Dec 11^th 1808 Day 12, 3rd entry.

Boots Harlow our trail boss has come running through the trees and he has someone with him, only it does not appear to be Henry Barret. This person is of a gender that from a distance I can not easily distinguish, they are running with him and I now see it is a young boy.. They both seem frightened and there is no sign of Henry Barret although until mere seconds ago I could still hear his screams echoing through the thick foliage and trees lain heavy with fog and mist, twisting its way through the under brush almost as if it were alive, like a serpent. We have loaded two of the percussion rifles for our safety’s sake, and although none can clearly say what exactly has taken place here, It is almost a complete certainty that Henry Barret is Dead. The boy appears visibly shaken, as does Boots Harlow, they are both quite wide at the eye’s as though they have looked upon a specter. The boy upon closer inspection is rather thin and frail looking like he has not had a meal in some time, My close friend and neighbor Byron Kinney has taken it upon himself to tend to the boy as he has two strapping young lads at home that as of yet have not taken ill with the fever that we hope to cure here. The boy has a ravenous appetite as if it has been some time since he has eaten, and Boots Harlow has taken us to the side to explain the circumstance’s that have led to the events that we had all just witnessed.

He and Henry Barret had found the fallen pack animals, and although the provisions for the most part were intact the Powder horns had been breeched from the great fall that the animals had taken from the top of the canyon wall, and the rain had soaked the gun powder and rendered it useless. They began to gather the rest of the provisions when the boy came at them through the trees on a dead run, fleeing from what they did not know, Henry Barret had at that point already loaded his rifle in case of an animal attack, and after seeing ever so briefly to the boy, Boots began to lead him back to us while Henry proceeded into the brush with his weapon drawn. As Boots looked back he could see something or someone running on two feet upright attacking Henry before he could even fire a shot, it carried a weapon, and with it cut Henry Barret to the Bone and killed him dead. The boy has now told us, that since he has been here he has seen daylight three times and him and his father were part of a settlement six miles from this valley, they came down here for small game like wild boar. The same person that took Henry Barret’s life had killed his father and for the last three days had been hunting for the boy as well. The local trappers and Indians alike that lived near the settlement where the boy is from warned his father against coming into this valley to hunt on numerous occasions, the Indians said it was a ghost that lived here, the trappers said that it was a crazy man that ate people, they all called him Moondaddy the cannibal.. My dearest Emily.. I am cold here I should like to imagine you by my side as such an image may give me strength to do what I must to survive and return to you one day soon.. With all my love.. Your loving Husband Chester Alan Scarsdale. December 11^th 1808

Dec 11^th 1808.. Day 12.

We have reached the valley floor but at no small price, as expected the footing on the narrow path was quite treacherous indeed, and one quarter of the way down it took the lives of two of our pack animals and the man that was leading them, along with all of the provisions that they were carrying. We now have nine members of our party left with us and six muzzle loading percussion rifles with the ammunition and powder for those cut in half. And three quarters of the dried goods we had, beans and jerked meat, and other provisions necessary for our success.. To make matters worse it is still raining and though we are now on the valley’s floor we are still getting wet, this along with the mist and fog down here are making it hard to take A direction. The trail boss and one other member of our party organized an encampment near the mouth of a shallow cave, it is not very deep but it should provide us with sufficient shelter while we search for the carcasses of the fallen pack animals and try to retrieve the lost provisions. Henry Barret another member of the party has some experience in tracking and direction and has set out to deal with the task of finding them along with the trail boss, while we stand watch over whatever we have left in the way of food and ammunition. Any movement in this cold foul looking place must be slow and deliberate as we are deep into this valley and it is cold and dark. Even in the brightest day our vision will be poor here, in light of these facts we must exercise extreme caution as it is as yet unknown as to what we may encounter here in the way of animals or other human beings. The whole experience thus far has cast an eerie gloom over the entire party. Crow Jackson the other trapper and trailblazer has successfully built us a fire near the mouth of the cave, and in the distance we can hear a bit of a commotion headed in our general direction, it sounds a bit like Henry Barret and he is Screaming like a banshee. There is something amiss here and it leaves me with a chill, I sadly fear dearest Emily, that this may very well be the beginning of the end… Your loving Husband , Chester Alan Scarsdale.. December 11^th 1808.

Dec 10th 1808. Day 11.

