Free Count Me In by Sara Leach Page B

whispered.
    â€œNight.” She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    It felt like only minutes later that she woke to the sound of the door banging open and grunting sounds below. Jumping out of bed, she ran to the ladder, hoping to see Max. Tess beat her there and flew to the first floor.
    â€œGet out of here!” her aunt yelled. “Now!”
    A strong smell of wet dog wafted up to the loft. Why would her aunt be chasing Max out? She started to climb down, followed by a groggy Cedar and Ashley.
    â€œStay up there, it’s the bear!”
    Tabitha gasped.
    â€œScram!” Tess was standing in the kitchen, waving her arms at the bear, who was dragging the food bag off the table with his mouth. It eyed her, then stood up on its hind legs and huffed a breath, the bag hanging from its jaws.
    â€œMom!” Ashley screamed.
    â€œGet going!” Cedar shouted at the bear. He started to climb down the ladder.
    â€œDon’t you dare!” Tess called. “The last thing we need is to corner him.”
    Cedar stopped and climbed back up the top two rungs.
    Tess leaped onto a bench, grabbed two pots and started banging them together. Tabitha’s mouth hung open. Her aunt never backed off for a second, even as the bear took a step toward her. She growled, shouted, banged her pots and stomped her feet.
    The bear huffed again and dropped back to four paws. The wet dog smell mixed with the smell of sweat and fear. Tabitha grabbed Ashley’s arm. The three cousins watched in terror as the bear charged at Tess. She flinched but held her ground.
    The bear stopped inches from Tess’s feet. She continued making her racket. The bear huffed again and reached a paw toward Tess. She jerked her arm back and clanged the pots closer to its face.
    At last it turned and ambled out the door, dragging the food bag in its mouth.
    Tabitha and her cousins flew down the ladder. Cedar slammed the door shut. Ashley ran to hug her mom while Tabitha hovered behind her.
    â€œAre you okay?” Ashley said.
    Tess sank to the bench. Her hands were shaking. “Yeah.” She laid one hand over her forearm and pulled away from Ashley. Motioning with her head to the bench, she said, “But he took the food.”
    Everyone stared at the table where the food bag had once sat. All that was left was a smear of hot chocolate powder that had sprinkled out as the bear shook the bag.
    â€œWhat do we do now?” Ashley asked.
    â€œWe wait, and hope that the helicopter arrives soon,” Tess said.
    â€œThere are a few berries outside, didn’t you say?” Cedar said.
    Tabitha stiffened. “We can’t go out there—the bear’s there.”
    â€œI’ll need to go eventually,” Tess said. “We need water. But you three aren’t going anywhere.”
    â€œWhat about the outhouse?” Cedar asked.
    Tess grimaced. “Hold it for now. If it gets too bad, you can pee in a pot.”
    â€œThat’s gross,” Ashley said.
    â€œI suppose we could go outside in pairs,” Tess said.
    Neither idea sounded good to Tabitha. “What if the bear’s out there waiting for us?”
    â€œI doubt he’ll stand around waiting for us to come out. He’s got better things to do,” Tess said.
    â€œYeah, like eating our food,” Ashley said.
    â€œBut how did he get in here in the first place?” Cedar asked.
    â€œThe latch must have been open,” Tess said. “I could have sworn I closed it last night before going upstairs.”
    Cedar gave Tabitha a look. Neither one of them said anything. Tabitha decided she’d caused enough problems on this trip already. She wasn’t about to take the blame for inviting a bear into the hut. If Cedar wasn’t going to speak up, neither would she. She tried to remember which of them had come in last, but couldn’t picture it.
    â€œListen up,” Tess said. “We’re in for a