We take our flashlight along to see by as we get ready for bed. As we move the light around it makes shadows on the tent walls. The shadows jump in all directions, stretch tall and shrink short, first on one wall, then on the other.
Roger waves his arms, jiggles his fingers and twists his body, which makes his shadow twist and shake, too. It's weird and very funny. We laugh at the shadows.
After a while, we stop, crawl into our sleeping bags and zip them up. I reach out and turn off the lantern. A faint glow comes in from under the flaps. Everything is normal, just as it's been since we arrived at Snug Harbor. I guess we fell asleep.
Suddenly, I'm wide-awake. I hear Roger sleep-breathing. That can't be what wakened me. I listen hard. There it is again. The sound is like someone shaking and rustling paper bags. Then another sound, like tin cans rattling. I'm curious.
'This needs to be looked into,' I think.
I unzip my sleeping bag, reach over and tap Roger's sleeping bag.
'Uh,' Roger says sleepily. 'Is it morning already?'
'No, silly,' I whisper. 'Keep your voice down and listen.'
We lie quietly in our sleeping bags. There it is again, soft rustling and scratching sounds and, now and then, rattling.
'What do think it is?' Roger asks, now fully awake.