Free A Week in the Woods by Andrew Clements Page B

they’re okay. I don’t really hang out with them much because everybody lives closer to town. But I’m kind of friends with a couple of guys. At school, I mean.”
    â€œAre they nice boys?” his mom asked.
    Mark shrugged. “Sure.”
    â€œFrom nice families?” she asked.
    This was one of his mom’s standard questions, but hearing it this time irritated Mark.
    â€œNice? How should I know?” he snapped. “It’s not like I’ve ever met their moms or dads. Just like none of them have ever met either of you. Who knows? They’re good kids, that’s all. Nobody’s tried to punch me out or anything, and nobody’s got three eyes or two heads. So, I guess they’re from nice families—all right?”
    Mark’s mom and dad exchanged glances, and then his mom changed the subject.
    â€œTell me about this outdoor education week, Mark,” she said. “Anya showed me the information and the copy of the permission slip she signed for us. Are you looking forward to it?”
    Mark nodded. “Kind of. It’ll be better than sitting in classes all day. And the kids I know said their older brothers and sisters had a good time. Ought to be pretty fun.”
    â€œRemember that trip we took to Aspen two winters ago?” his dad said. “Now that was fun! You got so good on those skis, Mark—skied circles around your mom and me. Too bad we missed the ski season up here this year. The snow’s not as good here in the East, and the peaks are kind of piddly compared to Colorado, but I’ve heard there’re a couple good places.We’ll have to do that next year, don’t you think? Be like taking a vacation in our own backyard. I like that!”
    The best part about having his parents around was bedtime. Mark would never have admitted it to Jason or any of the other kids at school, but he loved it when his mom came and sat on the edge of his bed at night. Sometimes she’d take his hand while they talked for a few minutes. And it didn’t matter what they talked about. When she pulled the covers up around him and bent down to kiss his cheek, it was the perfect ending for a day.
    The worst part about having his parents around was how it cut into his time. Mark had learned that he liked being on his own. Leon and Anya had gotten used to having him disappear into the woods or the barn for a whole morning or a whole afternoon. His mom got worried if he was gone for more than half an hour.
    Still, after they’d been home for ten days, Mark felt bad when his mom announced that they had to take a trip to Europe. They’d have to be away for three or four weeks. Mark had been expecting it, but that didn’t make saying good-bye any easier.
    * * *
    Near the end of March the days got longer and the ground dried out some, and it began to feel more like spring. And at school the fifth-graders started counting down the days before their trip to the state park.
    In science class Mr. Maxwell shifted his pre-woodslessons up into high gear. They studied different kinds of trees, different kinds of rock formations, and the way that ice and plants and time can turn rock into soil. They studied how different plants grow at different altitudes, about the way rain and melt water collect to form springs and streams, and about the kinds of animals that live in and around the White Mountains.
    And for the first time science class had Mark’s full attention. Mr. Maxwell was terrific. He knew all this material by heart, but more than that, he loved it. The first week of April flew by, and every day after school Mark went home and out into the woods or up onto the ridge and saw firsthand all the things Mr. Maxwell had talked about in class.
    On Friday, April third, when he got home from school, Mark sat in the kitchen for a snack. After he’d eaten an orange and some Fig Newtons, he got up to take his milk glass to the sink. Anya smiled