Float

A few days after the lake fire, the boys sit together eating ice cream sandwiches. Mr. Stink approaches Emerson and sneezes on his sandwich just before Murphy disappears. While he is gone, the boys brainstorm how to save him, but Emerson keeps his idea to himself for now, knowing Gary will not like it. Zeke points out that Mr. Stink always sneezes 10 seconds before Murphy disappears, which gives them a small but useful window in which to act. The boys agree to focus on helping Murphy with his life list so that he will not notice them trying to save him. Murphy returns, and his friends cheer him up by bringing him to a bridge and jumping off into the lake. On the way there, Emerson quietly fills Hank in on his plan to stick Murphy to Gary. Hank agrees that it could be a good idea, though Gary if Gary agrees. At the end of the chapter, Zeke writes a letter to his parents, who are vacationing in Germany.

The Red Maple boys check more things off their life lists and keep trying to find ways to save Murphy. They also do regular camp activities, like a yoga class with the Monarch girls. Emerson’s mother writes him letters that say she hopes he is not too homesick, but Emerson knows he is happier than he has ever been. He dreads leaving camp and returning to his stifled life. He tells his mother little about his adventures. The cabin prepares for a two-day camping trip in the woods in their final week of camp. Eli ensures that they all have the accommodations they need for their RISK factors. He tells them he’s struggling because today, “his arms [are] only about half their regular length, giving him the appearance of a gangly T-rex” (172). As they leave, they run into the Monarch cabin, and Hank quotes Shakespeare to Kirsty who gives him a ribbon from her hair.

They hike a long way into the woods before finally reaching their campsite. Eli gives them all tasks: Gary and Emerson have to hike a short distance away and dig the latrine. Neither of them enjoys the experience, but they do get a moment to bond. When they return to the campsite, they realize that they have left the shovel in the woods. Emerson reluctantly goes back alone to get it.

Emerson finds the shovel just as a future version of Murphy appears. This Murphy is frantic and Emerson notes that “the skin on his face [is] stretched tight over too prominent bones, and he [has] the musky smell of someone who [hasn’t] bathed in weeks” (185). Murphy asks what year it is and whether Emerson knows him. He gives Emerson a cryptic message: “After it happens, don’t let the TTBI find out that you talk to those four guys. They tell you something that sets off an awful chain of events that I don’t have time to explain right now” (186). Emerson is confused, but Murphy disappears before he can clarify any further.

Shaken, Emerson returns to the campsite, having forgotten the shovel again. Frustrated, Eli asks Gary to get the shovel, and Gary calls Emerson a “RISK reject” as he storms off—a pejorative term for kids with RISK factors—and Emerson is hurt. Everyone cooks and eats dinner as Emerson thinks about his meeting with the future Murphy. Sometime later, Gary still has not returned. Emerson and Hank go and look for him, and Emerson tells Hank about Murphy’s cryptic message. They eventually find Gary with his pants down and his hand stuck to a tree. The only way to unstick him from the tree is with corrosive acid. Hank goes to retrieve it, and Gary apologizes to Emerson for what he said. Hank returns with Eli and the acid. Eli pours it over Gary’s hand, burning his skin but unsticking him from the tree. The experience makes Emerson more sympathetic to Gary’s plight.

Eli wakes the boys early the next morning to fish for their breakfast. The boys talk about life lists again, and Hank explains that every time he crosses something off his list, he adds something new, because “the point is to never finish. To live a big life” (201). Murphy feels scared because he believes he now has less than a week to live, so the boys try to distract him by asking about his list. The next thing he wants to do is lasso a pig, which they think will prove challenging. The boys go for a swim and then hike to their next campsite. Along the way, they briefly meet up with the Monarch cabin, and Emerson gets a chance to talk to Molly. She’s nice, and he finds her easier to talk to than he expected. The boys arrive at their new campsite, and Eli sends them to a nearby farm to draw water from the well. On the farm, they spot several pigs, and Hank drags Murphy over so he can try and lasso one.

The boys arrive at the pigpen, which is full of mud and pig poop. Murphy decides to lasso a small pig, so Hank helps him tie a length of rope into a lasso and teaches him how to throw it. Murphy misses and accidentally lassos a much bigger pig, who panics and drags Murphy across the pigpen. Murphy eventually lets go of the rope as his friends rush to help him, only for the pig to charge back across the pen, stepping on Murphy’s back in the process. Besides some hoof-shaped bruises, Murphy emerges from the experience unharmed. The boys have a mud fight in the pig pen, and all of them get completely covered in mud and poop just as the farmer arrives. The boys apologize for disturbing the pigs and leave the farm.