Little Joe and the Bears

By Tennessee

It was summer and the weather was hot and the kids were out of school for the summer. Ben and the boys were real busy on the ranch. But Ben knew the Goodmans were going camping. It was all Little Joe talked about. Ben told Adam and Hoss he was thinking of letting Little Joe go camping with the Goodmans. "Mr. Goodman asked if Little Joe could go. Ann is staying with Tess. Her pa said she does not like camping."

Adam and Hoss smiled and said, "Let him go, Pa. We'll do all his work around here."

Ben went to the Goodmans and told them Little Joe could go camping. Ben said it would be all right if Little Joe took his puppy and his horse with him.

Mr. Goodman said, "That would be fine. We leave right at daybreak tomorrow."

"OK," Ben said. "Little Joe will be here."

That night at supper Ben said, "Little Joe, how would you like to go camping with the Goodmans."

Little Joe yelled, "Really? Can I go, Pa?"

Everybody laughed. "Yes, you can go, son," Ben said. "You can take Paint and the puppy with you."

"When do we leave?"

"At daybreak, son."

Hop Sing said, "Your bedroll and clothes are ready to go."

Adam and Hoss said, "We'll miss you, little brother."

Ben said, "It will take two days to get to the pretty spot Big Dan told Mr. Goodman about, and you all are going to stay a week and then start home. Now listen, son. I want you to help around the camp and do everything Mr. and Mrs. Goodman says.

"I will, Pa," Joe agreed.

"You better go to bed right after supper," Ben said.

Little Joe was up when Ben went to wake him.

Ben said, "Ready son?"

"Yeah, Pa."

Ann had gone to the Greens the night before. Ben rode with Little Joe to the Goodmans. They were waiting in their wagon.

Ben said, "Be good, son."

"I will, Pa."

Mrs. Goodman said, "We will take good care of him, Ben." Then they were off. Little Joe looked back and said goodbye to his pa. And Ben went back to the Ponderosa.

Sue held Little Joe's puppy in the wagon. They rode for hours and stopped to eat dinner and feed the horses and the puppy and then set off again.

Mr. Goodman said, "We are making great time. If we start at daybreak again tomorrow, we'll make it to camp on time."

They all went to bed early and woke at daybreak. They rode all day, eating bread on the way without stopping.

Finally Mr. Goodman said, "The camp is just a few more miles." They rode for another hour until Mr. Goodman said, "Here we are!"

"It's so pretty here, Pa!" said Sue.

"We have a lot of work to do to set up camp," Mr. Goodman said. "I'll get some wood for the fire. Sue, Little Joe, you help get the supplies out of the wagon then you can go play."

After they had made the camp look nice, Mrs. Goodman said, "Don't go far. Supper will be ready soon."

Little Joe and Sue ran after each other and the puppy ran with them.

The next day they ate and went for a long walk.

"Look," Little Joe said, pointing. "What is it?"

"An arrowhead," said Sue. "Let's go down to the water and wash it off."

Mr. Goodman was fishing at the lake. "There you two are," he said.

"Look, Pa. It's an arrowhead. Little Joe found it."

"Big Dan said Indians camped here long ago. You two grab a fishing pole there and help me catch some fish for supper."

About an hour later, the had enough fish for supper. Mr. Goodman went back to clean them. "Don't go far," he told the kids.

"We won't." Little Joe and Sue ran and played all day.

The next day, Mr. Goodman said, "Let's go see if we can find some more arrowheads."

Mrs. Goodman said, "I'll stay at camp."

The others set off and went to where Little Joe had found the first arrowhead. But they found no more.

Mr. Goodman said, "Let's keep walking and see what we see."

Sue said, "Pa, look! A field full of wildflowers."

Just then they heard Mrs. Goodman yell for help.

"You kids stay here," Mr. Goodman said. When he got to camp a baby bear was there and it was eating everything she had out for dinner. Finally it left.

Mr. Goodman hugged his wife. "It's ok, sweetheart. It's gone." He yelled for Sue and Little Joe. They ran to camp.

"Oh, Ma, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, dear. It was a baby bear. It's gone now."

The week went by fast and soon there were only two days left on their trip, but Little Joe missed his pa and brothers. He was glad the week was almost over. Ever since Mrs. Goodman's encounter with the baby bear, she would not let the children out of her sight.

