In the present day, 12-year-old Chris awakens in the night, afraid. He’s often afraid at night, wondering about the noises in the forest. He lies in bed until the cabin fills with light and then shakes 15-year-old Frank awake. He tells Frank that today is the day they’ll be rescued. However, Frank isn’t interested and asks Chris to build up the fire so that he can go back to sleep. As Chris starts a fire, he reflects on how much he has learned in the woods.

In the small cabin, Chris banks the fire and thinks about his Uncle Jack.

In a flashback, Uncle Jack calls Chris’s mother to invite Chris to go sailing in Alaska. Uncle Jack’s only brother, Chris’s father, recently passed away. Chris’s mother warns him that Uncle Jack “can’t be happy unless he’s facing danger” (5). Excited at the prospect of missing school, Chris encourages his mother to approve of the idea, and she reluctantly agrees, urging him to be careful.

Chris flies alone from Vancouver to Kodiak, though his flight is five hours delayed. Uncle Jack picks him up and takes him to a tiny sailboat named Puff moored at the docks.