The Wild Kid (10 page)

Pete Nelligan, the Preserve Manager, was doubtful. “Nobody but an experienced rock climber could get that high on the sheer rock face,” he said. He speculated that the boy may have stumbled over the cliff in the dark and miraculously grabbed on to a tree and saved himself. For hours, cars passed above him, unaware that a child was trapped there.

When asked how long he was on the side of the cliff, Sammy consulted his wristwatch. “A long time,” he said. “My butt was sore, and I was real hungry.”

The boy was taken first to Chase Memorial Hospital, where he was checked by doctors and declared to be fit, although he'd lost some weight, according to his mother, who was with him when he was released.

Sammy, who has Down's syndrome, disappeared without a trace two weeks ago on a rainy Sunday afternoon. He went out to play and rode away on his bike. When he didn't return home by supper time, his mother called the police, and a search ensued, which quickly became statewide. Four days ago, the governor himself participated in the search. “I have a boy, too,” he said.

Sammy's bike was found three days after his disappearance. Jim Terrance, who lives on Ten Mile Road, was found riding it. He says he found it in a ditch. Sammy says he left the bike, unlocked, in front of Marsden's Market on South Bay Road when he went in to buy a candy bar. “Stupid me. I forgot to use my special chain that Carl got me.”

He says he chased after the thief and, in a series of escalating incidents, ended up lost in the forest preserve. That area of Middleburg State Forest Preserve is characterized by deep gorges and rocky cliffs and is of great interest to geologists and local rock-climbing enthusiasts.

Sammy says he found another boy in the forest, a boy living wild, who took care of him. According to Sammy, they lived in a cave and survived on rabbits and berries. When asked who the boy was, he refused to give his name, but rescuers state that he repeatedly asked for “Kevin.” Despite an extensive search by the authorities, no trace of a “wild boy” was found. Dr. Ruth Hurt, a psychologist, explained that children of Sammy's mental abilities often fantasize and create a safe “world” of the imagination for themselves when they are in difficult situations. “It's a terrific survival mechanism,” she said.

Carl Torres, a friend of the family who participated in the search for Sammy for each of the thirteen days, said, “I don't know about this fantasy stuff, but this is one heck of a brave kid. He went through an ordeal and, look at him, he's got more heart than ten people.”

But questions persist. How could a child with no wilderness skills and who has Down's syndrome have been able to survive two weeks of exposure? Although he lost some weight, the doctors pronounced him fit. Perhaps Sammy's mother, who knows him better than anyone else, was correct when she said about her son, “He's more resourceful and smarter than people think.”

Sammy agreed. “I can do things,” he said.

“What I can't forgive him for is not letting you go that first day,” Sammy's mother said. They were all sitting around the table, his mom and Carl and Bethan, just the way Sammy had imagined, but no Kevin. He kept looking out, thinking maybe Kevin would be coming.

“They were thirteen totally horrible days.” His mom's eyes got all teary. “I thought I'd lost you. Do you remember that I hit you?

“Mom, you don't have to talk about that,” Bethan said.

“Yes, I do. I'm so sorry. Do you still feel bad, honey?”

He shook his head.

“I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come back.”

“I'm back.” Sammy went to his mother and hugged her. He wanted to tell her not to cry. He wanted to say it was not so bad, not all the time. Scary things happened, but mostly it was just things happening to him that had never happened before. “We killed a rabbit,” he said.

“Did you really eat it?” Bethan wrinkled her nose. “How can you eat a bunny rabbit?”

“You can, if you're hungry enough.”

Carl was nodding his head. “That's right. You get hungry enough.…”

“He should have brought you right home,” Sammy's mom said.

“A friend would have done that,” Carl agreed.

“He took care of me,” Sammy said. He didn't like it when his family criticized Kevin. “Kevin is my friend.”

“It was good that he took care of you,” Carl said. “I'll give him credit for that. And he went for help. That was a big thing. A little late on the uptake, but…”

“A
little
late!” his mother said.

When Kevin came, Sammy thought, his mother would find out how good he was. He was only bad sometimes. Not all the time. Sometimes bad, sometimes good. Mostly good. Like Sammy, he was two ways, too. Everybody was two ways. Carl wasn't just one way. Even his mom wasn't always good.

“Just because you're not always good doesn't make you bad,” he said.

Carl and his mom looked at each other. “The kid's got a point,” Carl said. “I couldn't have said it better myself.”

*  *  *

When Sammy brought the folding cot from the garage into his room, his mother helped him move it in. “Your room is too small for another bed,” she said, but the cot remained because Sammy wanted it there. When he woke in the morning, the first thing he did was look over to see if Kevin had come yet.

He had put a string of Christmas lights in his window so Kevin would know which room was his. And he kept the window ajar at night so if he was sleeping when Kevin came, he could climb right in. He knew Kevin would come at night. He didn't like going out during the day.

