Chapter 8: Lightstorm
When he awoke again, the sun had already gone down. Even though he was on Greenland-time sunrise and sunsets, somehow seeing the night sky made him feel like he had totally wasted his day. He had only about fifteen pictures, including his throwaways of the back seat, and one field injury to account for this side trip. His lack of productivity had left him feeling rather disappointed. In his dread he decided to see if Kate was coming up the rope yet.
After climbing out of the helicopter and looking down the hole, he realized he couldn’t see or hear her, and it occurred to him that he would be stuck there for an unknown amount of time while he waited. This made him nervous. By now he had gotten hungry and wished he hadn’t eaten that apple back at the wolves’ den. He checked around the helicopter for his lunchbox, but remembered that, in his haste that morning, he had forgotten to pack anything in it. In fact, the only reason he had the apple at all was because he had put it in his pocket a couple of days before and forgot to take it out when he didn’t eat it. Fortunately, he did find Kate’s lunchbox, but he didn’t feel right taking her food without asking.
After a few minutes of deliberating the state of his stomach, Jake decided he would at least see if she had packed something inside that she wouldn’t miss. When he opened her lunchbox, he discovered that it was empty. Immediately he thought that she must have come up for lunch while he was asleep. It would’ve been the only time she hadn’t wakened him all day.
Lightstorm Page 11