The B Girls (13 page)

They started inching backwards one cautious step at
a time, eyes glued to the bear.

"Don't make eye-contact," Mae whispered.
"She'll think you're challenging her."

"Now you remember something," Jane groused
but she dropped her gaze to the bear's chest.

The bear bounced forward two steps snapping her
teeth again.

Lucy balled her hands into fists and fought the
urge to turn and run, praying the others did the same. About the only thing she
could remember from hours of watching nature shows with Ryan was that running
could provoke a wild animal into an instinctive desire to chase down prey.

Lucy didn't want to be prey.

Mae and Jane held on and continued their slow,
measured retreat.

The going was tough. Even though the clearing was
free of trees, it wasn't empty. The leaves were several inches deep and hid
half-buried rocks, downed tree limbs that threatened to roll under foot, and
the occasional small hole or depression. There were also laurels, briars, and other
assorted growing things snagging at their ankles.

Mama bear did some more stiff-legged bouncing and
teeth snapping but she didn't advance any further into the clearing.

Lucy hoped mama was content with their retreat.

They backed into the opening in the trees.

The bear seemed to relax her posture.

Lucy was the last one to leave the clearing. As
they backed up the trail, she couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong
but she was too focused on the bear to put her finger on the problem.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour but was
probably less than two minutes, they moved out of sight of the bear.

Lucy took a last peek. "I think she's going
back into the woods where she came out."

Jane and Mae breathed audible sighs of relief but continued
to back up the trail for a few more steps.

They stopped next to a fallen log and by unspoken
agreement sat down to get their wits about them and stop shaking.

"That was about as much adventure as I'm ever
interested in having," Jane said.

"We'll have to be more prepared next
time," Mae said.

Jane rolled her eyes. "There's not going to be
a next time. We could've been eaten."

"I don't think the bears around here are
carnivores."

"You know what I mean," Jane said.

"Yes I do," Lucy agreed. "But we're
going to have to search that cave tomorrow. Unless you want out?" She'd
come back alone if she had to. Until Belle was safe at home, she wasn't leaving
anything undone.

"No, I don't want out. I just wish there was
an easier way," Jane said.

"If finding the Declaration was easy someone
else would have done it before now. Let's get back to the van," Lucy said
as she looked around, still trying to put her finger on the problem that had
been nagging at her since they backed out of the clearing.

"What?" Jane said. "I don't like the
look on your face. Confusion is not a good thing in the navigator."

Lucy shook her head, concentrating. The trail was
clear and relatively straight, leading . . . "Uh-oh."

"What uh-oh? I don't like it when the woman
with the GPS says uh-oh," Jane said.

"This isn't the trail we were on before."

Mae looked around. "You're right. How did we
manage that?"

"Never mind how we managed it. How are we
going to find the van?" Jane said.

"Fear. We took the easy way out," Lucy
said. "But we didn't come into the clearing on an easy path." Lucy
studied the trail. "The big question is whether this trail will take us
back to the road."

"I think it's headed in the right general
direction," Mae said.

"What does your magic GPS say?" Jane
asked.

Lucy checked the direction back to the point she'd
marked when they came to the creek. "We're not heading back to the last
point I marked."

Jane groaned. "I'm not going back where the
bear is."

Lucy held up a hand. "Wait a minute. Let me
check something else." She checked the point she'd marked at the fork in
the road and the one for the van. Yes! This trail was leading to a point
between the fork and the parking area.

She did a little happy dance. "I think this
trail is a short cut back to the jeep trail."

"What is it Tolkien wrote in one of those
hobbit books--'Short cuts make long delays'? Or something like that," Mae
said.

"In this case, I think the short cut will make
for an easier hike."

"Easier is good," Jane said. "Let's
go."

###

It was easier than the climbing and clawing they'd
done on the way in, but that didn't mean it was easy. The trail was still steep
in spots and overgrown but they made better time on the return trip.

"I vote we pick up something really decadent
for dinner," Jane said. "Protein bars and trail mix are great for
energy and staving off hunger but we've earned something great."

"What about doubles at the gym?" Lucy
asked.

"I think I've burned enough calories today for
a huge binge," Jane said.

"Something really fattening and bad for
us," Mae said as they stepped back onto the jeep trail. "Wow, that
wasn't bad at all."

"Better than the first half anyway." Lucy
stopped to mark the spot in the GPS. If they needed to go back for any reason
she sure as hell wanted to be able to find the trail again.

"I just want air conditioning," Jane
said. "Let's get back to the van."

Lucy looked at her friends as they trudged toward
the parking area. They were a sorry looking trio. Dirty, sweaty, bug-bit,
scratched and bruised.

She had the tin under one arm, its lid back in
place and the map safe inside.

They rounded the last bend and the gravel parking
area came into sight. The van was right where they'd left it but there was
another vehicle parked in the lot.

When they got closer, Lucy realized it was a US
Forest Service truck and Ranger Leonard was bent over the tailgate looking at
something.

He looked up at the sound of their feet crunching
on the gravel and walked over to greet them. "Hello ladies." He let
out a low whistle. "You look like you've had a tough time of it."

"You have no idea," Jane said looking him
over.

