Mesa Trail ch. 11
Draft 2

"Possession of a fallen star would raise his stature in the gull community. As far as he knew, none of the other gulls on this strip of beach had an object as lovely as this one." – Appelt, from Keeper










Nobody ever said it would be easy for a black bear.. well..to be a black bear up in the Boulder trails, more importantly a bear who wanted to help the kids mine for gold.  Biggalow (Biggalow was the name that Josh and Kitie came up with because, let's face it, this young fellow was in fact big and low), knew from the get go that yes, his size and fierce demeanor (sometimes you just gotta be tough if you'd like to chase down the mouse!) might send some of the mining party running down the thickets of Chokecherry and Shrubby Cinquefoil lining trails to either side.  He never wanted this, never, never.  Biggalow was sensitive to the ways of these skinny two-leggers, and would sometimes even self-consciously ease his way down from the hibernation cave sight, sort of sideways, with his nose bobbing gently up toward the sky so that anybody he might encounter would see his profile at such an angle that looked like a smile not snarl.  Sometimes he'd powder his head with soft dandelion dust to lighten the mood a little bit.  Now, how Hannah and her project leaders came to the point where they somehow felt comfortable slapping a horse sack over the back of Biggalow in order to use his great strength and ability to carry loads up the hills, was something very few would ever want to talk about.  There had to have been a moment where things were awkward, where an eye to eye meeting would have resulted in some kind of bear paw shake – the bear, thankfully, did not digest the kid, and the kid, for her own, did not try to trap or hunt the bear.  There must have been a man / beaste detente and then somebody, some brave soul, would then have to have been quite assuming (pushing the envelope really, but that what kids are good at), and placed a pack over the haunches of Biggalow's massive furry back.

Did they then use honey as bribery to indicate direction to walk with the haul? Whatever the process, it had been working, and at any given day, you might approach the great mining project and see Williamson sapsucker flitting about the ponderosa canopy above singing very specific songs for the entertainment of the workers, and also a wild bear willingly walking up and down, fearlessly of course, the bottom of the chute back upwards, laying down the packs by simply bending over, much like a camel might, as the rock pack slid slowly down the stubby neck and onto the ground.  "You are a good man Biggalow, despite all that is said about you," Josh might say, who was now a supervisor -- and quite stern mind you for a 10 year old. There was really only one way that this might continue on as it was...no parents?  Hannah had already trained Biggalow for a parent sighting in which case, he was to quickly release the rocks in the pack to the ground, then quickly duck back behind the Ponderosa stand and take a nap so that he wouldn't be tempted to move around and make noise.  It was all figured out. The sluice box had taken in upwards of three thousand dollars in the first few days.  They had received school permission.  The creatures of the region were contributing.  Something, Hannah knew, had to give, but what?