They certainly wouldn’t have to shoot the cub. One way or another, she’d get it safely out of the trailer. But if mama came charging, there’d be no option but to shoot her.
That thought alone was enough to fill Carly’s throat with tears. But there really wouldn’t be an option. Not with all those people gathered around the kitchen trailer.
Jay was screaming at everyone to stay back, but nobody seemed to be listening.
“Dammit,” Nick muttered as they plowed a path through the bystanders. “We could sure use better crowd .control.”
Jay spotted them and yelled, “We wouldn’t have needed your help if this country didn’t have such stupid gun laws! You know we couldn’t bring a single gun across the border?”
Carly offered up a tiny prayer of thanks to Canada Customs, while Nick shouted to the crowd. “Listen, everybody, get the hell inside. If there’s a mother bear around the camp, you don’t want her to catch you in the open.”
“You heard him!” Jay screamed. “Get moving.”
Some people headed off. Others didn’t, apparently more willing to risk a charging bear than miss the excitement.
Goodie, who was practically hopping up and down, closed in on Carly and said, “This means there are bears in those woods we were lost in, doesn’t it?”
Nick turned to her, waving Goodie off as he did. “Okay, you open the door and stay behind it. I’ll go in.”
She made sure that nobody was too near, then whispered, “Are you forgetting you’re not really a bear expert? I’ll go in.”
“Look, I’ve faced armed men and—”
“Fine, but I’ve faced unarmed bear cubs.” Before he could argue further, she turned to the chef. “Where’s the light switch in there?”
“Just to the right of the door.”
She stepped over to the door and cracked it open. There wasn’t a sound from inside.
Hoping against hope the cub wasn’t directly under the switch, she slid her hand across the wall and found what she wanted. When she flicked on the light, there was still only silence inside the trailer.
Cautiously she pulled the door open further and peered in. And then she started to laugh with relief.
“What?” Nick demanded, so close behind her he was breathing down her neck.
“Look at our bear cub.” She opened the door the rest of the way to reveal Rocky Raccoon sitting on a counter with one paw in a jar of jam and several shredded cookie bags beside him.
“He’s a whiz at opening doors,” she explained. Then she looked over at Rocky again and told him he was a bad boy. But she was so glad he wasn’t a cub with a mean mama that she couldn’t make herself sound angry.
“False alarm,” Nick told the crowd. “It’s just a tame coon.”
“Your trained tame coon?” Jay demanded.
“Uh-huh.”
“Well I sure as hell hope Attila’s not trained to go into trailers.”
S HORTLY AFTER CARLY and Nick retrieved Rocky from the camp’s kitchen, one of Dylan’s friends arrived to take the night shift with Attila.
By the time they got him settled in next to the field—with a deck chair, a couple of flashlights, a bottle of bug repellant and a thermos of coffee—it was past midnight.
“If you’re taking people out scouting locations at seven in the morning, you’d better head straight to bed,” Nick said as they walked back to the house.
Carly nodded wearily. It had been an awfully long day. Even so, she doubted she’d be able to fall asleep—not until she knew exactly how he figured they were going to ID their saboteur.
Once they were in the kitchen, she asked.
“You’re not too tired to talk?” he said.
“I’m almost too tired to breathe, but I’ll feel a lot better if I know.”
She got a glass of iced tea for herself and a beer for him, and they took them out onto the front porch—the Marx brothers following, then scurrying down the steps to give the lawn a late-night check.
The cast and crew knew there’d be no early call in the morning, so a lot of them
That thought alone was enough to fill Carly’s throat with tears. But there really wouldn’t be an option. Not with all those people gathered around the kitchen trailer.
Jay was screaming at everyone to stay back, but nobody seemed to be listening.
“Dammit,” Nick muttered as they plowed a path through the bystanders. “We could sure use better crowd .control.”
Jay spotted them and yelled, “We wouldn’t have needed your help if this country didn’t have such stupid gun laws! You know we couldn’t bring a single gun across the border?”
Carly offered up a tiny prayer of thanks to Canada Customs, while Nick shouted to the crowd. “Listen, everybody, get the hell inside. If there’s a mother bear around the camp, you don’t want her to catch you in the open.”
“You heard him!” Jay screamed. “Get moving.”
Some people headed off. Others didn’t, apparently more willing to risk a charging bear than miss the excitement.
Goodie, who was practically hopping up and down, closed in on Carly and said, “This means there are bears in those woods we were lost in, doesn’t it?”
Nick turned to her, waving Goodie off as he did. “Okay, you open the door and stay behind it. I’ll go in.”
She made sure that nobody was too near, then whispered, “Are you forgetting you’re not really a bear expert? I’ll go in.”
“Look, I’ve faced armed men and—”
“Fine, but I’ve faced unarmed bear cubs.” Before he could argue further, she turned to the chef. “Where’s the light switch in there?”
“Just to the right of the door.”
She stepped over to the door and cracked it open. There wasn’t a sound from inside.
Hoping against hope the cub wasn’t directly under the switch, she slid her hand across the wall and found what she wanted. When she flicked on the light, there was still only silence inside the trailer.
Cautiously she pulled the door open further and peered in. And then she started to laugh with relief.
“What?” Nick demanded, so close behind her he was breathing down her neck.
“Look at our bear cub.” She opened the door the rest of the way to reveal Rocky Raccoon sitting on a counter with one paw in a jar of jam and several shredded cookie bags beside him.
“He’s a whiz at opening doors,” she explained. Then she looked over at Rocky again and told him he was a bad boy. But she was so glad he wasn’t a cub with a mean mama that she couldn’t make herself sound angry.
“False alarm,” Nick told the crowd. “It’s just a tame coon.”
“Your trained tame coon?” Jay demanded.
“Uh-huh.”
“Well I sure as hell hope Attila’s not trained to go into trailers.”
S HORTLY AFTER CARLY and Nick retrieved Rocky from the camp’s kitchen, one of Dylan’s friends arrived to take the night shift with Attila.
By the time they got him settled in next to the field—with a deck chair, a couple of flashlights, a bottle of bug repellant and a thermos of coffee—it was past midnight.
“If you’re taking people out scouting locations at seven in the morning, you’d better head straight to bed,” Nick said as they walked back to the house.
Carly nodded wearily. It had been an awfully long day. Even so, she doubted she’d be able to fall asleep—not until she knew exactly how he figured they were going to ID their saboteur.
Once they were in the kitchen, she asked.
“You’re not too tired to talk?” he said.
“I’m almost too tired to breathe, but I’ll feel a lot better if I know.”
She got a glass of iced tea for herself and a beer for him, and they took them out onto the front porch—the Marx brothers following, then scurrying down the steps to give the lawn a late-night check.
The cast and crew knew there’d be no early call in the morning, so a lot of them
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