by Pam Berkman
She was in her old territory.
“Now let’s find that canyon,” Sheng said. “We walk out of these woods across a plain and up the hill.”
Scrub Hill, thought Bo-Bo.
Sheng reached into his pocket. His face fell.
“The map!” he cried.
He ran back to the edge of the river. Bo-Bo grabbed the leg of his pants in case he tried to jump in. He gazed desperately at the foaming water.
But the map was gone.
12 Buzzard Canyon
“I don’t have that whole map memorized,” Sheng cried. “I’m not sure how to get to the canyon from here.”
But Bo-Bo was.
There was only one canyon that it could be. But if Thunder found out she was back… Stay out of our territory, she’d said.
They couldn’t stop now. The sun slanted through the trees. It was getting lower in the sky. They had to hurry.
She set off toward the canyon she’d crossed every time the pack hunted ground squirrels.
“You’re looking sure of yourself,” said Choi Hung.
“The place Sheng calls Buzzard Canyon—I know where it is,” said Bo-Bo.
“You don’t sound happy about it!” Choi Hung trilled.
Bo-Bo wasn’t. Buzzard Canyon was just below Scrub Hill.
If she was lucky, they could get across the canyon quickly, before anyone even knew they were there.
If I’m lucky, she said to herself. She started walking. She looked back to make sure Sheng was keeping up.
“Wait, Bo-Bo!” called Sheng. “We don’t have the map!”
“That doesn’t matter!” she barked, even though she knew he wouldn’t understand.
Sheng stood with his arms folded. “Stay, Bo-Bo!” he ordered. “We can’t just wander off. We’ll get lost!”
“Lost!” Choi Hung whistled. He flew between Bo-Bo and Sheng. “Lost!”
“Would you just help?” Bo-Bo said. She snapped at the air near Choi Hung. “I know what I’m doing.”
Choi Hung looked at her in surprise. She’d never snapped at him before.
“Mulish, meandering mutt,” he said. But he fluttered around Sheng’s shoulders.
“Follow the dog,” he squawked to Sheng. “Follow the dog!”
“What?” said Sheng.
Bo-Bo started uphill toward the canyon. This time, Sheng and Choi Hung followed.
* * *
There was only one safe way across Buzzard Canyon. Bo-Bo knew it well. It was where some scraggly grass and bright flowers held down the slippery dirt. There were stones Sheng could use as handholds. Bo-Bo would take him across that way.
When they reached the canyon, she bounded quickly to the edge, to show Sheng the way down.
It wasn’t there anymore.
Everything below had changed. There was only a sheer drop down. There must have been a rockslide. The bottom of the canyon was covered with sharp boulders and rocks.
Bo-Bo looked back at Sheng. He was running toward her.
“Careful, Bo-Bo!” he called. “Don’t fall!”
“Don’t fall!” Choi Hung squawked. Then he saw that Bo-Bo had stopped.
“What’s wrong?” the bird trilled.
Bo-Bo started to answer. Then the fur on her back rose. Her ears shot straight up.
The rockslide wasn’t the only problem.
Familiar scents wafted past her nose over the warm air. Scents she knew very, very well.
To her right, on the ridge at the top of Scrub Hill, dogs began to gather. They looked like birds on a branch. One of them was limping.
Bo-Bo looked up at her old pack.
Thunder stared straight down at her. Even from this distance, her stiff body told Bo-Bo she was angry. Very angry.
Thunder bounded down from the ridge. The pack followed.
Sheng was right behind Bo-Bo now. She could feel him tensing as the dogs approached.
Thunder stopped several paces away. The pack gathered behind her. Bo-Bo couldn’t help looking at Acorn. Acorn looked away.
But Thunder stared Bo-Bo right in the eye.
“I told you that if you ever came near Scrub Hill again, you’d be sorry. You should have listened.”
Choi Hung clicked his beak angrily. Bo-Bo crouched. She had to get Sheng away from Thunder. But Sheng crouched down next to her and put his arm over her neck.
Juniper said low, “She’s got a person with her. We don’t harm people.”
“I’ll get her away from him,” growled Thunder. She didn’t take her eyes off Bo-Bo. “Then I’ll deal with her.”
