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I stared at him.

Aaron swallowed. “We think it was the bears.”

“Why?” I asked.

Nobody answered immediately.

His father put a hand against the back of his neck. “Tell him.”

Aaron looked toward the grass. “We pranked them again.”

Every person within hearing distance went quiet.

I didn’t have enough strength for the anger that followed. “What did you do?”

Aaron held up his hands. “We didn’t use the elephant toothpaste.”

The shorter Kipner twin rubbed both hands over his face. “We left fake traps near their driveway.”

My head began pounding. “What kind of traps?”

“Boxes that snapped shut.”

“With what inside?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

Aaron rushed to explain. “They weren’t dangerous. We used string and springs. They just made noise.”

“Tell him about the signs,” his father said.

Aaron winced.

I closed my eyes for one second. “What did the signs say?”

He hesitated. “A few things.”

“Aaron.”

“One said bear containment unit.” His voice came out small and hesitant.

The silence worsened.

Another preteen muttered, “And one said nuisance removal.”

I looked at my mother. Anger warred with her exhaustion. “You did this after Hudson warned you?”

Aaron nodded. His mother looked sick.

“We didn’t know,” he said. “We thought they’d just get mad. We didn’t think they would attack anyone.”

I forced myself to breathe through the rage. A deeper breath triggered coughing. Jason put the oxygen mask back over my face. I pulled it away long enough to speak. “We’ll deal with that later.”

Aaron looked relieved too soon.

“Don’t mistake later for never,” I added.

His relief disappeared.