Free For the Love of Two Highland Bears by Tianna Xander

Chapter One
     
     
    Water dripped slowly down the walls of the cave. The frigid outside temperatures slowed what must have been a steady stream in the warmer months down to a slow drizzle. Sunshine gripped her flashlight tight as she aimed the beam across the deep, underground pool. If she dropped this flashlight they’d be left in the dark. Their back-up had ended up in the ravine, along with Roxie’s backpack, on their way to the cave.
    “One-hundred and fifty feet into the cave and there is still no sign of anything out of the ordinary.” Sunshine had a difficult time keeping the disappointment from her voice as she spoke into her digital recorder. Most of her colleagues might think her a nut, but she was determined that her notes would be as professional as she could make them.
    She had hoped to find proof that there had been more than one polar bear in Scotland. As far as she knew, scientists had only found the one specimen. She wanted to be the one who proved they had lived here, bred here and died here. She couldn’t do that with only one to prove they had even existed in the highlands at all. “If only we could have gotten some local guy to show us around.”
    “It doesn’t help that most scientists ridicule us and make everything difficult. Research and access to viable sites is difficult, at best, to obtain. Why do they do that?” Sunshine’s best friend and research partner, Roxanne Hammerlin, asked.
    Roxie thrust her fingers through her short brown hair with a sigh, her expression grim. “No one wants a crypto zoologist hanging around their site. That’s why. They think we’re a couple of nutcases looking for bigfoot.”
    Why was it so easy to believe that one polar bear could have existed in Scotland but not more? And why not believe in the possibility that something could evolve over time or even shift its shape? Neither of them were crazy. They both knew how far-fetched it was, as well as the next person. What Sunshine couldn’t understand, was the total lack of curiosity among those who considered themselves real scientists. In her opinion, curiosity meant discovery. It was difficult to have one without the other.
    Weren’t there others who wanted to know how the scull of one and only one polar bear had ended up in a cave in the highlands of Scotland? She knew that she and Roxie wanted to know.
    “Do you really think those stories we heard were true?” Roxie moved to the edge of the water and knelt down. “After all, there haven’t been any more bones.” She gingerly stuck the tip of her finger in the pool of water. “Believe it or not, but this water isn’t all that cold.”
    “I can believe it. The cave is rather warm, considering the temperatures outside.” Sunshine looked up at the ceiling of the cavern as she spun in a circle before glancing back down at her flashlight. “We should head back to the entrance. The battery indicator says the levels are low.” She should have brought a spare battery, but hadn’t thought they’d need it with two flashlights. After all, they hadn't planned to be gone more than the day.
    “Wait a minute.” Roxy knelt beside an odd looking pile of rock. “Bring that light over here.” She held out her hand and snapped her fingers. “I think I might have found something.”
    Sunshine scurried over to her friend and held the light on the area where Roxy hurriedly pushed the dirt away with her hands.
    “What is it?”
    “I don’t know. It looks like—” Roxy fell back on her heels with a sigh. “It looks like nothing.” She brushed the soil from her hands and shook her head. “I thought it was the forehead of a bear scull, but no luck.”
    “Damn.” Sunshine bit her lip. “How can there only be the remains of one polar bear in this entire country? There has to be more.” She refused to believe that one lonely polar bear hoofed it here from the North Pole. Seriously, what were the odds?
    “You’d think so.” Roxie flashed the light over