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Lightfeather buckled on the loop of fishing line that served as a safety harness. Miss Jennie ran the thread down the branch to Roberta, who tied it snuggly to the main trunk. Newport nodded with approval from his perch on the branch above—even if they were overcome by some stun gun or noxious gas, no one was making off with Lightfeather easily. Maddy used her folded parasol to tuck the line out of sight under the branch, being careful not to slip off in doing so. As young bears, Maddy and Jennie would easily clamber up trees in search of berries and honey, but they weren’t as spry as they once were.
Down below Louie was being camouflaged with twigs and leaves applied by Schlepp, since his silver fur was too conspicuous by moonlight. Terrance hunkered down in a notch between two big mulberry roots. Further away were Big Brown Bear and his troop of stalwarts hidden in the deep shadows of the wisteria. Not a single sound gave their position away. And beyond that, dozens of critters waited vigilantly at their posts, watching the ground and the sky for intruders.