Bo-Bo started to step away from Sheng. At least he’d be safe. But Sheng reached out to gather her closer to him.
“I don’t think that’s going to work,” Juniper woofed. “He doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere.”
“She’s not worth it, Thunder,” piped up Acorn. “You know how people are. If they even think we’d harm one of them, they’d send their whole pack out after us. With those things they call guns.”
Thunder ignored him. She bared her teeth and stalked toward Bo-Bo.
Sheng squeezed Bo-Bo tight. His hand searched the ground around him. It closed on a sharp stone about the size of Bo-Bo’s paw.
Thunder growled more loudly than before.
“Get back!” Sheng said. He lifted up the stone. “She’s my family.”
“Better listen, huffy, haughty hound,” Choi Hung squawked.
“He has good aim,” Bo-Bo warned.
Thunder woofed a mean laugh. “Ha! Your boy’s as weak as you are!” she said to Bo-Bo.
Sheng? Weak?
“You’re wrong!” Bo-Bo almost roared. “It’s not weak to care what happens to other creatures, and to help them! It’s not weak to be kind!” She curled her lip. “You stay away from him, Thunder. He’s my pack now.”
Acorn looked from Bo-Bo to Thunder and back again. His tail twitched.
“Don’t bother with them, Thunder. The pack is more important,” he said.
Thunder finally broke her stare at Bo-Bo.
“For the pack,” she barked gruffly. “I won’t risk the pack.” Then she snarled at Bo-Bo, “But you get out of here now. If I ever see or smell you here again, I won’t care if you’ve got a boy with you or not. Or a stupid pigeon.”
“Hey!” squawked Choi Hung.
The pack walked past Bo-Bo. Sheng watched. He didn’t move.
Acorn trailed behind, the last to go. He passed close enough to Bo-Bo to touch noses, although he didn’t.
As he went by, he woofed very low, “If you’re trying to get across, there’s another way. About a mile along, up toward Gooseberry Rock. The rockslide opened it up when it closed this one.” He looked straight ahead.
When the pack was gone, Sheng stood up slowly. “What just happened?” he said to himself. But Bo-Bo had already broken into a run.
“Wait for me!” Sheng called. Choi Hung soared above them. They were off.
* * *
They were close to Gooseberry Rock, but Bo-Bo couldn’t see the way across the canyon—until she saw a huge bush of mountain gooseberry growing at the edge. There! she thought. She dove into the bush. It prickled and scratched her.
“Careful, dog!” croaked Choi Hung.
Bo-Bo pushed through. There in front of her was a narrow but safe way down, down, down, and then back up again.
She barked joyfully.
“Look what you found, Bo-Bo!” cried Sheng. “We’re almost there! Let’s go!”
13 Crooked Cave
The path up the other side of the canyon was clear. Bo-Bo climbed it as fast as she could. She had gooseberry leaves in her fur and thistles in her paws, but she didn’t care.
Because there was a cave near here. And now she suddenly knew what that cave had to be.
She had only been there once.
Her pack had known about it. It was in a gully just beyond the canyon. There was a small opening hidden by a rocky outcropping just above the gully. Thunder ha
d taken them inside to see if there was any food or water. But there wasn’t. Bo-Bo had never thought about it again.
It was the only cave close to the canyon. It must be Crooked Cave.
Bo-Bo ran up the last hill between her and the cave. Choi Hung soared above her. Sheng scrambled behind them, trying to keep up.
“We did it!” Bo-Bo barked excitedly to Choi Hung. “We found Crooked Cave!”
She reached the top of the hill and flopped down in the warm grass. She looked down into the gully.
Oh no. It can’t be. Her joy vanished.
“Trouble, dog. Big trouble,” Choi Hung trilled softly.
There were men everywhere. And horses. Bo-Bo heard the clang of pickaxes against rocks. She heard the cracking of rocks as they split. The men weren’t using the small opening under the outcropping. They were clearing a pile of stones that hid a bigger entrance in the side of the hill. As they broke and cleared away the rocks, they propped up the entrance with wooden beams.
