White Bear

Author’s Note:

I felt it was time to step back and write an exciting outdoor adventure that expands my audience to young and old alike; and perhaps tugs on the heartstrings a little along the way.  I’d recently seen a nature video on PBS called Ghost Bear and not long after, all the characters in my next storyline began to fall into place.

     As an animal lover myself, I grew up on a farm with several wild creatures I’d adopted over the years, so it seemed appropriate to write a story about a teenage boy doing his best to save the lives of two orphaned bear cubs, and what better place to do that, than in the remote wilderness of British Columbia, Canada. 

     Of course, to start with, I needed a unique cast of characters, and in this story the stars of the show are the two bear cubs, one of which is white, the other black. Then I have the two brothers, Provincial Ranger Randy James and his seventeen year old brother Adam. It was Adam who rescued the cubs and between the two of them, they are doing their best to train the cubs to survive on their own. Add to cast the roles of the local do-gooders: you know, those people who want to help, but cause more problems by getting in the way, and your authority figures; those individuals restricted by laws but in some cases, willing to look the other way for the sake of doing the right thing.  To add mystery and mystic I created Nacoma and Meka, two adult, white bears, known as Spirit Bears by the native Tlingit, White Raven.

      Of course, where would all this be without a bad guy to cause mayhem and violence? Grayson Pierce, poacher, and all around bad guy is out to collect a million dollar bounty on a rare white black bear. News of this despicable act triggers a coastal wide manhunt.

     At times you’ll laugh, and when things begin to look bleak and hopeless, tears are shed, not only by the characters, but by my readers as well.  It is the emotions that I used to write this book that make it difficult to put down.

PREVIEW

It was beginning to get dark and seventeen year old Adam James was prepared to spend the night on Castle Island.  He’d heard no sound of aircraft or boats, nor had he heard voices calling for him off in the distance.  After climbing the tree the cubs hesitated only a few feet above him, reluctant to come down to the ground where he now sits, leaning against the tree, wrapped in his jacket.  He pretends to dose off for only a few minutes when the black cub made it’s first attempt to climb back down.  Once on the ground the cub quickly consumed both pieces of jerky Adam had laid on the ground and then boldly began to search around for more.

     His wet nose against Adam’s face tickled, and when Adam moved his hand to wipe his face the cub scurried back up the tree.  He only climbed a few feet before coming to rest on a large limb about six feet above Adam’s head.

     Adam pulled the remaining jerky out of the package and placed the pieces on the ground, then leaned back again and waited.  By sitting on the ground he felt less opposing and would be more at their level if they came back down.  He felt sure the black cub would reconsider after already having tasted the first pieces.

      As he suspected, the black cub soon gave into his hunger pains and made the decision to shinny back down.  This time the white cub followed close behind, not wanting to miss out on the treat.  Adam half expected them to grab what they could and climb back up to safety but that wasn’t the case.  The black cub grabbed one piece and was about to go for another when the white cub cut him off and grabbed a piece for herself.  A small squabble ensued but both came to terms quickly. Adam sensed they were tired and wished he had more to give them.  He also knew it wasn’t just food they needed.  They needed the security of their mother’s warm body and the nutritious milk only she could provide.

     Much to Adam’s surprise they both curled up next to him under the large spruce and were soon sound asleep under his jacket.  He could hear them purring like large cats, seemingly content and safe for now.

                                                            ******

Larry Talbot walked over to the fireplace, grabbed the poker and began stoking the fire.  “I was talking to a friend of mine from Ketchikan a couple of weeks ago.  He’s a dentist and had just returned from a spring bear hunt.  He showed me a picture of a bear he saw when they were flying out.”

     “Brown or black?” Sighting a bear from a plane was no big deal to Grayson Pierce, he’d seen hundreds over the years while flying his Cessna.

     Talbot hesitated, then looked Pierce straight in the eye. “White!”

     “White?”

     “White as snow … and big, from what I can tell from the photo.” Pulling the photo from his shirt pocket he handed it to Pierce.  “Here, see for yourself.”

     Pierce took the photo and examined it closely.  “Damn, look at that thing.  He’d go at least five hundred pounds and stand almost seven feet, maybe a little over.  Did your friend say where he took this picture?”

     “Yeah, somewhere south of Ketchikan.”

     “Good bear country, especially for black bears.  He’d be quite a trophy, that’s for sure.  Could be the only one in the world, at least I’ve never heard of one, except for what the natives talk about.  They call them Spirit Bears.”

     “Can you get him for me? I’ll pay you one million dollars.”

                                                            ******

It was time for the cub’s first fishing lesson so Provincial Ranger Randy James and his brother Adam had taken them back to Castle Island.

      Adam waded out up to his knees.  He could feel an occasional salmon brush against his legs, causing him to jump each time. The pool was filled with lively, fresh run salmon. To catch one by hand was not going to be easy, for him or the inexperienced cubs.

     “Adam, go over to the other side in that shallow cove and see if you can herd some up into there and scoop them out with your hands,” Randy instructed.

