Boxcar Children 61 - Growling Bear Mystery (7 page)

Benny stuck his thumb out. “West Thumb? Here’s my west thumb, just like where we’re going.”

The Aldens spent the morning helping the guides lead a group of children around the West Thumb Paint Pots near Yellowstone Lake. The young children on the tour loved having the Aldens along. And Benny was right. Jessie knew everything—almost, anyway.

Riding back in the van, Henry had a good idea. “We’re passing the Continental Divide area soon, aren’t we?” he asked the van driver.

The driver nodded. “We’re about five minutes away. Why?”

Henry leaned over so the driver could hear him. “My brother and sisters and I would like to get off there. We want to hike on this end of the Lost Cabin Trails if they’re open. Then we’d only have a one-way hike back to the lodge.”

“Sure thing,” the driver said. “I’ll pull into the parking lot.”

In a few minutes, the van slowed down. “Here’s the spot,” the driver told Henry. “Looks as if the trails are open. I’ll drop you off. You folks have plenty of water, food, and all your hiking gear?”

Henry held up his bulging backpack. “We Aldens don’t even go on a nature walk without all our outdoor supplies. Thanks a lot. Oh, would you tell Mr. Colter we decided to go hiking?”

“No problem,” the driver said. “Happy hiking.”

For a while the Aldens had very happy hiking indeed. Their backpacks were filled with plenty of water and trail mix. The hike began at the top of the mountain and went down. Best of all, they had the copy of Oz’s map safe in Henry’s pocket.

“This is an easy hike,” Benny announced, now that he was an experienced hiker. “It’s downhill. No huffing and puffing.”

The Aldens had plenty of time to chat as they went along. Today they weren’t the least bit out of breath.

“Do you think we’ll run into Sam and Ranger Crowe?” Violet asked. “I’m worried that Sam saw our map. What if he made a copy for himself or figured out where the lost cabin might be?”

Everyone was quiet for a second until Jessie spoke up. “Sam might have Oz’s trapper’s map. I don’t like to think so, but he seems so unfriendly whenever we talk about hiking. Last night when he worked with us, he only talked with the children, never to us.”

“He talked to me,” Benny said. “He said, ‘Your turn’ when we were playing Old Maid.”

Everyone laughed. Sam Jackson wasn’t much of a talker.

After about twenty minutes of hiking, the children reached a rocky ledge that overlooked a clear, still lake.

“The lake looks like a mirror for the sky,” Violet said. “I wish I had my paints with me.”

They looked up at the cliffs to see if any birds were nesting up there.

“A bald eagle!” Jessie whispered. She didn’t want to frighten away the bird soaring in the air currents above her.

With the binoculars, the children took turns tracking the huge eagle.

Henry followed the flight of the graceful bird, hoping to see its mate. “Oh. I don’t believe it,” he said a few seconds later. “Look.”

“What, Henry? What?” Jessie asked.

Henry slipped the binoculars from his neck. “Up there on that cliff. Isn’t that Mr. Crabtree? Whoever it is has on that same bright orange hat. It must be him.”

Jessie aimed the binoculars up the cliff. She focused the lenses. “It’s got to be Mr. Crabtree! Wait! I think he just saw us.”

The four children waved and jumped up and down to get Mr. Crabtree’s attention. When they stopped, the orange-hatted hiker had moved from the cliff trail.

The children gathered up their packs. Henry tightened the straps for Benny and Violet. “He didn’t wave back. Maybe that wasn’t Mr. Crabtree after all,” he said. “Remember, he told Mrs. Crabtree that he wouldn’t hike very far from the parking lot? That cliff is pretty far away to be hiking alone. I guess we should get moving, too. We’re not even halfway there yet.”

Jessie studied the copy of Oz’s map. “We’re almost where the arrow shows the lost cabin might be. See, Henry? Here’s the cliff. There’s the turnoff for Handkerchief Lake. The problem is, I can’t tell if the lost cabin is right off this trail or hidden in the deep woods.”

Henry took his position at the head of the line. The children hiked single file through the narrow, wooded trail.

