by Pam Berkman
“Can’t do it,” the ringtail said. “I don’t trust anyone when there’s gold involved. Besides, I can’t get to it from here. But I always pay my debts. Always.”
Bo-Bo didn’t know whether to trust the ringtail. But if she was telling the truth, they could pay for the bear. They could stay on the claim.
“All right,” she said. “What do I do?”
“This chain runs inside the saloon. It’s attached to a stake dug into the floor. Dig out the stake. I’ll do the rest.”
Bo-Bo looked around. No one else was there. Even Sheng wasn’t watching her. He didn’t seem able to move.
“I’ll do it,” she said.
She padded around the building and under the door into the saloon.
9 The Map
The room was noisy and smoky. Men were drinking coffee or playing cards or talking at tables. Another man was serving them. There were even some chickens strutting around. Bo-Bo’s mouth watered, but she ignored them. No one looked when she slunk by.
She saw the chain snaking across the floor. She followed it to a dark corner of the room. There it was hooked to a narrow wooden stake.
The dirt floor of the saloon was hard. Bo-Bo dug as quickly as she could. The stake had just come out of the ground when—
Squawk!
A chicken had seen her.
“Dog! Dog!” the chicken squawked. In a second all the chickens were in a panic. “Dog! Dog!” they all cried. They fluttered up onto tables and chairs to get as far away from Bo-Bo as they could.
One of the men threw down his cards. “What’s going on?!”
“That’s the mutt who caused all the trouble!” another said. “Let’s get her! I’ll bet we could get another three dollars for her!”
He was one of the men who had shoved Sheng and taken his money. A wave of anger washed over Bo-Bo.
“Just try it!” she woofed.
They moved in on her.
Bo-Bo crouched. She waited until they were almost on top of her. Then she ran between the two men. They tried to grab her and bumped into each other instead.
The whole saloon saw her now. Three more men ran at her. She ran between one man’s legs. He tried to grab her but fell on his rump. Another one landed right on top of him. The man who had fallen swung a fist at the man who landed on him. He missed and hit a man behind him, who swung back. In half a minute everyone in the saloon was fighting.
Bo-Bo darted between everyone’s feet. The chain rippled across the floor and up the wall. The ringtail must be pulling on it.
Bo-Bo ran toward the saloon door. A wonderful smell drifted under her nose. There on a table was a plate with a bit of Hangtown fry on it. Mr. Smeets’s leftovers! Bo-Bo knew she’d never get a chance to try that expensive Hangtown fry again. She gulped it down, then bolted out of the saloon.
The ringtail waited at the back of the building. She had jumped down from her perch. Sheng had stood up and was calling Bo-Bo.
“Where’d you go?” he asked. “Did you get into more trouble?” They could hear the banging and crashing of the fight inside the saloon. Sheng’s question hurt Bo-Bo’s feelings, but she couldn’t stop to think about that now. She had to make sure the ringtail kept her end of the bargain.
“Where’s the map?” she woofed.
“Hold your horses!” the ringtail said. She ran to the rooming house next to the saloon and jumped into a window. The chain and the stake trailed behind her. She came back with a roll of tattered canvas in her mouth. It was crumbling around the edges. She dropped it next to Bo-Bo.
“Good luck!” the ringtail said. She began to scurry away. The chain clanked behind her.
“Wait!” Bo-Bo called. “You’re not going to get far that way. Stay still.”
The ringtail stopped. She kept a front paw raised, ready to run.
Bo-Bo sniffed at the chain and collar. The collar was held together by a simple buckle at the back of the ringtail’s neck. There was no way the ringtail could have reached it.
“Don’t bite me,” she ordered. She took the piece of leather that went through the buckle in her teeth and pulled at it until the collar loosened. The ringtail put a front paw on each side of it and pushed it over her head. She started to run away. Then she stopped.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said. “You could have just taken the map and left. I won’t forget.” Then she darted away.
Bo-Bo ran back to Sheng. He had unrolled the map and was staring at it.
