A Grizzly Discovery

20

About three minutes after the first paramedics arrived, Jason burst through the trail, followed closely by Chief Gary. As soon as he saw me, Jason ran over and took me into a huge hug, pressing me close to his chest. I closed my eyes and inhaled his scent, closing my arms around him. I hadn’t let myself think about the people I would have missed the most if Andrew Fischer had actually killed us, but now, I couldn’t help myself. I burst into tears once more, the salty droplets wetting Jason’s polo.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” he whispered into my ear as he held me close to him.

“Me too,” I replied. “Me too.”

Chief Gary chose that moment to clear this throat, and Jason and I separated. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said, “but I have to take a statement from Angela.”

“Of course,” Jason replied, taking a step back. I reached into my pocket and took out the stone, handing it to Chief Gary.

“Don’t open this out here,” I said. “It looks pretty spectacular in the light, though.”

“Is that…” Jason asked, his eyes moving to the stone, and I nodded.

“Yeah. The Helena diamond. At least, I’d be willing to bet it’s the real thing. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“Thank you, Angela,” Chief Gary said. “I’ll make sure the owners know who was responsible for its return, and what it nearly cost you.”

“I guess the bears didn’t kill Jeremy Wallace after all,” Jason mused, and Chief Gary shifted uncomfortably in place.

“Yes, well, unfortunately while I did pass on Angela’s sentiments, I will admit that I wasn’t completely convinced myself, and that may have swayed the medical examiner’s findings,” he said.

“It’s all right,” I told Chief Gary. “As long as now the truth comes out, no one needs to be afraid of bears anymore. In fact, Sophie and I just had our lives saved by one.”

“I’ll make sure the front page of next week’s paper features that story,” Jason said, and I smiled at him.

“Thanks, you’re the best.”

“I really am,” he replied with a smile.

When Karen found out what had happened she immediately re-scheduled all of our afternoon appointments, and Sophie and I went home and immediately collapsed into bed. I woke up about two hours later feeling a lot better, and went into the bathroom to check on Bee and her kittens.

“Hey Bee, how are things?”

“They’re good, obviously. I’m not incompetent, you know.”

“I know,” I told her, but before I could continue, I noticed that two of the kittens—Butters and Boo—had opened their eyes. Their little dark blue eyes were adorable as they climbed over each other in an attempt to get at Bee’s milk. I let out a squeal of delight at seeing them, and Bee rolled her eyes.

“See that, kittens? That’s one of the humans. Her name is Angela. She’s ok, as far as humans go.” By Bee’s standards, I figured that was high praise.

“Thanks, Bee,” I replied sarcastically. “Let me take your food bowl, I’ll be back in a minute,” I told her.

“Bring me back some sushi,” Bee ordered. “I want the little ones to know the greatest taste on earth.”

“I’m not bringing back sushi,” I replied. “It’s not safe for the little ones, they should be on a diet of only your milk for at least a few more weeks.”

“Remember what I said about Angela being one of the ok ones? I take that back,” Bee told the kittens, and I made my way back to the kitchen with her food bowl, rolling my eyes. High quality cat food was going to have to do her for now.

As I placed the bowl down for Bee and the kittens I looked on the adoring foster mother with a smile on my face. Those kittens were going to grow up to be insane. But I also knew they were going to be raised well. For all of Bee’s dramatics and quirkiness, she was a good cat. She was definitely going to make a good mother.

Willow Bay had never been so famous as after the Helena Diamond was found in a major tourist spot. All the fears people had about tourism levels dropping due to the bad publicity regarding the bears was completely unfounded; people began to flock to Willow Bay on weekends, even though it was the off-season, just to walk the trail where one of the world’s most famous diamonds had been hidden. I’d never seen a September like it. Business was brisk and bustling, and no one made any more comments about killing bears. The petition to allow the hunting of bears in the National Park nearby got so much negative press it was immediately pulled, and the government put out a press release stating the importance of bears in the local ecosystem.

All I knew was bears had been pretty important in my own ecosystem.

About a week after the recovery of the diamond, Chief Gary called me and told me the owner wanted to thank me personally. She came to Willow Bay and we met at the back of the Italian restaurant Jason and I had eaten at about two weeks earlier. We sat at a small, private table at the back.

Catherine Montgomery was the daughter of a diamond tycoon in South Africa. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it turned out she was short, with a small frame and a shy smile. She carried herself with the confidence that came from never having to worry about money, but her demeanour was friendly and welcoming. I got no sense of frigidity from her whatsoever.

“Angela Martin, it is so nice to meet you,” she told me, taking my hands in hers and shaking them warmly when I arrived. I couldn’t help but match her smile.

“It’s lovely to meet you too,” I replied.

“I wanted to thank you for bringing me back my diamond,” Catherine told me. “I know it is such an extravagant luxury, but it has so much sentimental value to me. My father gave it to me before he died as a gift for my wedding, and when I found out it was gone, I was just devastated.”

“Well I was glad to be able to help,” I replied.

“I seriously cannot thank you enough,” Catherine told me. “But I hope this will help somewhat,” she said, slipping me an envelope. I opened it and looked inside and saw a check, and my eyes widened.

“I can’t… I can’t take this.”

“Oh please, please do,” Catherine said. “I want you to have it. This diamond means so much to me, when it disappeared I was completely distraught. I want you to have it.”

“Thank you,” I finally managed to stammer out. “Thank you so much.”

When Catherine left I dared to look at the check once more. It was for a million dollars. I couldn’t believe it. I absolutely could not believe it.

“You have to keep the money,” Sophie said. “It’s all yours. Seriously.”

Jason and Charlotte nodded their agreement.

“Absolutely,” Jason said. “You did so much to find that diamond. You were the one who figured it out.”

“I never could have done it without you guys, though,” I protested.

“Well we’re not taking it,” Sophie said. “Go on. Besides, I’d give my part of it to you just to see the look on Matt Smith’s face when he hears about the deal.”

“Fine,” I finally conceded.

An hour later I’d deposited the check at the bank. They’d put a hold on it until it cleared, but I knew it was going to. I smiled as I took my phone out and dialled Leanne Chu. It turned out I’d found the perfect owner for the building and land the vet clinic was on. Me.