My dearest Emily, I do not know if my eyes will ever look upon your great beauty again in this lifetime, it would appear as though our quest for the cure for the great fever that has been plaguing our beloved settlement at the edge of lake Corbett has led this small expedition to hells very doorstep. We have reached the edge of the valley that the Indian Shaman told us about where we could harvest enough of the root to bring back to the Corbett settlement to make enough antidote to break the fever, but I sadly fear as I look upon the vast emptiness of the valley that lie before me, that I am staring into the belly of death itself. It is an impossible task to see the other side of this cold dark place as it has rained day after day, ten out of the eleven perhaps since we left the settlement to come here in search of the cure. The rain has brought with it a mist that lays thick down in the belly of this great beast of a place, that sits here waiting with its jaws open wide for us to enter, so it may devour us, in whole or in part keeping us in its belly for all eternity so we may never again see the light of day or another living soul on this earth, even the more seasoned of the two trailblazers that have come here with us seems uncertain of how to proceed, there is one narrow path that winds down into the valley floor but it is uncertain if it is entirely intact for the trail boss fears that the torrential rains we have suffered may have partly washed it away. We may have to lead our pack animals down in single file, and the footing is almost certain to be treacherous, We must however as foolish an endeavor as it may seem remain steadfast in our resolve to find this cure, our only path shall take us slowly but surely forward, down into the belly of this great beast, I will write further entry’s into this journal in the unlikely event that we reach the valley floor alive. May God bless you my Dearest Emily, and hold you close into his good graces.. With all of my Love.. Your loving Husband, Chester Alan Scarsdale.. December 10 1808.

It was after careful consideration that Baboo had decided that they needed to alter their plans for Kona The Wolf, when the little Mole had come to him and said that he’d seen the devious snake known as Fleck leaving the cave only moments earlier. Baboo called Iggy and Chubb into the meeting to discuss their roles in the plan and how they would have to start over now that Fleck had more than likely over heard every word that they were saying and was probably on his way to tell Kona everything. Chubb was getting impatient and really wanted to get his revenge on the snake and Kona for what they tried to do to him. And at one point he even volunteered to be used as bait to try and draw out Kona so the Bears could put an end to his threat, which of course Baboo wouldn’t even consider. “Chubb my little friend, Kona The Wolf is Far too dangerous, and way too smart to fall for that, not to mention he would have scouts checking the area, he would know that you were there long before we wanted him to.” Baboo didn’t want to risk it but Iggy came up with a plan of his own in which he and Chubb would be the scouts for the Bears. They decided on an alternative. The Bears would spread out onto three separate paths and would stay behind the two cats, who would walk ahead of them on the center path but out in the open where Kona’s scouts could easily spot them, but Baboo, Badder and trunk wouldn’t be too far behind and hidden from view until the time was right to strike, but how were they to know that Kona already knew what they were up to, for Baboo’s friend the little mole was nothing more than another one of his spies, and the Bears were walking right into his little trap. He was to have two wolves each for Badder and trunk, while Fleck and the mole would provide a distraction for Baboo, leaving Iggy and Chubb for Kona. But when it came right down to it size won the day hands down, and Badder when attacked, ruthlessly made quick work of the pair of out matched wolves that tried in vain to at the very least slow him down, but his razor sharp teeth quickly found flesh and his powerful and equally sharp claws swatted and cut to the bone, and as the first wolf dangled lifelessly from his powerful jaws, the second lay dead, bleeding on the ground sliced open like a ripe melon, across the way the second pair of wolves faired no better with Trunk, and were made quick work of, but in the middle path the cats had gotten too far ahead of Baboo and were heading right towards Kona who lay in wait for his prize. Iggy was in the lead but only slightly when Kona leapt from out of the bushes by the clearing and snatched him up by the neck, he immediately swung the defenseless cat around by the fur and only relinquished his grip when he’d felt little Chubb’s teeth and sharp little claws digging feverishly into his own flesh, he reared back and howled in pain but had to release the wounded Iggy to try to remove the angered Chubb from his own neck. He thrashed his body in many directions to shake him off and finally Chubb lost his grip and his advantage and he fell from the back of Kona’s neck.

Now the agitated wolf turned towards Chubb and began a slow approach all the while growling and baring his fangs wet with slobber, “Now fat little Kitty, you will get your due!” he slowly inched his way closer but Chubb wouldn’t give ground, his little body tightened and readied itself for a pounce, and when Kona Lunged Chubb was already out of harms way, and as suddenly as Chubb had jumped out of harms way the bewildered wolf now found himself face to face with Baboo the grizzly bear, who quickly found Kona’s throat and crushed it in his powerful jaws, almost instantly the life drained from Kona The Wolfs body and he died Trapped there in Baboo’s jaws. They took Iggy back to the caves and found a place to make him comfortable, no one was sure just how long he would live but Chubb would stay by him there in the cave of Baboo until he woke up, and when he finally did Chubb was there. “ Chubb my Friend, is the wolf dead?” He nodded “ Baboo.. He.. Made fast work of him.. Iggy.. I tried to-” Iggy raised his head “Chubb no.. My friend you were very brave out there! I only breathe now because of your fight… you did well my friend.. Now you should go back to Foxwood Farm.. The humans will rebuild it soon and you should be there.. I will die soon Chubb.. You can’t help me, nor I you anymore.. Go home my friend..” Chubb lowered his eyes away from him saddened by the very thought.. “Go home Iggy? And Do what?” He smiled at Chubb “Live my friend.. Go home and live..” his eyes closed for a time and then he blinked once, and then Twice and he drew a deep breath and his body grew strangely still, and for a moment Chubb thought his friend was asleep, but the thought was broken by Baboo’s gentle whisper over his shoulder, “Come now Chubb.. It is time my friend..” the four of them walked on through the night but rarely broke the silence with nothing more than their own thoughts, and at daybreak they had finally reached the meadow at the very edge of the woods.. And Chubb could see Foxwood Farm off in the distance.. It seemed so close and yet a world away.. He thought it odd how small it looked to him now, not the center of all of life as he once thought it to be.. The farm house had survived the blaze, and the humans were already rebuilding the barn just as Iggy had told him they would.. Baboo looked down at him “Good luck to you my friend..” Chubb stood silent for a time and finally he turned and followed Baboo and the others back down the path and disappeared from view back into the woods. Iggy was right.. It was time to go home… Fin..