“This is… this is…” It sounded like he was almost afraid to say it. “Look! This is the map to Crooked Cave!” He traced some lines on it with his finger. “It’s faded, but I can see that rain cloud over a mountain! Just like Uncle Gwan said!” He shook his head in disbelief.
Bo-Bo sniffed the map.
“Look!”
All Bo-Bo saw were some marks on the canvas. But they meant something to Sheng. “This drawing of buildings, this must be Pickax Flat, right where we are now,” he said. “And those are the hills to the east.” He looked toward the hills that loomed in the distance.
“So we leave town to the north; then we go to the east to some big stones shaped like four fingers sticking up in the air, near these three pine trees. From there we cross a river and head downstream. Then we cross a canyon—I think that must be Buzzard Canyon. I’ve heard miners talk about that—see the drawing of the buzzard? And then at this X is a cave—Crooked Cave! This is where the prospector left all his gold!”
He whooped. He picked up Bo-Bo’s front paws and danced around with her. She opened her mouth in a big grin and let her tongue hang out. A lump in her chest loosened. “We’re going to be all right, Bo-Bo!” Sheng said.
He dropped her paws. “What was that ringtail doing with this?” he wondered. He rolled up the map and put it in his pocket. Someone in the saloon was yelling. It sounded like Mr. Smeets shouting at everyone not to break his property.
“We’d better get out of here,” Sheng said. “Come on, Bo-Bo! Let’s show those crooks how much gold we can get!”
10 Rattlesnake Rock
They left the town behind, but Bo-Bo’s anger stayed with her. She was angry with the men who took Sheng’s money. Angry with Mr. Smeets for being so greedy. Most of all, she was angry with herself for letting it all happen.
Determination settled on her like a second layer of fur. She wouldn’t let her own weakness cost Sheng and his family everything. This time, she’d make up for her mistake.
They walked and walked and then they walked some more. Bo-Bo was thirsty again. Sheng shook his canteen. It was almost empty.
“The air is so dry here!” he said. “It makes your throat feel like tree bark. Back home it’s hot, but at least the air isn’t full of dust.” He poured some water into his palm for Bo-Bo. She lapped it up. Sheng drank the rest.
“We’ll have to get more soon,” he said. He unrolled the map. He pointed to something on it. “We’ll get some when we get to this river.” It just looked like a wavy line to Bo-Bo, but somehow Sheng knew it meant there was a river there.
“But first we need those rocks near the pine trees,” he said. He looked up and pointed at two hills, one to the left, one to the right. “They could be over either of those hills,” he said. “But I can’t tell which one from the map. It shows a lot of hills.”
Pine trees. Bo-Bo couldn’t read a map, but she knew pine trees when she smelled them. Their sweet, sharp scent floated toward her on the breeze. She lifted her nose to the air. She followed the scent, walking a few paces toward the hill on the left. But Sheng kept staring at the map. She tugged on his shirt. He just frowned and looked up at the hills again.
Bo-Bo had to get him to follow her. She grabbed the canteen from his grip and ran.
“Bo-Bo!” Sheng shouted. “Come back here! I need that!”
Bo-Bo dashed up the hill toward the scent. Sheng raced after her.
When she reached the top, she looked down. There it was! A cluster of rocks, like four fingers
pointing straight up into the sky.
Sheng came panting behind her.
“What were you thinking?” he said. He took the canteen from her. Then he looked down the hill. His eyes widened in surprise. “It’s the rocks! Surrounded by trees! It’s right there. That’s lucky.” Bo-Bo wagged her tail.
Sheng ran down the hill. Bo-Bo followed. When they reached the trees, Sheng leaned against one of the rocks, where there was a little shade.
“The map says the river is downhill and to the south,” he said. “We cross it at a big oak tree. There’s a bridge there.” He was still breathing hard. It was getting very hot. He shook the empty canteen and licked his dry lips.
“The white miners don’t have to pay three dollars a month just to keep their claims,” he grumbled. “None of them would ever have to be out here frying like an egg.”
Bo-Bo had never heard Sheng talk like that before.
Rattle Rattle Rattle!
