Summary

Ava was examining the alligator hole when she heard the Bird Man call her name. She knew he’d spotted her because he was running in her direction. She held her nose and jumped into the gator hole. She found a hole in the cave and swam through. She was having trouble swimming with all the clothing she had with her. As she looked back at the clothing she saw the alligator. It had grabbed hold of her calf. She used a move her mother had taught her to get free of the gator. She reached the surface of the water and realized she’d let go of the clothes.

She hid from the Bird Man for an hour. When she saw no sign of him she figured he hadn’t followed her. She had only a shallow wound on...