Michael Malone - Weebly

In Polly's previous, solitary explorations she had
entered the woods from the south and had hiked
directly north. Now, following Miss Dingley's
instructions, she and Luke found the old Indian path
running west toward the marsh, the path Ernest Ransom
had learned about from his father and his great-uncle
William Bredforet. The path still left its impress on the
land, but with each generation it yielded more footage
back to the dark forest. Luke and Polly slipped in the
damp undergrowth and had to crawl over fallen trees.
They had talked only at the outset. Both exhilarating
and hard work, the hike took their full concentration.
Finally, Luke asked if Polly hadn't invited Joy to
come along. He had just been theorizing to himself that
his fascination with Joy Strummer was no more
personal than his fascination with the movies, and that
his physical attraction to her was not even one particular
to him, but a response publicly shared by all his male
friends.
Out of these thoughts, and his desire to push
through the silence, and curiosity about what Polly felt