Bo-Bo knew what that sound was. A snake was coiled up next to a hole under the rock. Right by her left paw! Its flat, triangular head was lowered. Its small eyes glared. Its tail was lifted high above the rest of it. Rattle!
Sheng gasped. Bo-Bo scooched backward until her rump was next to Sheng.
Rattle Rattle Rattle! That sound came from behind them. It was another snake.
Rattle Rattle! Another one.
Bo-Bo knew what you were supposed to do around rattlers. Don’t disturb them, and back away slowly.
But the snakes were already disturbed. And she and Sheng couldn’t back up any farther.
The snakes hissed. Sheng reached up toward the tree above him. He grasped a branch and snapped it off. He held it up, ready for a fight.
Bo-Bo snuffled quietly so she wouldn’t startle the snakes. “We don’t mean any harm,” she told the one closest to her. It drew back its head.
“Then why are you here?” the snake said. “With one of those gold hunters?” She bobbed her head toward Sheng. “Men come here and take everything. They dig up our dens. This is our home. They stole it.”
“We don’t want anything!” Bo-Bo barked. “We just—”
The snake leaped at her. Sheng shouted and swung his stick. Bo-Bo jumped straight into the air. She landed in a crouch and grabbed the snake behind its head. She threw it as far as she could. It landed with a hiss and slid back toward them. Another snake moved in. Then another. Suddenly it seemed like the entire ground around the rock was alive with snakes.
Bo-Bo’s fury returned. They were threatening Sheng! Like the men in town had. Like Mr. Smeets had. Her whole body got hot, and she growled a deeper growl than she had ever growled before.
She pounced among the snakes.
Sheng ran forward with his stick. Bo-Bo couldn’t let him be bitten. She yelped and threw another snake. Two more closed in on her.
THWACK! A rock landed between the two snakes. There was a blur of bright colors and sharp talons and a beak.
“Choi Hung!” cried Sheng.
The bird dove down and flew up and then dove down again. Sheng swung his stick. Bo-Bo barked and growled. The snakes began to slither away, into crevices and holes. Bo-Bo snatched one behind its head.
I can crush you right now, she thought. That’s what Thunder would do.
The snake flopped around desperately, trying to escape her jaws.
Suddenly, Bo-Bo was ashamed. The snake was now all alone against her, Sheng, and Choi Hung. It was just trying to take care of its home. Just like she was trying to take care of Sheng and the claim. She didn’t want to be like the men in town or Mr. Smeets.
She let the snake go. It hissed in relief and slid away.
Choi Hung fluttered to Sheng’s shoulder.
“Choi Hung, what are you doing here?” Sheng asked, stroking Choi Hung’s feathers.
“Dim, dust-brained dog!” Choi Hung said to Bo-Bo. “Don’t you know better than to play with rattlesnakes?”
Bo-Bo ignored this. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I heard from a vulture, who heard from a hawk, who heard from a crow that you were in trouble.” He cocked his head from side to side. “Where are you going?”
“Crooked Cave!” Bo-Bo answered. She quickly told Choi Hung what had happened in town. “Sheng has the map Uncle Gwan talked about! We’re going to find the gold there!”
“Well, it’s about time!” Choi Hung squawked.
Sheng was standing still, staring back toward town. “You know what?” he said. “It’s not fair that we have to pay this stupid tax. It’s not fair that Mr. Smeets and those awful men stole our gold. I’m starting to think maybe…”
Maybe what? Bo-Bo wondered.
Sheng shook his head. “But we don’t have a choice,” he said. “Come on, you two. Let’s get to that bridge.”
11 The River
Sheng stood at the river. He stared at the bridge. It was nothing more than some logs and branches tied together. Underneath it, the water rushed and foamed.
Choi Hung bobbed on Sheng’s shoulder.
“Not a bridge!” he squawked. “Not a bridge!”
Sheng filled his canteen with water while Bo-Bo drank. Then he took a deep breath. He stepped gingerly onto the makeshift bridge. Bo-Bo stayed right by his side. Sheng went down on all fours. I don’t know how they balance at all on only two legs, Bo-Bo thought.
