Okay, the epilogue to Rusty’s adventure seems to be playing out as expected:  Get home, run into Cherry, start in with excuses and then explanations. But I have one question: What’s in the container that Mark is carrying in panel 1? Perhaps he and Rusty stopped by Squirrely Sandy’s bakery in town. Wouldn’t that be a hoot!?

Something to keep in mind is that a lot has happened in one 24-hour period: First, Mark went with Rusty and his friends on that initial fact-finding hunt for a possible alien crash site in Lost Forest (September 25). They came home that evening (October 16) and spent time talking to Cherry about their finds and theories. Rusty went to bed but couldn’t sleep. He decided to go back to the “crash site”, whereupon he and Andy stumbled upon the lost camper Mark had predicted. Mark arrived and expedited the anonymous camper’s medical evacuation. Now they return to meet up with Cherry again, the next morning.