White Water Page 8

  “Look,” Brad’s tone softened when he had Greg’s attention. “I don’t blame you for wanting that bear dead. But like it or not, it’s against the law for you to shoot it. We have enough trouble with poachers doing that. I’ll be back tomorrow with a team and my tracking dog. We’ll dart the bear and relocate it somewhere the other side of Cedar Ridge.”

  Colin pushed his plate away and got to his feet. “We’ll take turns keeping watch tonight. I can’t imagine him coming back, but if he does, we can scare him off.”

  Brad nodded. “You do that. But if I get back here and find out that that bear’s been shot, it better be in your cabin with its jaws wrapped around someone’s leg. Clear?”

  Colin and Greg looked at each other. Colin nodded once, then followed Greg out of the room.

  Mark cleared his throat. “Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve got to get back to work. Doctor, Brad, if you’re finished here, I think we’d better take off.”

  The men thanked Anne for breakfast and shook hands with Dad. “Your daughter will make a good vet some day, Harley.” The doctor winked at Kara. “She’s got my instructions for taking care of that horse. I didn’t see anything to indicate any lasting damage. Just keep him isolated for a few days, and he should be right as rain in a couple of weeks.”

  Kara and Tia helped Anne with the morning chores, then headed for their room. It was only a little after noon, but they’d been awake since 2:00 A.M., and Kara could hardly hold her head up.

  “I don’t know about you,” Tia moaned, “but I’m going to sleep for a year.”

  “Make that two years!” Kara peeked out the window. The shades in cabin number one were drawn, and her brother’s jacket was hanging on a rack outside the door. She yawned, crawled into bed, and closed her eyes.

  It was dark again when Kara awoke and went down to check on Lyman. The generator was silent, and Greg sat in the dark, propped against the stall door with his rifle in his hand. When she walked up, the three packhorses trotted off to the other side of the corral.

  “They’re still a little nervous,” Greg said.

  Kara nodded. “I can see why.” She shined her flashlight into the darkened stall where Lyman stood head down, eyes closed, apparently asleep. “How is he?” she asked Greg.

  “He’s doing okay. Dad brought Ryan down an hour ago with a couple of apple cores. Lyman gobbled them up. The wound looks nasty, but clean.”

  Kara nodded. “That’s good. The vet said he could have some Banamine whenever he needs it.” She yawned. “I’m going to check on Lily and Dakota. Is Colin going to relieve you?”

  “Yeah.” Greg pulled the horse blanket he was wrapped in closer around his shoulders. “He already fed the others. They’re put up for the night.”

  A quick check of the old barn showed that Greg was right. Lily and Dakota were quietly munching their ration of hay. Lily nickered and bumped Kara affectionately, then went back to her meal.

  Kara trudged up the hill to the lodge, where Anne had set out cold cuts and bread. Tia ate a sandwich, yawned hugely, and headed back to bed. Kara took a few bites, swallowed some orange juice, and joined her friend.

  They woke on Monday morning to the clatter of helicopter blades. Kara pulled on a sweat suit and hurried outside to the front deck. From there she could see all the way to the river and the meadow, where a huge forest service helicopter had just touched down. Tia joined her just as Mark’s plane landed. It taxied over the bumpy ground and came to a stop just outside the hangar, where Dad’s plane was tied down for the week. A man and a dog climbed down over the wing and headed to the spot where the chopper had landed.

  The screen door slammed and Ryan charged out of the house, one arm in his jacket sleeve and the other sleeve dangling out of reach behind him. “Hey, Brad’s back,” he yelled as he bolted from the porch before Kara could help him.

  “I’m out of here,” Tia squealed as she ran her hands through her tangled hair and ducked out of sight.

  Kara laughed. “You’re right. If we don’t get cleaned up, they’ll sick the dog on us!”

  By the time she and Tia finished washing, dressing, and brushing their teeth, the men were gathered in the dining room. Anne was just coming through the kitchen door with a huge platter of pancakes. The three rangers, including Brad, stood and nodded a greeting, while Mark squeezed Kara’s shoulders in an affectionate hug. “Morning, Princess. Ready to catch a bear?”

  Kara grinned back at him. “Not on your life. For once I’m happy to leave that to the experts.”