Sheng crawled forward. Every time he seemed to be making progress, the water splashed over him and almost knocked him off the logs. Choi Hung spread his wings and held tighter to Sheng. Little by little, they all inched their way across.
“Almost there!” Choi Hung called. “Almost there!”
Sheng reached for the slippery bunch of branches ahead of him. As soon as he put his weight on them, they came loose and rushed downriver. The rope tying them together had rotted away! Sheng gasped. Now there was a wide gap in the bridge.
I’ll help him! Bo-Bo thought. If she jumped over the gap to the next set of branches, Sheng could grab on to her and pull himself across. She leaped.
She landed with a thump and a CRACK. The wood beneath her broke. She fell into the river.
“Bo-Bo!” Sheng shouted.
The water swirled over her head. She swallowed a stomachful of river. She came up and gulped air. She paddled hard to keep her head above water.
Sheng was beside her. He had jumped in after her! The water was too deep for her to stand up in—could Sheng? One look at his face and she knew he couldn’t. He was paddling desperately. This wasn’t like the stream on the claim. It was strong and fast.
Bo-Bo tried to swim back to the bridge. But the current was too strong. Beside her, Sheng spat up water. He tried to get back to the bridge too. His eyes were wide.
Choi Hung soared above them.
“I’ll be back!” he squawked. He flew downstream. He flapped his wings harder than Bo-Bo had ever seen him flap. His last shriek as he headed downstream was, “Don’t fight! Let the river carry you!”
Carry me? thought Bo-Bo. But she would try anything.
She stopped struggling. As soon as she stopped battling the current, it was much easier for her to stay afloat.
But she was floating away from Sheng. He was still fighting to get to the bridge. He slipped under the water, then came back up, and then went under again. She swam as hard as she could to get closer to him.
“Bo-Bo!” he coughed.
His hand grabbed her fur. It gave him just enough breathing space to see what she was doing. She saw him relax and give in to the river. If they could find someplace to get out, they could make it. It needed to be soon. Bo-Bo could see how exhausted Sheng was. She was too.
There! A speck far away in the sky! It got closer and closer!
“Choi Hung!” gulped Bo-Bo. “Where have you been?!”
“Quiet, dog,” screeched Choi Hung, circling. “I found a place for you two to get out of this rolling river!”
Bo-Bo kept quiet, although all she wanted to do was bark out, “WHERE?”
Choi Hung said, “Around two more curves, there’s an old tree stump. It looks like an angry bobcat. There’s some flat land jutting out into the river. Get out there. Don’t get swept past it. After that the bank is too steep. You’ll keep floating forever.”
“Which side?” Bo-Bo gasped.
“That one,” Choi Hung said, dipping his wing.
Sheng floated on his belly, swimming like a frog. A frog that kept coughing up water. Bo-Bo tried to paddle back to him but only got another mouthful of water.
“Keep swimming, dog!” Choi Hung trilled.
The water carried them down, down, down the river.
“There it is! There it is!” Choi Hung squawked in human words. Bo-Bo saw it too. A big tree trunk with knots that looked like eyes, twigs that looked like a bobcat’s ears, and a hole near the bottom that looked like an angry mouth.
She hurled herself against the stump, catching her paws between two roots. She hauled herself out of the water. Sheng tried to clamber up after her. But the current started to carry him away. His hat floated downriver. Bo-Bo grabbed his shirt in her mouth. Choi Hung grabbed his long braid. They pulled him up onto shore.
Sheng lay on the ground, coughing and spluttering. Finally he sat up. “Thanks!” he said.
He looked around. “I think that river did us a favor.” He coughed. “We needed to go a long way down the bank. I think this is just where we need to be!”
Bo-Bo would have wagged her wet tail, but she couldn’t bring herself to. Because she knew exactly where they were.
There was no mistaking it. The scent of scrub grass and manzanita. The gently rolling hills she could see through the trees. And the stump. From this side, it didn’t look like a bobcat.
The twigs looked like rabbit ears, and there was a big knot at the bottom like a fluffy tail. It was Jackrabbit Stump.