“Hurry up, you lazy louts!” Bo-Bo heard a man’s voice say. “Or you won’t get paid a nickel.”
Bo-Bo’s blood turned to ice.
Mr. Smeets.
He was holding out a big piece of paper in front of him. It had marks on it. It looked like Sheng’s map, only it wasn’t tattered. The ringtail had said Mr. Smeets got the map last night. Bo-Bo remembered the piece of paper that had fallen out of his jacket in town. He must have made an extra copy for himself.
He’d said he had to do some things outside of town! He had horses and he’d gotten there before them.
Bo-Bo heard footsteps pounding up behind her. Sheng ran up the hill. She didn’t want him to see the men at the cave. The smile on his face broke her heart. He thought they were about to find Crooked Cave. The legendary cave of gold. He thought he’d be able to pay for the bear and save the claim.
He reached the top. He stopped and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
“Good girl,” he said. He ruffled Bo-Bo’s ears. Then he peered over the edge.
The look on his face when he saw the men was something Bo-Bo didn’t think she could stand. It was as though a lamp, the golden lamp that had lit up his eyes on the climb up, had gone out.
“So Mr. Smeets stole this, too,” Sheng muttered. “It’s not right. Nothing about this is right.”
I should never have freed Resilience! Bo-Bo thought in misery. We’d be home now, fixing supper and listening to Uncle Gwan’s stories!
But would she take it back if she could?
It’s not weak to care what happens to other creatures, and to help them! she’d told Thunder. The words were still true.
It wasn’t right to keep Resilience in a cage, or the ringtail on a chain!
No. Bo-Bo wouldn’t undo what she’d done. Even if she could.
And she wouldn’t let Smeets and his men win now.
She got to her paws.
“What are you doing?” Choi Hung squawked.
“Be quiet,” Bo-Bo ordered. “I know another way in. I’m getting some gold. You keep an eye on Sheng. Make sure he stays put.”
She padded along the hillside and down a narrow trail. The shelf of rock hung over the gap in the earth. It partially hid the small opening her pack had used to get inside.
She scooted through. And then she was on a narrow ledge inside. The cave roof yawned high above her. Some of the men were inside too. They were far below her. She crawled along the ledge on her belly and looked over the side.
The men had put up more tall beams of wood to hold up the cave entrance on the inside. They’d set out lanterns to light the gloom.
There it was—gold! There were stacks and stacks of rocks, and each and every one of them glittered with veins of gold. The rocks were already mined, just waiting there on the cave floor. Men were putting them into canvas bags and taking them to the big cave entrance. All Bo-Bo had to do was get enough of them and bring them back to Sheng.
She heard heavy breathing and footsteps behind her. Her nose twitched. Sheng! He had followed her into the cave.
“Good girl, Bo-Bo!” he whispered. Choi Hung hovered above his head.
“I told you to keep him there!” Bo-Bo said to Choi Hung.
“Bossy, belligerent beast!” Choi Hung retorted. “You try to get humans to stay where they belong.”
Sheng crouched down and looked over the ledge.
“Look at all that gold! We need ten ounces. Each of those rocks must have at least three or four ounces running through it! If we can even get three of them, everything will be all right.”
Just then, one of the men looked up.
“Hey!” he said. “There’s that kid from town!”
“He’ll tell people where the cave is!” another said.
Mr. Smeets looked up.
“Get him,” Mr. Smeets said. “Don’t let him leave this cave alive.”
14 The Battle of the Cave
Sheng and Bo-Bo turned and ran. Two men blocked their way. They must have found the hidden entrance!
“Look!” Sheng called. “That way!” Bo-Bo looked where he pointed. A zigzag path led to the cave floor and the opening held up by the beams. Maybe they could be quick enough to get past the men there.
But the men below raised their rifles. They fired.
Bullets whizzed by them and glanced off the walls and ceiling of the cave. Sheng dropped to his belly.
He pulled at Bo-Bo so she was almost flat on the ground herself. Together they crawled along the dark path to stay out of the line of fire.
More bullets. The dirt beneath them gave way. Sheng tumbled forward. Bo-Bo tried to grab his shirt, his arm, his braid, anything so she could stop him from falling. But she couldn’t. He fell head over heels down the path. Bo-Bo slid after him. They landed on the cave floor.
