Remainers

Search for the Golden Arch, Part 6

Though Caleb, Hope, and Joseph had agreed to work together, that didn't mean that their goal was that much closer in sight. They had already been cooperating pretty well over the past week, yet that had gotten them no closer to finding the golden-arched butterfly. To be honest, even this new partnership had not given Caleb that much extra confidence, but it was certainly better than nothing.

For that reason, Caleb suggested to Joseph that they take some time to strategize first. They had his knowledge of entomology and three bodies with which to search the forest. So long as they had some sort of plan, he was sure they could at least find some of the butterfly's traces.

For now, they headed over to Joseph's campsite, which was located in the shade of several large trees in a grove quite far from where the others were camped out. His tent and his tools were unsurprisingly covered in dirt and mud, and even the rocks nearby had mud prints from Joseph's dirty clothes. Joseph tried his best to clear off the mud for his new guests, but in the end the two decided to opt to stand while they were here.

"Well, to be honest, I'm running out of options here, too," Joseph began. "I've looked for the usual places butterflies hide during winter, but I've come up short almost every time."

"Isn't it possible that the butterfly migrated elsewhere?" Hope asked. "It's a new species, so its behavioral patterns aren't fully known to us yet."

Joseph shook his head. "This area doesn't get so cold that it would force most butterfly species to migrate. Besides, the butterfly was seen only a few weeks ago. If it was a migratory species, it would have left for warmer pastures much earlier."

Hope sighed. "Then what do we do? What else have we not checked?"

Joseph scratched his chin for a moment. "There is one place I don't think anyone has looked at yet. It's a little outside the established search radius, but I wouldn't think it too unreasonable for the golden-arched butterfly to be there."

"Where is this place you're talking about?" Caleb asked.

"This forest sits at the base of a mountain, right? Around there I found a little cave, just outside of the search radius Computer had laid out. At the time I didn't think the butterfly would be near there, but now that we've run out of options, I think we should at least check it out."

"You've got a better reason than that, right?" Hope asked pointedly. "We can't waste our time exploring some cave just because it's the only place we haven't looked."

"Well, I've got a couple," Joseph replied. "Most butterflies like to go dormant in the winter, especially when it gets too cold for them to be normally active. The cave isn't the warmest place around, but it should provide them with enough shelter from the cold."

"But you didn't think to search it earlier?"

"Like I said, it was outside of the search radius. It wouldn't have been out of the question for the butterfly to have taken refuge inside the forest instead, like inside a bush or under a tree. I wanted to search the more likely locations before taking a chance on the cave."

"Then let's not waste any time," Caleb declared. "The sooner we check out the cave, the better. After all, if the others get desperate, even they'll start to take notice of the cave."

"There's no need to rush, is there?" Joseph asked nervously. "The cave isn't going anywhere, and if the golden-arched butterfly is sheltering there, I doubt it'd be moving either."

"We're still in a race, remember? I know you aren't big on competition, but if you want to be in charge of researching the new species, you have to find it first, right?"

"Right." Joseph seemed surprisingly dejected.

"What's the matter?" Caleb asked curiously. "This was your idea."