A Heart in a Body in the World

Annabelle is crossing the panhandle of Northern Idaho. The run is difficult due to the elevation, but the landscape is beautiful, full of bodies of water and wildlife. Annabelle realizes she “had totally wrong perceptions about Idaho, which just goes to show, you should never judge unless you’ve been there” (137). In addition to deer, wild turkeys, and bald eagles, however, the trailhead signs warn of grizzlies, with instructions on what to do if you see one. Annabelle carries a can of pebbles to rattle at an animal in case she comes across one, but she can’t help thinking, “If an animal wants to get you, it will get you, though, won’t it?” (138). She muses that perhaps “your only real hope is not crossing paths with one in the first place” (138).

As she runs, Annabelle continues to have memories of The Taker. She remembers how he’d become furious if she or other classmates teased him. Annabelle also remembers her friend Kat and imagines she can see Kat “in the damp shadows of the forest” (139).

At the end of the day, Annabelle chats with Malcolm, Zach, and Olivia over Skype. Her friends are worried Annabelle isn’t getting any more GoFundMe donations or new followers on her Facebook page. The funds from the GoFundMe page are helping Annabelle and Grandpa pay for gas and food, but Zach is worried there’s only enough left to get to North Dakota. They encourage Annabelle to start posting content to the Facebook page. Annabelle’s friends explain that are other people running or walking across the country, and they all have blogs or social media accounts on which they post pictures of the scenery or people they meet along the way. Annabelle is reluctant because she does not like drawing attention to herself. Malcolm, Zach, and Olivia tell Annabelle it’s time to release the video, calling it their secret weapon. At that moment, Annabelle’s dog Bit jumps into the shot and Annabelle becomes distracted, ignoring her friends’ cryptic statement that they are going to release a video tomorrow.

While running through Montana, Annabelle has another memory of The Taker when they were in Mixed Media Art together. They are cutting pictures out of magazines when Annabelle casually mentions that one of the pictures looks like her ex-boyfriend Will’s house. The Taker cuts through the picture with scissors, and they both laugh because “it is silly and dramatic, not ominous” (150). The Taker tells Annabelle she’s pretty, and Annabelle enjoys the compliment.

Annabelle has been running through a stretch of Montana called the Lonesome Highway. At one point, Annabelle passes two memorials alongside the road, one for a man and one for a woman killed by car accidents. The photograph of the woman makes Annabelle cry. Later that day, Annabelle tries to call her therapist Dr. Mann, but she has no cell service.

Two weeks later, Annabelle and Grandpa are at a diner in Montana when the waitress says Annabelle looks familiar. Annabelle and Grandpa don’t think it’s possible for the waitress to recognize Annabelle from when she was on the news after the incident with The Taker, almost a year earlier. The waitress is sure she’s seen Annabelle somewhere recently, but she shrugs it off and warns Annabelle and Grandpa to be careful of a bad thunderstorm coming in soon, and to make sure they’re not on the road when it hits.

The RV has a bad tire, and Grandpa stops at the home of a local named Hal, who does a shoddy job of patching the tire and charges Grandpa $50. Grandpa feels like he’s been ripped off; both he and Annabelle are in bad moods. Lying in bed that night, Annabelle can hear thunder in the distance.

The next morning Annabelle and Grandpa remember the waitress’s warning that a storm is coming, but they only remember hearing a few brief cracks of thunder the night before and assume the storm has passed. The morning sky is blue, and there are no signs of an oncoming storm. Annabelle decides it is safe to run for the day.

Annabelle digs out the tape player gifted to her by Luke Messenger on her birthday. So far, Annabelle hasn’t used it. Annabelle has been avoiding music since the incident with The Taker because “[m]usic and books stir up emotions. They make feelings rise and clatter and wreck, and sometimes that’s dangerous” (157). Nevertheless, Annabelle decides to listen to the tape today. She is running through a flat, nondescript landscape, and she hopes the music will give her some energy.

Annabelle has avoided dating or crushes since the incident with The Taker; she describes having a big X over all boys in her mind, as well as “flirtation and infatuation and love and sweetness and generosity and openness and belief and trust and safety, basically all the good stuff” (158). She figures she will never see Luke again and that thinking about Luke is “the tiniest bit of boy fun at a safe distance, same as wondering about a cute movie star in a People magazine” (158).

As she runs and listens to the tape, Annabelle realizes the songs all have titles like “Road to Nowhere,” “The Passenger,” and “The Distance,” and realizes Luke made the running-themed mix tape specifically for her.

Annabelle hears rumbling in the distance, even though the sky is still a clear blue. Soon, she hears more thunder, sees clouds rolling in, and starts to feel rain. With no shelter in sight, Annabelle’s only option is to keep running until she reaches the RV. Annabelle sees an RV approaching her in the distance, but it is not her grandpa’s RV. Nevertheless, Annabelle tries to wave it down. When the RV stops, Annabelle realizes it is Dawn Celeste and Luke Messenger, who have come to rescue her.