This Was Our Pact

The grayscale coloring of the final panel of Chapter 2 continues into Chapter 3 as the boys and the fisherbear realize they are lost. They find themselves on the shore of a large lake. The fisherbear rummages around in his big basket, looking for a map. A splash page taking up all of Page 71 offers an extreme close-up of the fisherbear’s map. It lacks any meaningful detail, and its unhelpful vagueness is humorously juxtaposed with word balloons conveying the bear’s directive to the boys: “[D]on’t touch it, please. It’s a family heirloom” (71).

Ben points out that there is really nothing on the map except the river, and the bear concedes that they should probably just head east, since that will take them back to the river. He says they can make a compass by magnetizing a needle. Ben complains that no one carries magnets around with them, but Nathaniel says that his backpack’s closure is magnetic and allows them to cut one of the magnets out. The boys and the fisherbear work on creating the compass, and they then place the magnetized needle on a leaf in the water.