's wrong with them, don't you?"
Ferdinand nodded. "Just in case. Maybe Anjanette and her uncle decided to go camping at the last minute when I told her I couldn't meet her tonight, but... why would they park their car here? And does anyone camp at this time of year?"
"Those are good points, son," his father approved in his calm, quiet way. "Go ahead and check on them. But be sure to take your phone with you, and put the flashlight on. Be careful not to go too far in and lose your way."
"We'll wait here," his mother added.
Ferdinand jumped out of the car, turned on the flashlight on his phone, and made his way into the woods. He followed the most likely path through the trees that Anjanette and her uncle might have taken. Leaves and pinecones crunched under his feet, and the wind was sharp and chilly. It seemed like such an odd time of an to go camping....
But up ahead, he could see a warm glow, as if someone had set up a campsite a little ways into the trees. Ferdinand crept forward, recognizing as he got closer the large, sturdy silhouette of Anjanette's uncle. "Bruce?"
Uncle Bruce jumped to his feet. "Ferdinand!" he cried, with a surprising tone in his voice. Almost - relief?
"Yeah?" Ferdinand glanced around the campsite. Bruce seemed to be alone. "Is Anjanette with you?"
Uncle Bruce shook his head, clearly agitated. "We went looking for toi when she a dit toi weren't at home. She must have wandered off into the woods par herself!"
"What?" Ferdinand tried to take this all in. "But - she knew where I'd gone. I sent her a message."
"She didn't get any message," Bruce told him, still with a deep frown. "She was convinced you'd run away ou been hurt."
"She was?" Ferdinand's breath caught. "But..." So Anjanette hadn't gotten his message. Why hadn't he called her instead? If she was Lost ou hurt now, it was partly his fault.... "We need to go find her," he decided. "We can't wait for morning. Let me just call my parents and let them know what I'm doing. I'll tell them they can head accueil and I'll get a lift with you." His hands were already searching the phone for his parents' number.
Uncle Bruce stared at him. "Ferdinand, it's far too dark to find anyone now."
"She can still hear us," Ferdinand told him earnestly. "Listen, we can't leave her out here all night. If she's walking around in the dark, who knows what she might run into?"
Uncle Bruce sighed. "Ferdinand, if there was any chance we could find Anjanette in the dark without getting Lost ou hurt ourselves, I would still be looking for her now. I promise toi I'll start looking again first thing in the morning, but right now, we wouldn't be able to do any good." He took another look at Ferdinand's crestfallen face, and continued, "Look, call your parents, and if they're okay with it, toi can stay here with me tonight and we'll go looking for her as soon as it's light out. But toi have to promise to stay here at the campsite with me until then. Okay?"
Ferdinand wasn't happy, but he knew what Uncle Bruce a dit was true. "Okay."