A satellite phone.
The monster sucked a breath deep into Arthur’s lungs, stunned, then pushed theONbutton. Nothing. The battery inside the phone must be long dead. The monster all but launched itself toward the trunk and began digging out the few remaining contents, searching for a backup battery, a generator to recharge it,something.
“Whoa, what are you doing?”
The monster held up the satellite phone.“If we can get this to work, we can call for help.”
Eva gasped. “Of course!”
Together, the two of them discarded a tube of rock-hard toothpaste, a bar of soap, a paper-wrapped roll of toilet paper, and at least two dozen more individually wrapped peppermints.
Frustrated, the monster tossed a pair of folded socks across the room. The loudthunkmade the monster jump, and it looked back at the small cotton lump. That had been far too loud, and too heavy as well. It retrieved the socks and folded the cuffs down.
There, protected inside, was an unopened package containing a phone battery.
Eva gasped.
Delicately, the monster removed the old battery from the phone. There didn’t seem to be any leakage or physical degradation inside the battery chamber—a miracle in and of itself. When was the last time Jack had been up here? Would the new battery even work?
The monster chewed on the inside of Arthur’s cheek as it made the swap. Arthur had used phones like these before and knew how to operate them.
It held its breath as it pushed theONbutton again.
A red light flashed, indicating a poor signal.
The monster shoved to its feet and stumbled outside, a furious hope coiling inside it as it blinked the bright sunlight out of its eyes. The storm had cleared the air, leaving a pristine scent of earth and minerals rising off the soil. The monster held the phone up. A step behind, Eva grabbed her makeshift walking stick.
The phone connected.
The monster let out a whoop of joy and tapped 9-1-1.
“It worked?” Eva exclaimed.
“It worked!”The monster couldn’t believe their luck. It would have to deal with the sheriff and the mess of all they’d left behind, but that didn’t matter, so long as it could get Arthur safe and well again. The rest they would figure out together, one step at a time.
“911, what’s your emergency?” a voice buzzed, the connection crackling.
“Hello, can you hear me?”the monster said loudly.“We need help out here!”
“Can you identify your location for me?”
“I-I don’t know. We’re off-trail.”The monster stumbled over its words, doubting itself in a way that felt unfamiliar.
“My dad will know how to find us,” Eva said.
She was right. The monster gripped the phone, desperately blurting out,“There’s a man in the town of Audrey, Pennsylvania, named Jack Moreau. He’ll know exactly where we are!”
The operator’s voice cut out before they could reply. Alarmed, the monster smacked the side of the phone. To its relief, the voice came back in. “Are there any injured in your party?”
The monster swallowed hard.“My friend and I are both hurt. I don’t know if we can make it back down.”
“All right, sir, I’m going to get you help. Just stay with me. Can you describe your location? Any landmarks nearb—?”
The phone cut out again. The monster shook it, then smacked the side, holding its breath. Instead of coming back, the operator’s voice clicked out, and the red light started blinking again.
No signal.
Chapter 30
