Read Online The Sasquatch Mystery by Julie Campbell - Free Book Online
Authors: Julie Campbell
Ads: Link
hastily. “I’ll take you to a patch; then we’ll scatter out. Yell every few minutes, so we don’t lose voice contact with each other. There are lots of ravines, and it’s real easy to wander around and find yourself on a different mountain. Are you all sure you’ll recognize the berries? They’re small, sweet, and shiny, and they range from blue to black in color.”
“They look like blueberries,” Mart observed, “but then, all berries look alike to me.”
“You’ll find blueberries here, too, and whortleberries,” Knut assured him. “They all make good pie. Now, let’s pick!”
Knut led the little band along the saddle road, then took a deer trail. It plunged downhill so steeply that his head disappeared before Trixie, at the end of the line, was sure which way he had gone.
“Gleeps,” Trixie muttered, “why do I have this feeling that I'm the one who’s going to end up on another mountain?”
A Very Special Kind of Bear ● 9
KNUT REAPPEARED shortly, but soon Trixie saw Jim’s red head disappear among prosperous-looking bushes.
“Honey and I are going on to that fallen log,” she called.
“Okay, keep yelling,” Jim said, already absorbed in his task.
Although Trixie was used to working in Crab-apple Farm’s raspberry patch, she didn’t especially care for the tedious task of picking food bite by bite. Thinking about the past days’ adventures made the job seem more pleasant.
On the other hand, Honey was used to being waited on by servants but didn’t mind getting her hands dirty. She quickly chose a clump of bushes and set to work.
Trixie moved past her and began to roll the juicy huckleberries into her palm and then into her pail. The pail she carried was one that the Belden boys had made by poking holes in a halfgallon vegetable can and adding a wire bail. It seemed to take forever to cover the bottom of the can with berries.
While she picked, Trixie appreciated the mountain’s timeless silence. Far, far below she could see a green valley and a meandering stream. Mountains stretched beyond that, till blue distance swallowed up the distinction between mountain and sky. This had to be close to the spot where Cap’s friends, the foresters, had seen the sasquatch, Trixie thought. Up here, it was almost easy to accept the existence of that strange creature—practically easier than accepting the existence of other human beings.
Trixie crushed a berry between her fingers, and the faint odor of skunk cabbage disappeared. She thought briefly of the thief, but for the moment, nothing seemed to matter more than this berry, and this berry, and this one.
Knut shouted to his nearest neighbors, Mart and Hallie, who replied in unison. Then they hallooed to Jim. After Jim called back to them, he shouted to Honey and Trixie.
“Can you hear me?” Trixie called.
Jim answered, “Hear you.” You, you, you, said the echo.
After a while, Trixie realized that her pail was almost full. If the others had worked this steadily, Miss Trask would have enough fruit to serve at several meals, even after Knut took his offering to his girl friend’s mother.
The back of Trixie’s neck and shoulders felt hot. She noticed that Honey had worked farther up the hill, and she ambled over to join her for a while.
Just then, she saw a patch of extra-large berries. With her eyes on their juiciness, Trixie stepped forward. In front of her was an obstruction of some kind, but in the litter of weeds, it looked solid enough to climb over.
Trixie lifted her berry pail high and clambered up—but not over!
With unbelievable speed, her feet shot out from under her. Landing with her pail lodged miraculously between her knees, she whooshed down what was apparently an abandoned log chute. Trees and bushes whizzed past her astonished eyes. I've got to stop! she thought, but when she reached out, she was punctured by slivers from dried pine needles. She couldn’t hang on long enough even to slow her plunge down the
“They look like blueberries,” Mart observed, “but then, all berries look alike to me.”
“You’ll find blueberries here, too, and whortleberries,” Knut assured him. “They all make good pie. Now, let’s pick!”
Knut led the little band along the saddle road, then took a deer trail. It plunged downhill so steeply that his head disappeared before Trixie, at the end of the line, was sure which way he had gone.
“Gleeps,” Trixie muttered, “why do I have this feeling that I'm the one who’s going to end up on another mountain?”
A Very Special Kind of Bear ● 9
KNUT REAPPEARED shortly, but soon Trixie saw Jim’s red head disappear among prosperous-looking bushes.
“Honey and I are going on to that fallen log,” she called.
“Okay, keep yelling,” Jim said, already absorbed in his task.
Although Trixie was used to working in Crab-apple Farm’s raspberry patch, she didn’t especially care for the tedious task of picking food bite by bite. Thinking about the past days’ adventures made the job seem more pleasant.
On the other hand, Honey was used to being waited on by servants but didn’t mind getting her hands dirty. She quickly chose a clump of bushes and set to work.
Trixie moved past her and began to roll the juicy huckleberries into her palm and then into her pail. The pail she carried was one that the Belden boys had made by poking holes in a halfgallon vegetable can and adding a wire bail. It seemed to take forever to cover the bottom of the can with berries.
While she picked, Trixie appreciated the mountain’s timeless silence. Far, far below she could see a green valley and a meandering stream. Mountains stretched beyond that, till blue distance swallowed up the distinction between mountain and sky. This had to be close to the spot where Cap’s friends, the foresters, had seen the sasquatch, Trixie thought. Up here, it was almost easy to accept the existence of that strange creature—practically easier than accepting the existence of other human beings.
Trixie crushed a berry between her fingers, and the faint odor of skunk cabbage disappeared. She thought briefly of the thief, but for the moment, nothing seemed to matter more than this berry, and this berry, and this one.
Knut shouted to his nearest neighbors, Mart and Hallie, who replied in unison. Then they hallooed to Jim. After Jim called back to them, he shouted to Honey and Trixie.
“Can you hear me?” Trixie called.
Jim answered, “Hear you.” You, you, you, said the echo.
After a while, Trixie realized that her pail was almost full. If the others had worked this steadily, Miss Trask would have enough fruit to serve at several meals, even after Knut took his offering to his girl friend’s mother.
The back of Trixie’s neck and shoulders felt hot. She noticed that Honey had worked farther up the hill, and she ambled over to join her for a while.
Just then, she saw a patch of extra-large berries. With her eyes on their juiciness, Trixie stepped forward. In front of her was an obstruction of some kind, but in the litter of weeds, it looked solid enough to climb over.
Trixie lifted her berry pail high and clambered up—but not over!
With unbelievable speed, her feet shot out from under her. Landing with her pail lodged miraculously between her knees, she whooshed down what was apparently an abandoned log chute. Trees and bushes whizzed past her astonished eyes. I've got to stop! she thought, but when she reached out, she was punctured by slivers from dried pine needles. She couldn’t hang on long enough even to slow her plunge down the
Similar Books
