As I talked, Pringle loped away. His entire coat was stained with berry juice, giving him a blood-soaked zombie roadkill appearance that made us both cringe.
“It’s fine. Everything will be fine,” Charles said with a smile that felt forced. “We’ll relax here for a little bit before heading back. We can grab something for lunch once we’re back at the RV.”
“Yeah, if Octo-Cat hasn’t already eaten it all.” I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned. I didn’t want to be a bummer, but I was just so, so disappointed, and I knew Charles was, too.
“We can still turn this weekend around,” he promised as he leaned back against the thick tree trunk and pulled me to his chest. Then he repeated for the dozenth time, “I have it all planned out.” It was quickly becoming his getaway mantra.
He then went on to tell me about his plans for campfires and swimming and simply lounging about in the RV, enjoying each other’s company. “We’re skipping fishing, though. I figured with your ability, that would be kind of a nightmare scenario. Ah, please don’t eat me!” he cried in a silly, high-pitched voice.
Honestly, I was already this close to becoming a vegetarian. The only thing that stopped me was that all my animal friends also ate meat, even though they could talk to each other, too.
“Are you ready to head back?” Charles asked after we’d sat snuggled up against that tree for a good twenty minutes.
I stretched my arms overhead, then let out a groan.“We can’t leave without Pringle. He might not be able to find his way back.”
Charles arched one eyebrow.“And that’s a problem because?”
I shoved him playfully.“I know he can be a pest, but for better or worse, he’s our pest.”
“You won’t be calling me a pest when you see the present I’ve brought you,” Pringle called, emerging tail-first from the nearby brush.
Uh-oh. There’s no way a present from Pringle could be a good thing.
A glint of silver caught my attention—the sunlight reflecting off the scales of an enormous salmon that Pringle dragged behind him.
“How did you manage to get that?” I asked in surprise.
He paused to flash us a giant grin.“I felt bad about eating all your food, so I went and secured new food.”
“And by secured you mean…?”
Pringle dragged the fish the rest of the way to us, then stood on his hind legs and admitted,“Okay, so I had a little help. Gloria, come on out!”
I followed his eyes as he turned back toward the brush, where a massive grizzly bear emerged.
Charles jumped to his feet and spread his arms to block me.“Angie, get down! Or run! I won’t let him hurt you!”
I gulped hard, then rose to my feet and put a hand on my boyfriend’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I think the bear’s friends with Pringle. Let me just talk to them before you freak out. Okay?”
I turned to Pringle so he could explain.
“Not a friend. A client,” Pringle bit out the words, taking extra care to enunciate clearly. “Gloria’s just brought us a new case, and she’s already paid up front with this beauty.” He motioned toward the fish. “Isn’t that great?”
I could think of a lot of words to describe this situation, but not a single one of them was“great.”
Chapter Seven
“What have you gotten us into?” I whispered to the raccoon, all the while hoping that bears had poor hearing. I’d never come across one face-to-face, so I honestly didn’t know what to expect.
“Relax,” Pringle said, holding his hands out in front of him. “She just needs a small favor. It’s easy, I promise.”
“We’ll talk about this later,” I said from the side of my mouth, then strode toward the bear with a tight-lipped smile. I didn’t know enough about bears to determine whether showing my teeth would be construed as a threat, and with an animal as big and powerful as this one, I wasn’t taking any chances.
“Hello,” I called cheerfully, stopping several feet away. “Gloria, is it?”
The grizzly dipped her head in a nod.“Are you the Pet Whisperer P.I.?” she asked in a soft, feminine voice.
I hated the moniker that Nan and my mom had stuck me with. They thought it was a fun gimmick, but I thought it was way too close to revealing my secret. As it was, half the world thought I was crazy while the other fraction believed I really did have some kind of magical or psychic powers.
“I am,” I answered, mimicking the bear’s movement from before. “But I’m only here for the weekend. Can I help you with something before I go?”
Gloria padded forward on all fours, and it took everything I had not to flinch or back away from fright.“I won’t hurt you,” she said.
“I know. I’m sorry. It’s just my first time meeting a bear.”
She plopped into a sitting position and sighed.“That’s the thing. Everyone assumes that bears are so scary, but really it’s us that are afraid of you.”
I raised a finger and pressed it into my chest.“You? You’re afraid of me?”
She nodded.“You seem like a nice enough human, but so many others…” Her words faded away, and a shiver wracked her enormous body.
We looked at each other without saying anything.
Pringle hung back with his fish, but Charles crept forward and stopped at my side, threading his fingers through mine and giving my hand a good squeeze.
“Is this your mate?” Gloria asked, studying him with wide eyes.
“He is,” I answered decisively. Charles and I weren’t married—or even engaged—but animals tended to commit to each other very early on in their acquaintanceships. In the animal kingdom, Charles and I were basically like an old, married couple at this point.
“He protects you. That’s good.” Gloria gave an approving nod, then redirected her gaze toward the ground. “My mate was not so kind. He was at first, but as soon as the cubs were born, he tried to kill them—his own children—and so I ran away with the cubs and ended up here. It’s close enough to the humans that he won’t attempt to follow us here. But being close to the humans has created other problems for our little family.”
My heart went out to her. Of course, I would help if I could. I wasn’t even angry at Pringle anymore for bringing Gloria to meet me. Granted, I was still mad at him for half a dozen other things… but not this.
“How can I help?” I asked, suddenly viewing bears in a whole new light—or at least the female ones.
“We only woke up from hibernation a few days ago, but already we’re having big problems. The people who come to this park wander too close to our den, and sometimes they bring loud, exploding lightning that makes the little ones quake with fear.”
It took me a moment to realize she meant fireworks. No wonder she and the cubs were so afraid.
“I’m pretty sure people aren’t allowed to bring those into the park.”
“Well, they do.”
“If it’s already against the law, I’m not sure what I can do to make it stop.”
Gloria glanced back over her shoulder as if searching for something. When she continued, her words came out much faster.“There’s a woman who oversees the campgrounds. She’s in charge of looking after the visitors. Maybe she doesn’t realize what’s going on or how distressing it is—not only to the bears, but to all wildlife that call this park home. Would you please talk with her on our behalf?”
“You want me to talk with her?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.
The she-bear nodded.“Be our voice.”
“Okay, Gloria. I’d be happy to do that for you.” I smiled, forgetting to keep my teeth concealed.
Gloria stumbled back, then caught herself.“Please promise me you’ll do it soon. I’m not sure my cubs can take another sleepless night.”
I bowed.“You have my word.”
“When it’s done, come back to this spot and call my name. I will bring you another salmon as thank you for your efforts on my family’s behalf.” She shifted back onto all fours, watching me closely.