Chapter 4
Alittle rain didn’t dilute the color palette of the Dub-Dub forest that Chris, Teddy Roosevelt, and I walked through two days later, after school. Wasabi-green frills dotted the tops of several sawed-off tree stumps, likely cut down after damage by February’s ice storm. The reddish bark of cedars shot upward from beds of darker-green sword ferns and shamrock-shaped oxalis that lined the roadside and hiking areas. A rust-orange dwelling was reflected upside-down in one of the placid, turquoise duck ponds that spread out below us, as the road we were on rose up into the foothills. It literally smelled like spring.
Suddenly, Teddy lunged after a ground squirrel that burst from the bushes and crossed the pavement right in front of us. He gave a yelp, and I hung onto his leash like