Sue knew Little Joe was unhappy. All he did was play with his puppy. They couldn't go far from camp. That night it started to rain, and they all slept in the wagon. The sun came out the next day, but it had rained so hard the night before that everything was muddy and the lake the full.

Mr. Goodman told the kids not to go near the water. "It's much higher today because of the rain last night." So Sue and Little Joe sat and played with the puppy.

Little Joe said, "I wish I was home. We can't do anything fun."

Sue got mad at him and walked away. Little Joe went to the lake and sat on a log. Sue came to find him. "I'm sorry," she said. About that time they saw the baby bear. It's ma was with it.

Little Joe said, 'Help me push this log in the water. Hurry." Luckily the puppy was back at camp asleep.

Sue said, "Pa said to stay away from the water."

About that time the bears moved closer. Sue and Little Joe pushed the log into the water and Little Joe said to get on. Sue dropped her doll on the ground.

Sue yelled for her pa. Mr. Goodman was drinking coffee when he heard her. He ran to find her.

The water was moving quickly and carrying the log across the lake. Waves hit them in the face. They tried to swim back to shore, but the water was too fast for them.

Mr. Goodman yelled for the kids. The puppy heard him and ran to him. Mr. Goodman ran back to camp to tell his wife what was happening. They went to look for the kids. Mrs. Goodman saw Sue's doll on the ground. "Oh no!" she yelled. Something had pulled the doll apart. Her head and arms were together, but he legs were gone. "Some kind of wild animal did this."

Mr. Goodman saw the bears nearby behind a tree. He could even see the doll legs in one bear's mouth. Mrs. Goodman cried, "The kids! The bears got the kid!"

Mr. Goodman looked everywhere but saw no blood and no sign of the children. He knew the bears hadn't gotten them. "They must have run away."

Little Joe and Sue were still holding onto the log. The rocks in the lake had cut their legs under the water. Sue cried. Little Joe told her it would be all right. The lake was running so fast that they did not see the big rock ahead of them. They hit it hard and it knocked them out.

Adam, Hoss, Tess, and Ann were riding their horses near the lake. Hoss said, "Look, is that someone in the water?" He got off his horse and walked over the log. He yelled for Adam. "It's Little Joe and Sue!"

Everyone ran down to the lakeshore. "Tess, go get Pa and Hop Sing. Hurry," Hoss said.

Tess rode as fast as she could to the Ponderosa. Big Dan had stopped by to see Ben. Tess rode up to the door yelling for help. Ben and Big Dan ran to the door.

Ben said, "Is your ma hurt?"

She said, "We found Little Joe and Sue at the lake. They're hurt."

Ben, Big Dan, and Hop Sing rode with Tess to the lake. Adam and Hoss had gotten the kids off the log and laid them on the ground.

Ben said, "Son?"

Little Joe opened his eyes. "Pa?" he asked. "Is Sue ok?"

Hop Sing said, "You'll both be fine with some rest. Let's get back to the Ponderosa."

When they got to the Ponderosa, Little Joe told them about the bears and getting on the log and the floodwaters. Hop Sing cleaned their wounds and made them soup and told them they must rest. Sue was in Ben's bed. Big Dan said he would go to the campsite and get the Goodmans. He took a shortcut and got to the camp in one day. He told them the kids' story and that Sue and Little Joe would be fine with some rest.

Mrs. Goodman rode Paint back to the Ponderosa to be with Sue. Her husband to there two days later with the wagon and the puppy. Little Joe and Sue were well enough to sit at the table by then. Everyone enjoyed a meal together. Big Dan went to the store in town and got Sue a new doll. She had tears in her eyes when she thanked him.

Sue said, "Pa, you told us not to go near the water and we listened, but the bears were coming toward us and we did not know what to do."

Mr. Goodman said, 'You and Little Joe did the right thing, sweetheart. I'm so happy both of you are ok."

Sue said, "Little Joe kept telling me to hold onto the log, Pa."

"Good for him," Mr. Goodman said.

Adam said, "They must have went for miles on the lake."

"We did," Little Joe said. "I thought we'd never get off that log."

That evening Big Dan and the rest went home. Little Joe knew one thing for sure. He was glad to be home.

The End