Heartwood

The narrator (later revealed to be Valerie Gillis) notes that her mother used to call her “sparrow” not only because her mother loved nature but also because “sparrows are survivors” (1). Her childhood with her mother was so idyllic that she did not want to grow up, but she did. She became a nurse and came to a more balanced understanding of her mother as a human rather than an idol.

Lieutenant Bev Miller believes that “any woodsman who says he’s never been lost in the woods is a liar” (3). She has been conducting search-and-rescue operations for several decades and feels that she has a solid grasp on the factors that lead to individuals becoming lost in the woods, as well as the kinds of behaviors that lost hikers tend to exhibit. She is stationed on the section of the Appalachian Trail that runs through Maine, its most difficult leg. Hikers are supposed to put 200 paces between the trail and themselves to urinate, which she cites as one possible explanation as to how the newest lost hiker, Valerie Gillis, ended up missing.

Valerie was last seen on Monday, July 25.