  Brad smiled and used a hand signal, which brought the dog lying at his feet to a sitting position. “Then you should meet the expert,” he said. “Ladies, may I present Beaker, the best bear dog in the state of Oregon.”

  One of the other rangers chuckled. “You mean the only bear dog in the state of Oregon.”

  Kara reached out her hand. The black-and-white dog sniffed it, let out a short, sharp bark, and then lifted his paw for her to shake. “Is he a Husky?”

  “He’s a Karelian.” Brad patted the dog, then lowered his hand, and the animal once again lay down at his feet.

  “He’s really friendly, Kara,” Ryan said around a mouthful of pancakes. “Brad let me pet him before, and he likes me.”

  “What’s a Karelian?” Tia avoided the dog and slid into the empty seat on the other side of Brad, not taking her eyes off his face. Kara rolled her eyes and sat down next to Dad.

  If Brad was embarrassed by Tia’s attention, he didn’t show it. “A Karelian is a special breed,” he explained. “They’re superintelligent and have been trained to work a bear on the ground, like a cow dog would round up a stray. A hound will tree a bear, then the hunter shoots it, or in our case, darts it with a tranquilizer gun. This dog rushes in for a nip, then backs off. He can move like lightning from every direction and hold a bear in one spot until we can get a dart into him.” He paused and looked at Dad. “Relocation is really not the best way; you need to know that. A bear is territorial, and given a chance, will usually return to its home territory.”

  Dad frowned. “What other choice do we have?”

  Brad shook his head. “None.” Kara could hear the frustration in his voice. “If I had another dog, more men, and a couple of weeks, we’d have that bear totally trained to stay away from people.”

  Greg grunted. “What about horses?”

  Kara had to admire Brad for keeping his cool. “Horses too. This is a black bear we’re dealing with here, folks, not a grizzly. Black bears rarely attack a human, and you notice he only took a swipe at your horse. A grizzly would have chewed it to pieces.” He shook his head. “This guy’s being a nuisance because he’s hungry. It was a hard winter, and after the fire last summer, food is scarce.”

  “I’m sympathetic to that,” Dad said, “but we don’t have a couple of weeks. We’re here until next Sunday, then we won’t be back until the first of June. I can’t risk that animal coming in here and wrecking the place. And,” he gestured to Colin and Greg, “I can’t spare the manpower to guard the stock every night.”

  Brad nodded. “Fair enough. We’ll nab the animal and release him the other side of Cedar Ridge. If we’re lucky, it might take him until August to work his way back. By then his belly will be full, and he’ll be less inclined to be around humans.” He looked pointedly at Greg. “Or horses.”

  The rangers thanked Anne for the breakfast and headed out the door, Beaker following obediently at Brad’s heel. His tail was going a hundred miles an hour, and Kara could see the muscles quiver up and down his back. Did he know he was going on a hunt? Dogs sense those things, she thought as she poured syrup over another pancake.

  “I wish they’d let me go,” Ryan whined. “I could help.” He brightened. “It would be an adventure. Like the Crocodile Hunter, only with bears!”

  Everyone laughed, and Mark spoke up. “Speaking of adventures, I guess the youth group had quite a rafting trip.” Kara felt a stab of envy and quickly pushed it
aside.

  Colin’s head snapped up. “Oh yeah? What happened? How did it go?”

  “It went fine,” Mark chuckled, “until Mr. Andrews steered to the wrong side of Donner’s Rock and dumped the whole raftload of kids into the water. Luckily everyone was wearing life jackets, and the current pushed them toward shore. Mr. Andrews stayed with the boat and came out about a mile ahead. He was one scared man until he hiked back and found all the others safe and sound.”

  “Did they finish the run?” Colin asked.

  “Sure. I guess a couple of the parents were upset because the kids were an hour late getting back to home base, but when Mr. Andrews explained, they were just relieved that no one was injured.”

  “Man, would I love to get my raft in the water,” said Colin. Kara’s heart raced at the gleam of excitement in his eyes. “Brad said the water level is perfect right now. In another week or so, it’ll be too high.” He glanced at Greg.

  They’re up to something, Kara thought when she saw the look that passed between them.