     Finally, Adam got about a dozen or so heading for the shallow pool on the opposite bank, the cubs staying close behind, seemingly sensing what he was trying to do, much like they would if he was their real mother.

     “Okay.  Don’t spook them.  Go slow.  Wait till their backs are out of the water, then go for it.” Randy was trying to control his laughter while taking videos and pictures and passing on instructions as he watched Adam stalk the salmon.

     Then, in one desperate pounce he managed to pin two salmon to the bottom of the creek and then with one last effort, scoop them up onto the bank. The cubs immediately scurried out of the water and pounced onto the floundering fish.  The black cub almost letting his get away, but Adam managed to scoop it back up on the bank.

     “Way to go Mama!”

     “Hey, it worked … it really worked!”

     That same evening Nicoma came down to the moonlit beach.  He could smell the human odor around the creek and not too far away he could see the boat and the two men who were camped next to it.  He could also smell the cubs.  The sound of the salmon splashing in the creek had brought him down off the cliffs. He was cautious at first, taking a couple of steps out of the dark timber, looking up and down the beach.  Once he felt it was safe, he ventured out and began to fish, occasionally stopping to look in the direction of the humans before continuing on. 

     He only managed to catch three before a lone male brown bear came out of the timber and chased him off.  He didn’t put up a fight.  He didn’t have to; it was useless. There were other fishing spots farther upstream. Silently, he moved off into the night, his white coat shimmering like a ghost in the blue gray moonlight.

                                                            ******

“I still think it’s risky, but apprehending Grayson Pierce is my number one priority right now, and the longer he’s out there the more dangerous he becomes.  That being said, a fifty thousand dollar reward has been posted for his apprehension and conviction.”

     “Dead or alive?” Lester McFay joked, a grin spreading wide across his face.

     “Preferably alive, if you plan on collecting the reward, but I’m not completely opposed to the latter … of course you didn’t hear me say that.”

     “Any news on your end?” Ranger Randy James asked Ben Wilcox, part owner of the Pine River Lodge along with Lester McFay.

     “Well … yeah.  Pierce kind of showed up here a couple of weeks ago, not long after you guys paid us a visit. We …”

     “What! And you didn’t call me,” Mike Peterson, Randy’s Boss, chastised loudly.  “That was part of our deal, Ben.”

     “I know, I know, but we wanted to wait for just the right time to set things up … you know, hear him out, before we called,” Ben stammered defensively.  “Apparently he’s working for another client.  He got word of a white black bear being spotted up near Ketchikan.  He told us the client’s offering two hundred and fifty thousand for it.”
     “Two hundred and fifty grand,” Jerry Walker blurted out. Walker was also a Provincial Ranger and a pilot.

     “Yeah, and if we can take it we get to split the money with Pierce.”

     “And you trust the guy,” Randy scowled, “after the trouble he got you into three years ago?”

     “No, we don’t,” Lester barked, “but we figured if we pretended to go along with him until we saw an opportunity to set our trap, you know … kind of build up his confidence first.  We have no intention of killing the white bear even if we do spot it … which we haven’t yet.”

     “Okay … no harm done.” Mike gave it some thought.  “I have an idea, but from now on you two will have to follow my orders … got that?”

                                                                        ******

After hearing about the white bear on Castle Island it was soon posted as off limits to all hunting. Randy and the new Provincial Biologist Rosemarie De Marco, ‘Markie’, were paying a social call to a local guide by the name of Spenser Jackman to deliver the news and to receive some of their own. They were talking outside near his plane.

     “Just so you know, a friend of mine spotted Pierce yesterday up north, about twenty miles from the old Pine River Lodge,’ Jackman informed them.  “He said he was landing his plane in a cove nearby … didn’t say why.”

     “What type of plane?” Randy inquired.

     “Cessna 190 … blue and white.  I got the tail number written down at the cabin.  It’s registered in Alaska.  I sent all the information to your dispatcher last night.”

     “Funny, Fletcher never said anything about that this morning at our meeting.” Randy looked worried. “Look, Spenser, there’s something else you should know, besides the island being off limits to hunting.”

     “About Pierce?”

     “Yeah.” Randy was reluctant at first to tell Jackman their plan about using the white bear to lure Pierce to Castle Island, but after their talk he felt confident he could be trusted and perhaps even help apprehend Pierce.

     Jackman had gotten up and was skulking around the picnic table after hearing their plan.  “I know this guy Talbot. It don’t surprise me none that he and Pierce are in cahoots.”

     “So now you know what we’re up against,” Randy confessed.  “I think it’s a big risk, and so does Markie, but it might be our only chance to bag him once and for all.”

      “I’d like to put my crosshairs on that no account peckerwood myself, I truly would … excuse my French, Markie.”

     “No need to apologize on my account.  From what I’ve heard about him, I’d like to take a shot at him myself, but from what I gather, I’d probably have to stand in a long line to wait my turn.”

     “Hey, now there’s my kind of woman,” Jackman laughed. “Why don’t the three of us go looking for his sorry ass, and when we find him you get the first shot.”

                                                            ******

After spending a successful afternoon on Castle Island photographing the white bear Nicoma, Markie and Adam had stopped to take a break while the cubs roamed the island on their own.