*  *  *

“All you talk about is Kevin,” Bethan said. “Is he a real person?” She sat down on the cot. “You can tell me.”

“He's real, Bethan. Kevin is my best friend. He's going to live with us in our family.”

“Some of my friends say you made him up. The wild kid! They say it was something you saw on TV.”

Sammy gave a big laugh like Kevin, like K-Man. He made his hands into fists. “Ha-ha-ha!” He pointed to his shoes, the laces tied. “He taught me that. He taught me, Bethan. He held my hands and did it with me a million times. He said, ‘They baby you!' He said, ‘You can do this, Sammy!' And I did it, and—”

Bethan made the time-out signal in front of his mouth. “Okay, okay, I believe you.”

“Wait till Kevin comes. You'll see. He'll tell you himself.”

“Does he know where you live?”

Sammy hadn't considered that. It worried him till he thought of the telephone book with their name in it. “Kevin will call me up,” he shouted at Bethan.

She put her fingers in her ears. “I hear you, Sammy. Does he have a telephone?”

Sammy thought that was very funny. “No! No telephone. No toilet. No TV.” He looked around his room. “No lights. No beds. No bureau. No desk. No chair. No toothbrush. No…no—”

“Time-out,” Bethan yelled. “Okay, he'll call you from a pay phone. What will he say?”

“He'll say, ‘Hello! Can I talk to my friend, Sammy?' He'll say, ‘I'm coming to visit you.' No, not
visit.
Live! He's coming to live in our house, in my room.”

“But you said he lives in the woods.”

“He does, but it's a secret place.”

“Is he there now?”

“I don't know,” Sammy admitted. It was one of his worries. Where was Kevin now? Why didn't he come? What was taking him so long?

Sammy wrote Kevin a letter.

Dear Kevin,

I want you to come. I fixed the room. You have a bed and I have a bed. No sleeping on the floor. I have everything ready. Come soon. Thank you.

Love, Sammy

His mother saw him writing. She looked over his shoulder. Sammy covered the paper with his hands.

Since he'd come home, his mother wanted to know where he was and what he was doing every second. She watched him from the window. But, why? He wasn't going to get lost again. He wasn't going to leave his bike without his special chain. He wasn't a baby anymore. He did things. He didn't have to be watched every minute and be asked about everything.

“Who are you writing to?” his mother asked.

“Private.”

“Private?” She laughed. “I didn't know we had private secrets. Can I see?”

“No.”

She looked at him. “You've changed. You've become very stubborn.”

“I am a stubborn person,” he agreed. He remembered himself on the cliff. The way he'd gotten up there, and the way he'd stayed there and waited. He hadn't cried once. “Don't baby me anymore,” he told his mother.

“But you are my baby. My special baby.”

“I'm almost thirteen years old. I do things. I can make a fire. I can walk in the woods. I'm a great swimmer. I can do things, Mom. I saved Kevin from drowning.”

“I know you can do things,” she said. “I know you can, and I'm proud of you. I'm so glad to have you back.” She hugged him, a big one, and he hugged her back.

Sammy wished he had a picture of Kevin to show his mother and his friends in school. The kids in his class kept saying, “Where's Kevin? Where's the wild kid? We want to see him.”

“When's he coming?” Lauri Bower asked. She was his new girlfriend.

“I don't know, but I hope he comes soon,” Sammy said.

“Are you going to bring him to class?”

“You bet. Boy, oh boy, I sure will.”

“Will there be a party?” Lauri asked. She was pretty. She'd just had her thirteenth birthday party, with thirteen candles, plus one for good luck.

“For sure!” Sammy said. “A party for Kevin.” Kevin had never had a party. “This will be his first party ever,” he said.

“Then he can only have one candle,” Lauri said. And everyone laughed at the thought of a wild kid with only one candle.

Sammy wanted to tell Kevin the joke. He kept saying it to himself so he wouldn't forget. There were a lot of things to tell Kevin when he came, more than he could hold in his head.

So he wrote Kevin another letter. He didn't know where to send this letter, either. The mailman didn't deliver letters to trees in the woods. That was another joke to tell Kevin. He kept the letters in his desk. It made him feel good to write them. It was almost like talking to Kevin.

*  *  *

At night, Sammy would often stand by his window, looking for Kevin, looking to see if he was out there somewhere in the dark. He had the cot ready for Kevin and a pair of big pajamas folded up under the pillow.

Sometimes he talked to himself, the way Kevin would talk. “Trouble, trouble. That guy is nothing but trouble. I'm waiting for him. And where is he?” And he'd shrug, the way Kevin shrugged.

He remembered things they did together and how he saved Kevin from drowning. Kevin was scared, but Sammy said, “Don't be afraid, I'll save you.” And he did. And then he remembered how Kevin saved him, how he came to the cliff and said, “See you soon, buddy. Take care.”