  Sure enough, Greg set down his juice glass and cleared his throat. “Uh, Dad?” Dad’s fork paused halfway to his mouth at the tone of Greg’s voice. Kara held back a giggle. Greg was so obvious!

  “Remember when we were talking about adding white-water rafting to the activities at Eagle Lodge?” He went on before Dad could say anything. “Colin and I were thinking we might make a trial run this weekend, test out the raft and check out the rapids. Assuming, of course, all the repairs are done by Thursday night. We could leave Friday morning and be back by Saturday night in time to help close up the lodge.”

  Everyone at the table was staring at Dad except for Anne, who bowed her head over her plate, Kara assumed to hide her smile. After a few seconds of silence, Dad said seriously, “What makes you think we’ll get everything done by Friday? We haven’t exactly had the best start.”

  “I’m pretty sure we can handle it, Mr. Sheridan,” Colin said. “And white-water rafting or fishing excursions would sure bring in extra income. I took the Stewarts out in the old raft last season, and they loved it. The new one is bigger and will hold more people. But,” he went on, sounding even more eager than Greg, “there’s no way we can take the public out without checking the course of the river first. Between the fire and the heavy snow, things could have changed a lot.”

  “He’s right, Mr. S.,” Tia piped up. “Wakara and I will help get stuff done. Four in the boat will make it like a real run.” She flashed Colin a brilliant smile.

  Way to go, Tia! Kara held her breath. Would Dad go along with this? Oh, please, please, please! She wanted to jump up and down and beg like a puppy, but that was definitely not the way to get around Dad. Besides, she could tell by the scowl on Greg’s face that he really hadn’t meant for her and Tia to go. But Colin just returned Tia’s grin. He fiddled with his fork, and Kara could tell he was doing his best to act casual while waiting for Dad’s answer.

  She held her breath as Dad looked from her to Colin. Trust me! She tried to telegraph the plea with her eyes. It must have worked.

  Dad folded his napkin and turned to Greg. “All right. I know you guys all gave up your spring vacation to help, and I’m grateful for that. You’ve got my permission to go.” He paused, then said, “If we can get a reasonable amount of work done, and if Anne can spare Wakara and Tia.”

  Anne met his gaze with a quiet smile. “They are free to go.”

  “Yippee,” Ryan yelled. “We get to go on a raft.”

  The room went silent. Greg studied his fingernails, and Colin took a long swig from his water glass. Tia started to say something, but Kara flashed her a look, and she shut her mouth. No way would Dad let him go, but Kara wasn’t sure how to handle it.

  “What about your promise?” Anne spoke quietly and squeezed Ryan’s hand.

  “What promise?” Ryan scowled.

  “You promised to help me catch fish. We must stock the freezer for summer guests.”

  Ryan perked up. “You mean we’re going to Otter Lake?”

  Anne nodded. “It is the best place to find trout.”

  But Ryan wasn’t quite convinced. “On horses?”

  “We’ll work it out, Tiger,” Dad broke in, and Kara was glad. They’d have to use the horses to get to the landing where they were going to launch the raft. Dad or Anne would lead the string back, then meet them the next day at the landing closest to the lodge. With Lyman out of commission, they’d really be short of mounts.

  The thrill of planning the trip had her mind spinning as she helped Anne clear the table. She had just picked up a stack of dirty plates and started for the kitchen, when her thoughts were shattered by the shrill, sharp barks of an excited dog.

  “STAY BACK AND BE QUIET,” Kara warned Ryan as the little boy tried to squirm out of her hold. She looked at Colin and said, “They’re right behind cabin four!”

  Dad came up behind them, took Ryan from her, and passed him to Anne. The look on his face stopped the boy in midhowl. “You stay in the house with Anne. No argument!” Dad said. His gaze shifted to Kara, and for one horrible moment she thought he might order her into the house as well. But he didn’t. Instead, they stood right where they were, trying to interpret the growls and yips coming from the bear and the dog.

  Please don’t let any of them get hurt, Kara prayed. In a few minutes the sounds stopped, and the two other rangers came running from the front of the lodge, carrying a folded gurney much like a paramedic would use. Brad came out from behind the cabin and saw Kara and her dad standing there. He waved and called, “Want to see the monster up close?”