“Let’s go a little farther, okay?” Henry suggested. “Benny, you and I can check the left side of the trail. Jessie and Violet can look to the right. Look for any unusual large shapes or forms. If no one’s discovered the cabin, it might be buried under trees or vines after all these years.”

The children saw fallen trees and unusual rocks, but no cabin. Soon the trail led into deep woods again.

“Grrr,” came a sound nearby.

The Aldens froze in their spots.

“Grrr,” came the sound again, this time much louder.

Henry clapped his hands. “Ring your bells, everybody!” he shouted.

Behind the other children, Jessie grabbed a big branch with dry leaves. She banged it against a tree trunk. “Make lots of noise,” she told everyone. “In case it is a . . . a . . . bear!”

“Back away slowly,” Henry yelled. “The sound is coming from farther ahead on the trail below the cliff. Keep ringing your bear bells. Let’s talk and shout while we’re backing away. Maybe the bear will head in the other direction.”

The growls seemed louder. Was the bear coming closer or just getting madder? The children heard the crunch of something moving in the woods. Whatever it was, it sounded huge.

With their bear bells ringing, the children yelled and shouted.

“No running!” Jessie advised. “Just smooth walking. Don’t be nervous. It’s probably more scared of us than we are of it.”

When Benny heard another round of growls, he yelled out, “My legs are all rubbery.”

That’s when Jessie began to sing at the top of her lungs. “The bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain. The bear went over the mountain, to see what he could see.”

Pretty soon the other children joined in. They shook their bear bells. They sang the bear song over and over until they reached the end of the trail, back where they had started.

“Whew,” Henry said, when they reached the lookout area. “That was a close call.”

“Let’s sit down on this picnic bench,” Jessie suggested. “I need to rest my legs.”

Benny took off his pack. “Look, my knees are knocking together from seeing that bear.”

The other children stared at Benny.

“You
saw
the bear?” Violet asked. Her throat was completely dry, and her words nearly faded away

Benny looked up at his brother and sisters. “Well . . . I almost saw the bear.”

“Hey, Aldens,” they heard a familiar voice call out from a tour bus parked nearby. “Need a ride?”

Henry stood up. “Grandfather! What are you doing here?”

“I’m on my way back from my fishing trip,” he told his grandchildren. “Some folks wanted to stop to take pictures by the Continental Divide sign. I guess I should ask what you are doing here, though I can see by your backpacks that you’ve been hiking.”

“Hiking and going the opposite direction from a bear,” Jessie told her grandfather.

“We saw a bear. I mean, I
almost
saw a bear,” Benny said. “But I wasn’t scared. Know why? Because I had on these.” Benny held out his arm and jingled his bear bells.

Mr. Alden laughed. “That’s the best bear repellent I know. Now, unless you want to hike all the way back to the lodge, hop on this tour bus. I want my companions to hear all about your bear stories. Then we can tell you all about our fish stories.”

The Aldens boarded the bus. They were so busy entertaining Mr. Alden’s new travel companions that they didn’t notice a familiar car pulling out of the crowded parking lot right after the bus. All the way up and down the mountain roads, an old red car stayed right behind the tour bus.

When the bus arrived at the lodge, Mr. Colter was standing out front to greet the passengers. “So you’re the grandfather of these splendid children,” he said to Mr. Alden. “We’ve had nothing but praise for them from everyone on our staff and all the guests who’ve met them.”

Mr. Colter turned to Benny. “I see you’re back from your hike safe and sound.”

“Almost not safe and sound!” Benny cried. “We saw a bear. I mean, we almost saw a bear. But we
heard
a bear for sure.”

“Whew, Benny,” Mr. Colter said after Benny repeated his story. “That sounds like a close call. Oh, Mrs. Crabtree,” he added when he noticed Mrs. Crabtree had joined the group. “You and your husband are back early. How did you two enjoy your day in Cody?”

Mrs. Crabtree was still smiling from hearing about Benny’s adventure. “Oh, I went to Cody alone. It was wonderful. Lester stayed behind to work on our trailer. He’s been there all day.”

“All day?” Jessie said, before she had time to think. “Oops.” She covered her mouth.

