My stomach sank a little at the fear there. “Um. No. Not really. She’s …” I looked over at Stella, considering the best way to explain her to a child without terrifying him.
“Opportunistic,” Stella explained.
A sigh of relief escaped me. “Yes. She gets herself into trouble.”
Ellie folded her arms, her lips turned down. “Is she going to eat us?”
That nearly got a laugh from me, but I tamped it down before I could embarrass her. “No.”
“Are you sure?” Maggie quipped. “You just told us how strong and fast bears are.”
“Yeah,” her sister piled on, “what if she’s hungry?”
“She wouldn’t eat a person.” Dammit, I’d been here for three minutes, and already, I’d given these kids a year’s worth of nightmare fuel. “Bears like easy food. Trash, apples, chicken feed.”
“Does she know where we live?”
I shook my head. “Nope. She knows where the blackberries are. Remember? I planted them there to keep her far away from my chickens and my garden. She never comes down here. But I just want you to always be aware and stay safe.”
Ellie stood with a huff and paced. “This feels personal.”
Stella snorted. “Betsy is always sort of… around. She’s a pain in the butt. But we’ve all learned to live with her. The best way to stay safe is to stay away.”
“Can we see the video?”
“No,” I replied.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m worried that if I showed you, you’d go out and try to find her.”
“Hey,” Maggie protested.
“I’d go find her,” Julian said.
I admired his blunt honesty, even if the statement put all my nerves on edge. Because I believed him.
“But I’d take Wayne,” he added.
Wayne lifted his head off the carpet.
“Don’t even think about it,” I said to my dog. “You’d lose that fight.”
He lay back down with a sigh, his head on his paws.
“Ooh.” Maggie clapped. “Does she have baby bears? OMG, baby bears aresocute.”
“As far as we know, she’s never had any cubs.”
“That’s depressing,” Ellie said. “Is she lonely?”
I blinked at her. I’d never contemplated the emotional health of the damn bear and I never thought I would. “Possibly?”
“There must be no emotionally available boy bears around here,” Ellie mused.
Stella snorted. “Relatable, Betsy.Sorelatable.”
I tried to make myself scarce, but the kids insisted I stay for cookies and milk, so we migrated to the kitchen table and snacked while Stella and I shared several of Betsy Ross’s greatest hits.