  Ryan came charging out of the kitchen. Kara reached out to grab him, but Dad scooped him up and carried him toward the waiting rangers.

  The bear lay quietly on the ground, and Kara bent to touch the soft, cinnamon-colored fur. “Whoa, he’s smaller than I thought!” She stroked the animal’s tan snout, then ruffled the white blaze on its chest. “He’s like a big teddy bear.”

  “A 300-pound teddy bear with claws.” Brad was grinning at her. “My guess is about three years old. That’s young when you consider they can live to be twenty-five. Standing up he’d be about five feet tall, but he still has some growing to do.”

  Ryan frowned and tugged on Brad’s jacket. “You said he was a black bear. How come he’s not black?”

  Brad bent down to Ryan’s level. “You know something about horses, don’t you, Ryan?”

  Ryan’s eyes grew wide, and Kara knew Brad had his full attention. “Sure!”

  “Okay,” Brad continued. “Is a quarter horse always brown?”

  Ryan laughed. “No way. A quarter horse can be lots of colors.”

  “Right,” Brad said, then pointed to the bear. “Black bears are the same. They can be brown or black, cinnamon like this one, or even pure white.”

  As Ryan’s face lit up with understanding, Brad stood and turned to the others. “If anyone else wants to touch him, it has to be quick. We’ve got to get the radio collar on him and get him to the chopper. If he’s not on the ground again before this drug wears off, someone could get hurt.”

  Tia took two steps backwards, nearly hiding behind Dad, but everyone else petted the bear before the rangers quickly clipped a radio collar around the animal’s neck and took him to the chopper. Kara watched as the engine roared to life and the rotor blades lifted the three rangers, the dog, and the bear off the ground. The chopper sped out of sight over the ridge.

  While Dad and the guys went to work repainting the water holding tank, Kara and Tia spent the rest of the day scrubbing down cabin five. Heat from last summer’s fire had actually scorched the logs on one outside wall, and a thick, white ash covered everything inside. Anne took the bed linens, rugs, and towels into the house to wash.

  Ryan was given the job of cleaning the lantern and polishing the small table and dresser they had set outside on the grass. Twice he conned Kara into taking him down to check on Lyman. The horse was restless, but otherwise okay. Th
e wound was still clean and looked like it was healing nicely. Kara gave him another dose of Banamine to help keep him quiet. If he jigged around too much, he might break open the wound. “One more day, boy,” she told the fidgety horse, “then we’ll turn you into the corral.”

  The rest of the week went by in a blur of hard work and sore muscles. Kara and Tia talked about Great-grandfather Irish’s journal, but no matter how hard they tried to stay awake and read it, they never made it past the first couple of pages. So far all they had learned was how Irish and his partner, a man named Clemens, were making plans to go to California and search for gold.

  In an entry dated June eleventh, year of our Lord 1907, Irish wrote:

  Clemens is a rough character, uneducated, but he knows the country and insists that gold in the hills east of Sacramento is by no means panned out. He is a trapper besides. He tells me he lived in the wilderness for a year and not only sustained himself, but came out with enough gold nuggets and animal hides to keep him for two years more. I believe him,, though I’m certain he supplements his income by gambling.

  It is easy to talk myself into going. After Kathleen’s death, there is nothing for me here. I can only think it will be more productive to embark on adventure than to stay here and grieve. Youth and strength are on my side, even if God has chosen to abandon me.

  “How awful!” Tia cried.

  “Whoa!” Kara agreed. “Who was Kathleen? It sounds like Irish was married before, or at least engaged.” But Tia’s eyes were already closed. Kara yawned and set the journal aside. She was so tired, the mystery would have to wait.

  By Thursday evening most of the heavy work was done, and they all gathered around the fireplace with mugs of cocoa and a huge bowl of popcorn. “We’ll get that door on the shed tomorrow morning,” Dad said, stretching his feet out toward the hearth. “Everything else is pretty much ready for the normal routine in June.”

  Kara groaned aloud, and everyone laughed. “The normal routine means cleaning all the rest of the cabins and hauling in enough supplies to feed a small country,” she exclaimed.