Lucy rolled her eyes. Leave it to Jane to try and
flirt when she was dirty, scratched, and bug bit.

The ranger smiled and shook his head. "Oh I
think I have a pretty good idea. I thought you ladies were going to check in
with me before you went into the back country."

"We didn't think about it this morning. Too
worried about my aunt," Lucy said.

He got the point. "She didn't come home last
night?"

"No. We decided to see if we could figure out
what she was working on. I admit we weren't expecting it to be as rugged as it
is here. But we made out okay." Even though they hadn't found any sign of
Belle, they'd made it out in one piece--with the map.

He nodded. "Well, I really hope you'll check
in with me if you come back. I like to know who's in the back country and when
they're expected back."

"So you can locate our bodies more
easily?" Jane asked with a wry smile.

He laughed showing a beautiful set of teeth.
"Something like that."

"So, did you find what you were looking
for?" he asked.

"As a matter of fact. We found the homestead
Belle was researching."

"We dug up a cookie tin hidden by one of
Lucy's ancestors," Mae blurted out before Lucy could poke her.

Leonard frowned. "You ladies were digging for
artifacts on federal property?"

"No! I know better than to mess up an
archaeological site." Lucy held up the tin. "This was hidden under
the hearthstone of the cabin by one of my--I'm not sure how many
greats--grandparents. He fought for the Union in the Civil War. Didn't make him
too popular in these parts I imagine."

"That's interesting." He held out his
hand. "Mind if I take a look?"

Actually Lucy did mind but she didn't really have a
choice. "Sure." She bared her teeth in a pretend smile as she handed
him the tin.

He pried the lid off and reached inside, pulled out
the map and unfolded it.

"Civil War era, you say?"

Lucy wasn't sure whether admitting that would be
good or bad but lying to a federal agent didn't seem like a good idea. "We
think so."

He looked it over. "A treasure map? Who'd you
say buried this tin?"

"A man named Paul Morris. He and his wife
homesteaded here before the war."

He looked pained. "I'm afraid I'm going to
have to ask you ladies to come back to the office with me."

Mae looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
"You're arresting us?"

Jane muttered, "Well hell." Mr. Ruggedly
Handsome was morphing into Officious Prick.

Flop sweat greased Lucy's palms but she stood her
ground. "You're making a mistake."

"Now, I didn't say anything about arresting
anyone. But I can't just let you walk away with what might be a valuable
artifact." He studied the map.

"I think it's a clue," Mae said.

Lucy wished she could cast a spell to make Mae lose
her voice. "I think it's just something my ancestor created for his own
amusement. I doubt the map means anything."

"Whatever it is, we need to determine if it
belongs to you or the US Forest Service." He put the map back in the tin
and put the lid on. "Now, you ladies don't look like the criminal type.
And since I have this tin and the license number of that van, I figure I can
count on you to follow me back to the office so we can discuss this."

Jane gave him the "eat shit" look.

"Of course we'll go to your office," Lucy
said.

He nodded. "I'll drive slow so I don't lose
you."

He watched them get in the van before taking the
tin and getting in his truck.

"He's got the map," Mae said. "I
can't believe it."

"I can," Jane said. "He's an
officious prick. I thought he had romantic potential but I was wrong."

"He's just doing his job. I should have
checked the rules for Cohutta before we came." Lucy blamed herself. She
knew the rules about digging. Artifact hunters and amateur archaeologists
frequently caused irreparable damage to archaeological sites. Damage that made
it difficult or impossible for the pros to obtain meaningful data on the site.
She should have warned Mae and Jane to keep their mouths shut.

"But it's yours," Mae said. "Your
great great times however many grandfather put that map there for his
family."

"And I'm sure we'll be able to convince Mr.
Leonard of that fact." Lie. She wasn't at all sure about anything except
the fact that they'd have to find a way to work around the problem if Ranger
Leonard took the map.

"I think old Ranger Rick is just looking for
an excuse to arrest us," Jane said.

"His name is Bill and I'm sure the last thing
he wants to do is arrest the three of us. He'd be laughed out of the macho law
enforcement fraternity," Lucy said.

###

"I ought to arrest you," Bill Leonard
said after he listened for the second time to Lucy's explanation. "This
sort of digging on federal land is illegal."

"Come on," Jane said. "We're not
talking about some valuable artifact. The only value here is to Lucy and her
family."

"Maybe so, but you ladies should have made the
proper applications before disturbing the homestead."

Jane made an exasperated sound and held out her
arms. "Fine, just handcuff us and get it over with. My ex-husband is a pit
bull of a lawyer. When he gets through with you, you'll be the one catching
hell. We wouldn't be doing any of this if we were getting some help in finding
Belle!"

The ranger held up his hand. "I'm not going to
arrest you. I
am
going to confiscate
the tin and the contents. You can make application to have the items
returned."

Mae started to say something and Jane gave her a
poke.

"You can count on it."

"In the meantime, I hope I don't have to warn
you about any further treasure hunting in Cohutta."

They all shook their heads.

He didn't look convinced. "You're free to go.
Next time I might not be so kind."

Lucy gave Jane a little pinch to keep her from
saying something stupid.

###