The Growling Bear Mystery

  Henry looked very serious. “There is something that is our business.”

  “The map, right?” Benny asked.

  “Right!” Henry answered. “It seems to me the map disappeared right after Sam cleaned the rooms yesterday. Maybe that’s how our trash wound up in the Dumpster. Do you think Sam saw the map, figured out where the cabin was, then spent the morning looking for it after going to town?”

  “I’m going to get to the bottom of this,” Jessie said.

  Jessie caught up to Sam outside. He was heading to the staff lodgings. “Hello, Sam. I wanted to ask you something.”

  Sam kept right on walking. “What is it now? Does Mrs. Crabtree need me? Why do you keep bothering me?”

  Jessie bit her lip. She wasn’t used to people being impatient with her. She looked Sam Jackson straight in the eye. “Did you clean our room yesterday and throw out a copy of a map when you were in there?”

  Sam’s eyes darkened. He started to move away. “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. I clean rooms. I don’t throw out people’s possessions. Or maybe you’re suggesting I stole something from your room. Is that it?”

  Jessie wasn’t sure what to say. “No, I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry I mentioned it. I just wanted to find out if you knew anything about a map, that’s all.”

  Sam was silent.

  “Sam denied knowing anything about the map,” Jessie said when she rejoined her sister and brothers inside. “I hope I didn’t make him out to be a careless worker or a thief if he’s not. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything at all.”

  “Well, maybe it wasn’t Sam. Maybe it was Mr. Crabtree,” Henry said.

  “Since we’re finished with work now,” Violet began, “can we go for a walk? We haven’t been to the Upper Basin area. There won’t be too many tourists, since it’s so misty and foggy out.”

  “Sure,” Jessie said. “Then we can take another look at the map. Maybe we’ll see where we made our wrong turn today.”

  The children walked by Old Faithful, then strolled to the Upper Basin area, where dozens of small geysers gurgled and steamed. The Aldens watched the hot springs from the wooden walkways. Clouds of steam gently rose from the ground. All the fog made it hard to see more than a few feet ahead.

  “It’s pretty out here, even in the fog,” Violet said. “Can we walk a little farther? I like looking at the smaller geysers. Some of the colors of the hot springs are so pretty.”

  Jessie took Benny’s hand. “Careful around here, Benny. Let’s not walk too fast. It would be dangerous to slip off these walkways.”

  The Aldens seemed to be alone. Everything was blanketed in mist from the fog and from the hot springs bubbling nearby. The children stood by a railing, looking and listening to the odd little pools of water that simmered like teakettles on a stove.

  “Shhh,” Benny whispered suddenly. “Somebody else is on this walkway. I hear voices. But it’s so foggy, I can’t see who it is.”

  The Aldens stood still.

  “Those kids saw the map,” the children heard a man’s voice say. “What if they get up there before we do?”

  A woman’s voice answered. “We have to keep that from happening. I’ll report to work early tomorrow and sign up for trail cleanup. Meet me at the trailhead at seven. We’re so close. We can’t let anyone get there first. . . . What’s the matter?”

  The two voices were silent for a few seconds.

  The man finally answered. “I’m worried about my job. I haven’t been around much. Everything is taking much longer than I thought.”

  “Don’t worry,” the young woman said. “I know the head manager at the lodge. I’ll tell him I need you for trail work. Maybe they can put those kids on your job tomorrow morning instead. I’ll get you back by afternoon.”

  The Aldens heard footsteps coming toward them. They tiptoed down the boardwalk, careful not to make noise. Once they got past the foggy hot springs area, the air cleared. They looked back at the mist still covering the walkways.

  Out of the mist walked two people: Sam Jackson and Ranger Crowe.

  CHAPTER 9

  A Bear Scare

  The children woke up at six the next morning.

  “No slugabed Aldens today!” Jessie said a few minutes after she woke up. “We have to be at the front desk at six-thirty.”

  While the other children stirred and stretched, Jessie reread the note they had found taped to their door the night before.

  Dear Aldens,

  Change of plans. Can you work in the morning instead of the afternoon? If so, please meet the manager, Mr. Colter, at the front desk, at 6:30. If you have other plans, don’t worry. It’s your vacation! Happy treasure hunting. See you Thursday. Lester and I are off tomorrow.

  Eleanor Crabtree

  “It looks like Ranger Crowe got in touch with Mrs. Crabtree after all,” Henry said. “And that Sam is on the trails with her.”

  By six-thirty, the Aldens had finished a breakfast of pancakes and sausages. They gathered in the lobby to meet Mr. Colter.

  “I like working here, but I wish we could go hiking instead,” Benny said. “What if Sam Jackson finds the cabin before we do? Or Mr. Crabtree does?”

  Jessie bent down to talk with Benny. “Know what? There are four of us Aldens and only one Sam Jackson, one Ranger Crowe, and one Mr. Crabtree. Remember what Mrs. Crabtree said? We have four pairs of eyes. We’ll go hiking again first thing this afternoon. I promise.”

  A minute later, a jolly man with a big smile came over to the Aldens. “Let me guess who you folks are,” the man said in a booming voice. “The Aldens, right? I’m Bob Colter. I heard all about you from Eleanor. I hope you don’t mind the change of plans. This morning our guides need some extra help giving a children’s nature tour out at the West Thumb geyser areas. I heard a rumor that you are good at taking care of young people.”

  Benny looked up at the man. “That’s because we are young people,” he told Mr. Colter. “And we know lots about nature, even geysers. Especially Jessie. She knows everything.”

  This tickled Mr. Colter. “So I heard. Anyway, the tour is only a couple of hours long. You’ll have the rest of the day free. Well, come along. The van is leaving for West Thumb at seven.”

  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 tho
ught 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.”

  CHAPTER 10

  A Secret in the Snow

  At 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.