She looked up. The men were moving toward them. They pointed their guns at Bo-Bo and Sheng.
Choi Hung dove down at the men, screeching. One of the men fired up at him. He soared out of the way and grabbed another man by his hair. The first man swung his shotgun at Choi Hung. The bird screeched again and flew high.
Sheng and Bo-Bo backed up against a boulder. They were trapped.
Bo-Bo couldn’t let Sheng get hurt. She stood, ready to charge at the men. They might shoot her, but it would give Sheng a chance to get away.
The shooting paused. The men were reloading.
And then came the only sound that could make things worse. A loud, heavy growl. Not an ordinary growl. A growl that meant it. And then a roar.
A huge grizzly bear lumbered into the cave. Its hunched shoulders were tense with fury. The ruff around its neck puffed out. When it stood up on its hind legs, it was taller than Mr. Smeets.
Choi Hung dove for the bear’s head.
“No!” Bo-Bo barked. “Leave her alone!”
She knew this bear.
Resilience swept the guns out of the men’s hands with one big paw. The men backed away until they hit the cave wall.
“Hello, dog,” Resilience said.
“Umm… hello,” Bo-Bo answered.
Sheng watched stock-still and wide-eyed. Choi Hung fluttered right above the bear’s head.
A littler growl sounded from behind the grizzly. A small, fluffy bear face peeked out.
A moment later something furry barreled into Bo-Bo.
“You’re the dog who opens cages, aren’t you?” the little bear said to Bo-Bo. “Thank you so much!”
“Errr… you’re welcome,” Bo-Bo said.
The little bear nuzzled Sheng. Very carefully, Sheng patted its head.
“You stay here, Hornet,” the mama bear said to the cub. “Can you make sure he does, dog?”
“Uh… I’ll try,” woofed Bo-Bo.
“Much obliged,” Resilience said.
Then she dropped down onto all fours and loped toward the rest of the men.
“Aiee!” cried one of the men. Bo-Bo recognized the one who had been selling tickets to the bear fight
in town. He dropped his rifle and ran.
The others opened fire. Bullets tore into one of the beams holding up the cave entrance. It shivered.
Resilience easily dodged the shots. Bo-Bo couldn’t believe how fast such a big animal could move.
Resilience stood on her hind legs again and roared. The men facing her froze in terror.
But not Mr. Smeets. He was behind the bear. She didn’t see him. He cocked his rifle.
“Look out!” barked Bo-Bo. She’d promised to watch Hornet, but she couldn’t let his mother be killed. She ran at Mr. Smeets’s legs as fast and hard as she could. She slammed into him. He fell.
He roared in anger just like Resilience. But he still had his gun. From the ground, he raised the rifle and pointed it at Bo-Bo. Sheng shouted, “You leave my dog alone!”
Choi Hung shrieked. Bo-Bo could only watch the gun.
Something above her chittered. A thin, sinewy shape with a long striped tail leaped down from the high ledge. It landed on Mr. Smeets’s head. Its claws dug into his neck.
“YOWOWOWOWCH!” Mr. Smeets howled. He jumped to his feet. But the ringtail clung to his head. She swiped at his eyes. Mr. Smeets dropped his rifle and tried to pull the creature off.
“What are you doing here?” Bo-Bo barked.
“I told you I always pay my debts,” the ringtail called to her. “I kept an eye on you, dog.”
Mr. Smeets ran from the cave, the ringtail still on his head. His men followed.
Resilience and her cub were snuffling around the ground. Sheng moved toward the gold-streaked rocks.
Bo-Bo heard a groaning sound. She looked up. One of the beams that held up the cave entrance creaked and swayed. It was the one the bullets had hit. It was breaking. Dust and dirt and rock rained down on them.
“The cave is collapsing!” Sheng screamed.
15 Last Chance
Resilience grabbed Hornet by the scruff and lumbered out of the cave.
“We have to get the gold!” Bo-Bo woofed to Choi Hung. She darted toward the rock pile. Sheng grabbed her by her neck fur.