     “Do you think they have a chance?” Adam asked out of the blue. “I guess what I’m really asking is, if it were up to you, would you put them in a zoo or an animal park or would you do your best and try to teach them how to survive in the wild?”

     “That’s a tough question,” Markie answered after some thought.  “My first instinct would be to release them into the wild, especially if it were in a protected area like this island is now.  Problem with that is you still can’t protect them twenty-four hours a day.  The white cub would have a more difficult time just because of her color, but after what I just saw, I’m not sure that’s an accurate assessment now.  Apparently, that fella we just saw has been doing very well, despite his color.”

     “So you wouldn’t put them in a zoo?”

     “That would be my last resort.  I’d have to be pretty convinced they were incapable of living in the wild.”
     “Yeah, me too.”

     “I’m sure you know that half the bear cubs starve in their first year.  That’s just the way nature deals the cards.  I know it’s hard for you to look at these cubs now and know they might not make it through the winter without their mother or be killed by another bear even before they make it to hibernation.  If you really want them to live a long life, then maybe an animal park would be the right place for them.” Markie paused and looked into Adam’s watery eyes.  “But I can tell that’s not what you want for them. You have a free spirit in you, Adam, just like those cubs.  To place them in captivity would take away a piece of you.  You follow your heart and listen to what it has to say, then let nature take its course.  Things won’t always go the way you want them to, but learn from what you observe and then pass that knowledge onto others. That’s always been my philosophy. Besides, it would be great to have more than one white bear on this island to study.”

                                                            ******

The cubs were becoming a major undertaking. They were big enough to cause damage now and seemed to want to wander off when left unattended.

      “We got to do something about those two, Adam.” Randy was helping Adam repair the gate on the kennel.  “This pen isn’t going to last much longer.”

     “I was thinking about taking them out to the island tomorrow and spending the night … maybe two, and see how they do on their own.  There’s not much I can do for them here. I want to check out the west side of the island and look for a possible den site.”

     “That might not be a bad idea, as long as you bring your rifle with you.”

     Adam sat there leaning up against the kennel staring at the cubs inside.  When he turned to face his brother he had tears in his eyes. “It ain’t gonna be easy,” he sobbed. “I’ve tried not to get too attached but I just couldn’t help it. I’m scared, Randy; scared I won’t be able to do a good enough job of teaching them how to survive on their own.  I’m really thinking about sending them to a zoo where I know they’ll be safe.”

     “You’re doing all you can, under the circumstances.  If we can find them a safe den for the winter I think they’ll be okay.  Come next spring we can come back and look for them.  If they stay healthy you can work with them next summer.  They aren’t going to forget you, but I can tell they want their freedom. They’ve had a taste of the wild now.  I’m sure you’d feel worse if they were penned up in some zoo.”

     “Yeah, I would.”

     “If it makes you feel any better, I’m going to feel just as bad as you when we release them, but you know we don’t have much of a choice at this point.”

                                                            ******

Grayson Pierce steered his boat into the north cove of Castle Island around six that afternoon, giving him almost four hours to set up camp and scout for the white bear.  The next coastal storm wasn’t forecast to arrive for another thirty-six hours.  The choppy seas would make it difficult for someone to track him by water.  By then, if all went as planned, he’d have his trophy and be headed back to Ketchikan where he’d board a flight to Seattle and collect his money from Talbot and be on his way to Mexico.

     Randy James had been watching Pierce’s every move from the boulders above his camp and was watching Pierce as he sat under a nearby tree waiting for the bears to come down to the river to feast on the salmon.  It had been a long day and the comfort of the soft moss covered ground and the feel of the light breeze proved toxic and before he knew it, Randy had fallen asleep.

     A sudden metallic click snapped him from his catnap. The sight of a .44 magnum froze him in place.

     “I figured you for a more cautious man, James,” Pierce grumbled, taking a step back as Randy shook off the cobwebs. “I sensed someone might be following me, so I decided to call it a night and backtrack to my boat. That’s when I found you napping … did you know you snore? The problem I have now is what do I do with you?”

     “I don’t suppose you could just give up and save the taxpayers some money … but somehow I have a feeling this isn’t going to come to an agreeable solution for either of us.”

     “No, I don’t suppose it is … at least not for you,” Pierce chided. “Who else is with you?”

     “No one … I’m alone.”

     Pierce reached down and grabbed Randy’s rifle and tossed it aside. “Now, hand me your sidearm … butt first … slowly.  I don’t suppose you have your handcuffs on you?”

     Randy knew what Pierce had in mind and reached behind and loosened the cuffs from his belt, tossing them on the ground at Pierce’s feet.

     “You know we’ll catch up with you, Pierce.”

     “Maybe, maybe not, but just remember one thing James.  If and when you do, I’ll take as many of you with me as I can.”

                                                            ******

     And so the manhunt for Grayson Pierce continues, as does the hopes for a successful first year and future for the two cubs.  Not wanting to give away the ending before the reader gets a chance to purchase the book I promise you, you won’t be disappointed.