Mrs. Crabtree looked puzzled. “What is it, Jessie? Did you see Lester today?”

The Aldens weren’t sure what to say.

“Oh, we thought we saw Mr. Crabtree when we were hiking up by the Continental Divide.”

Mrs. Crabtree smoothed her jacket nervously. “Oh, no. Mr. Crabtree spent the whole day at our trailer. Not that he got much done, mind you. It was his day off, after all. But he just told me he stayed in all day.”

“Oh,” Jessie said. She suddenly made herself very busy adjusting the straps on her backpack.

Just then Oz Elkhorn appeared. “There you are, Jimmy. And your grandkids, too. Mr. Colter said you’d be pulling up any second. I had a few errands up this way. I thought I’d wait around to tell you some good news.”

“What’s that?” the Aldens all said at once.

Grinning from ear to ear, Oz reached into his canvas bag. He pulled out a tube of paper and unrolled it.

“You found the trapper’s map!” Jessie cried.

“Nope, it found me,” Oz said, shaking his head. “I’m not sure how. I don’t suppose any of you children stuck this map in my mailbox here at the inn?”

“No way,” Henry said. “We haven’t seen that map since the day we arrived at Yellowstone. All we have is this beat-up copy that landed in the Dumpster.” Henry pulled out the Aldens’ copy of the map to show Oz.

“Good!” Oz told the children. “Now we have two maps. We’re going to need them for our hike tomorrow.”

“What hike?” Violet asked.

“Our hike to the lost cabin,” Oz said. “It’s about time we found that place. I’m taking the day off from the store. I’ll meet you bright and early.”

A
t six
A.M.
the next morning, it was early, but it wasn’t bright the way Oz had expected. Jessie woke up first, as she often did. The room looked strange—dim and more quiet than usual.

She tiptoed to the window. “Snow!” she whispered, forgetting that everyone was asleep.

The word
snow
was magic to Benny. Suddenly he was as wide awake as if it were the middle of the day.

“Snow?” he said.

By this time, the other children were awake, too. They joined Jessie by the window. Sure enough, flakes of snow were falling over everything.

“It can’t be snowing,” Violet said. “It’s July.”

“But it
is
snowing,” Jessie said, smiling at the thought of summer snow. “The guidebook says it can snow almost any time of the year in Yellowstone.”

“That means snowflakes for breakfast,” Benny said. “We just have to stick our tongues out. Can we go outside before it melts? I never saw snow in the summer.”

“I’m already getting my socks on,” Jessie said.

In no time flat, all four Aldens were outside the Old Faithful Inn. They stuck their tongues out to catch the snowflakes. And the children drew their initials in the few inches of snow on the ground.

“Now I need hot chocolate,” Benny declared after a while. “And hot waffles, too. Let’s go inside for breakfast.”

“Hey, Aldens,” the children heard when they entered the lobby. “I hope you folks will be ready for our hike in half an hour.”

The children turned around. Across the lobby stood Mr. Alden and Oz Elkhorn, bundled head to toe in parkas, hats, and mittens. Next to them were several sets of snowshoes.

“Are those for our hike?” Benny asked.

“They sure are,” Oz said. “This is going to be a real treat. A snow hike in July. I arranged it with the weatherman, just for the Alden family,” he said, winking at Mr. Alden. “I’m told there’s already a foot of snow on the upper trails.”

Snowplows made their way up and down the mountains just as if it were the middle of winter.

“See,” Oz told the children from the driver’s seat of his truck, “in Yellowstone we’re always ready for any kind of weather. We keep our snow tires on all year long.”

Awhile later, Oz pulled into the Continental Divide lookout area. “Hmmm. Some hikers are already here,” he said when he noticed a snow-covered car and truck parked at the end of the lot. “Judging by all the snow on them, it looks as if they’ve been here awhile.”

Indeed, Oz and the Aldens spotted snowshoe prints in the trails as well. Soon they, too, were deep in the woods.

“Snow hiking goes fast. No bumps,” Benny said. “It’s easier to see everything better. Like bears and stuff,” he added.