Mysteries in Our National Parks: Night of the Black Bear: A Mystery in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Mysteries in Our National Parks: Night of the Black Bear: A Mystery in Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Gloria Skurzynski

Alane Ferguson

National Geographic Kids

NIGHT OF THE BLACK BEAR

A MYSTERY IN GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK

GLORIA SKURZYNSKI AND ALANE FERGUSON

To Jacob Matthew Ronald Ledesma,

the newest member of our family.

Text copyright © 2007 Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson

Cover illustration copyright © 2007 Jeffrey Mangiat

All rights reserved.

Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents is prohibited without written permission from the National Geographic Society, 1145 17th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.

For information about bulk purchases, please contact National Geographic Books Special Sales, ngspecsales@ngs.org

Map by Carl Mehler, Director of Maps

Map research and production by Sven M. Dolling

Black bear art by Ruthie Thompson, Thunderhill Graphics

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to living persons or events other than descriptions of natural phenomena is purely coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on request.

ISBN: 978-1-4263-0976-2

Version: 2017-07-07

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors want to thank Steve Kemp,

the Interpretive Products & Services Director for

Great Smoky Mountains Association;

Kent Cave, the Interpretive Media Branch Chief at

Great Smoky Mountains National Park;

Kim DeLozier, the Supervisory Wildlife Biologist at

Great Smoky Mountains National Park; and

Jan Skurzynski, who wrote the songs

Merle sings in this book.

The man liked to stack bills neatly. Ten-dollar bills on top of tens, their edges in a straight line, with separate stacks for the twenties and the fifties and the hundreds. Tonight there were seven hundred-dollar bills—pretty good earnings, he thought, in spite of the TV report that had scared some of his clients. Scared them, but excited them at the same time—five new clients had made reservations for tomorrow night. His pile of money would grow fatter still.

He’d begun to count the twenties and tens when his phone rang, and he hesitated. To answer, or not to answer? It was after hours, so the business was supposed to be closed for the night, but it could be another client, which meant more crisp bills to add to his pile.

“Yeah,” he spoke briskly into the phone. “Oh, yeah, Mr. Cabelli, I’ve been watching the reports. She wasn’t killed, just sliced and diced a bit. No, she was bloodied up, but that’s all. Don’t worry about our end. All systems are go.”

Through the window he saw a car edge into the parking lot near his office. A white car, with the words PARK RANGER and a green horizontal stripe above the front fender. It eased past the window like a shark gliding through water. Probably meant nothing, but—

“I gotta go, Mr. Cabelli.”

Quietly the man put down the phone and switched off the office lights. Then, with nothing but the soft glow of his watch to guide him, he placed the money in a bulging blue bag and zipped it shut.

Blood or no blood, he had work to do. He slipped out the side door of his office, locked the bag in the trunk of his black Town Car, and drove away into the night.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

AFTERWORD