Kona knew that such a disturbance could only be caused by one thing, the biggest meanest animal that lived in the woods, and seconds after the thought his slowly growing fear had become a reality as Baboo the grizzly bear slowly lumbered into the small clearing. Kona commanded the rest of his small pack to spread out and to ready themselves to surround the large bear and attack in the unlikely event that he was alone. Baboo stood silently watching the small wolf pack until he heard Iggy’s voice coming from up in the tree. In low gruff growl, he slowly looked up at Iggy, “Iggy, my little friend, Is that you up in that tree?” Iggy laughed with delight and Much to Chubb’s amazement he didn’t seemed worried about the wolves at all, “Yes Baboo my large friend it is I !” The large Grizzly bear seemed genuinely happy to hear Iggy’s voice, “What are you doing up there Iggy?” meanwhile the wolf pack was stirring, “Kona the wolf was going to make a meal of my friend Chubb! I helped him escape and we were forced to climb up here for our safety! That no good snake Fleck is helping them!” Baboo’s look of amusement slowly disappeared as he lowered his gaze to meet the eyes of Kona The Wolf. Kona was growing more confident “Don’t be a fool and try to interfere Baboo The Bear! You are all alone and My pack will surround and attack you, and rip you to pieces!” Baboo started laughing, “Alone am I?” and almost as if on cue two more grizzly’s stepped into the clearing. “I believe you remember my two friends here, Trunk and Badder eh Kona The Wolf? I believe the fight may be a little one sided now, what do you think of five small wolves against three fully grown and very angry grizzly bears?” The two large bears that Baboo had been referring to as “Trunk And Badder” slowly moved around the small pack of wolves and began to stomp and paw at the ground, Kona could almost smell the horrible defeat that he was about to face, “Okay, Baboo the bear you win this round, but be warned! No animal makes a fool of Kona The Wolf and lives to tell the tale! We will meet again Baboo!” Baboo’s laughter returned, “it would be wise for you to pray that we do not Kona!” the wolf pack slowly disappeared into the woods, and Iggy and Chubb finally came down from the tree top. Iggy told Baboo of the fate of Foxwood farm, and that neither Chubb nor himself stayed to witness the final outcome of the blaze. They did not know if the fire had completely destroyed it or not, as far as either had known now they were both homeless and had no place to go but into the woods.

Baboo had led them both back to a series of caves that were close to where the river ran through the trees. And Chubb could see that there were off shoots from the main body of the river that had tiny streams that flowed into separate little pools of water and then came out the other side of each to form a stream again before heading back into the main body of the river. There were huge rock and earth formations that jutted up from the ground that shaped into little mountains there in the middle of the woods, back into the sides were the caves of Baboo the bear and his Grizzly horde, to Chubb it looked like animal heaven. The bear that Baboo had called “Badder” took Chubb down to the river side to teach him more about the fine art of catching a fish, and although Chubb had gotten lucky the first time that he caught one, he found the going a bit tougher when in the presence if an audience. The water here was a bit deeper than in the brook where he’d caught his first fish, and on his first attempt here he fallen head first into the stream and came back out in a hurry, soaking wet and looking like a drowned rat. Badder tried not to laugh as he didn’t want Chubb to feel bad or disappointed for failing on his first try. So he took his new little friend along the banks and showed him how to find the shallow spots where he could safely wait for the fish to go by and then spring his trap to catch his second fish ever, which he did on his very next attempt. Badder almost looked like a proud father, and when they were finished they’d taken their entire catch back to the caves where all present feasted on the fresh Trout. And after dinner Baboo and his council discussed in great length what they were to do about the still present danger that was provided by Kona and his pack of wolves, Baboo knew that Kona sooner or later was going to have to be dealt with for good, and him and his grizzly council set about making a feasible, workable plan to do just that very thing, all of the while completely unaware that Kona’s little spy Fleck the snake was hiding unseen nearby and he heard every word of their plans for Kona The Wolf…