Wildwood

Prue recalls asking her father why all the maps of Portland have an area marked “I.W.” for Impassable Wilderness. He explains:

There are places in the world where people just don’t end up living. Maybe it’s too cold or there are too many trees or the mountains are too steep to climb. But whatever the reason, no one has thought to build a road there and without roads, there are no houses and without houses, no cities. (14)

Her father warns Prue never to enter the Impassable Wilderness because it is much too dangerous. Prue recollects her schoolmates’ tall tales about people who entered the woods but never returned. Sometimes people hear coyotes screaming from the Wilderness, and now Prue must enter those woods to find her little brother. As she racks her brain, trying to think of a plan, she encounters one of her classmates named Curtis. Like Prue, Curtis is a sketch artist. He likes to draw pictures of superheroes while Prue draws images of plants or birds. When Curtis asks where Mac is, Prue warns him off and pedals her bike home.

Prue believes she can slip inside the house without her parents realizing Mac is gone. She bundles Mac’s soggy blanket into a convincing imitation of a sleeping toddler and immediately puts the lumpy blanket upstairs in Mac’s crib to fool her parents. Waking at five the following morning, Prue gathers food, water, a flashlight, a Swiss Army knife, The Sibley Guide to Birds, an emergency first aid kit, and an air horn.

She attaches Mac’s Radio Flyer wagon to the back of her bicycle and pedals off toward the Railroad Bridge. Suddenly, she hears the sound of footsteps behind her. Curtis wants to tag along. Even though she throws rocks to discourage him, he follows Prue to the middle of the bridge:

“C’mon, Prue,” Curtis said, “let me help you! I’m a good helper’ […] He let his hands fall from his head. “I even brought my cousin’s bowie knife.” He patted the pocket of his coat and smiled sheepishly. (37)

Prue is about to pitch another rock at him when she feels the ground tremble beneath her feet. A train is coming.

Curtis throws himself into the wagon and Prue pedals for her life. With seconds to spare, they reach the other side of the bridge and dive into a patch of scrub brush beside the tracks. Prue’s bicycle wheel is bent, so she abandons it, and the two proceed on foot. When they reach the border of the Impassable Wilderness, Curtis hesitates until Prue tells him that her brother was carried into the Wilderness by crows.

Curtis then decides to help her despite the danger. The children step into the Wilderness and are immediately struck by the beauty of the place. Meloy writes: “Prue stopped and leaned against a fir tree, taking in her verdant surroundings. As far as the eye could see, it was green. As many shades of green as Prue could imagine were draped across the landscape” (44-5).

The two pause to share a bag of trail mix and talk about how to find Mac. Curtis hears voices in the distance. As the children approach the sound, they see a pack of talking coyotes.

Prue and Curtis sneak up on the pack and observe them from an overhang above a clearing. The coyotes are all dressed in military uniforms. Meloy describes: “Some of the animals had what appeared to be sheathed sabers attached to belts around their waists, while others stood leaning against tall, bayonet-topped rifles” (53). The pack’s commandant criticizes his troops for their hopeless attempt to build a campfire.

A breeze picks up, carrying the scent of the children to the coyote soldiers. Curtis is caught and dragged away, but Prue manages to escape. As she debates how to rescue both her brother and Curtis, Prue hears the sound of a car engine. She follows it to a road and flags down an ancient-looking red cargo van.

Richard, the driver, levels a shotgun at Prue until she convinces him to help her. He says that he’s the Postmaster General, and he’s never seen anyone from the Outside before. Prue wants his help to follow the coyotes, but Richard says it would be safer to report the problem to the authorities. They must seek help from Lars Svik, the governor of South Wood.

Richard explains the geography of the place. He says, “[Wildwood] stretches from the northernmost border of the Avian Principality all the way to the border of North Wood. I found you about halfway in the middle of nowhere’” (67). Richard’s job is “to deliver mail and supplies and whatnot from the folks in South Wood to the country folk in North Wood” (67). He says that Prue might be the area’s first pioneer from the outside world.