Read Online Barkerville Gold by Dayle Gaetz - Free Book Online

disappeared up the trail.

9

Spy or Be Spied Upon
    W hy do I get the feeling this isn’t exactly going to be a nature hike?” Sheila said as they started up the trail.
    â€œAre you kidding?” Rusty asked. “Why else would we go traipsing through the woods?”
    â€œWe know how much you like nature hikes,” Katie added, “so here we are.”
    Sheila’s eyes darted suspiciously from one to the other of the cousins, then were drawn toward the steep, well-groomed trail that lead invitingly into a forest of lodgepole pine, fir and spruce. “Okay,” she said finally, “just be really quiet and we might see some wildlife.”
    Sheila led the way while Rusty, last in line, concentrated on keeping up with the girls and keeping his mouth shut. He wondered what sort of wildlife they might see. He thought about bears. And he thought about the two chocolate bars he stashed in his backpack before leaving the campsite.
    If bears could smell chocolate right through the wrappers, then the best way to get rid of the scent would be to eat the chocolate bars. Problem solved. He stopped and slid his backpack from his shoulders, but then another thought struck him. Aren’t you supposed to make tons of noise if bears are around?
    Hurriedly pulling on his backpack, Rusty started up the trail after the girls, singing loud enough to burst a lung. Even so, he expected at any minute to go winging around a corner and come face to face with a bear. Not just any bear, but a huge, angry mother bear determined to protect her cubs.
    He stopped. Listened. Nothing. Where were Katie and Sheila? But wait, what was that ? His heart thudded into his ribs. He held his breath. There it was again ! A footstep ?
    Thud.
    Yes! Heavy, plodding footsteps. Behind him. Getting closer. A chill shot through him. Certain that a black bear was hot on the scent of his chocolate bars, Rusty took off as fast as he could run up the steep trail. He sped around one bend and then another until, gasping for air, he came to a fork in the trail. He glanced from left to right, danced from one foot to the other. Which way? He could feel that angry bear closing in on him, almost smell its powerful odor.
    Sheila would know what to do. She and her mom went backpacking in the mountains all the time. He had to find the girls. But left or right? Right or left? Why did they take off without him? Was it a trick? Were they trying to get rid of him once and for all? Feed him to a hungry mother bear?
    Then he noticed it. Impaled on a bush by the right-hand trail was a sheet of lined paper, just like the ones in Katie’s notebook. He ripped it from the bush. Printed in pencil were the initials “K” and “S”, with an arrow pointing up the trail. Rusty scrunched up the paper, glanced back and took off. Up and up he ran, but the trail seemed to get steeper with every stride until, legs aching, lungs straining, he hobbled around a corner and there they were.
    â€œRusty!” Katie said. “What happened to you? We were starting back to look for you.”
    Rusty opened his mouth to say, A bear! But he was so short of breath, all that came out was, “A b...!”
    â€œA buh?” Sheila asked, frowning.
    Rusty gulped air through his mouth but could not draw enough oxygen into his lungs. A pulse beat loud and hard in his ears. Feeling dizzy, he bent forward, hands on knees. Sheila took several steps down the trail until she could see around the bend. She stopped, listened and ran back. “Quick!” she whispered. “Into the bushes!”
    It seemed to Rusty that hiding in the bushes might not be the best plan with a hungry bear on their trail, but he had no energy to object. He followed the girls through the undergrowth toward a big fir tree. Sheila reached the fir, squeezed behind it and peered out the other side. “Get down!”
    Katie and Rusty ducked.
    Enveloped in thick bush, Rusty listened for the