Page 46 of Shenanigans

“Much better.”

The sun flashed off metal. I turned to look and noticed a bright red helicopter hovered over a nearby mesa.

“Is that a Pima County rescue chopper?”

Dad squinted at it. “Could be.”

Tinkerbell growled at the same time a rattling click sounded.

Bobo whimpered.

Jana petted the cocker spaniel. “It’s okay, Aunt Jana won’t let anything happen to you. What’s hissing?”

“Snake,” Adam warned and gestured at a rattlesnake coiled on the trail.

We all stopped.

“Go way,”I commanded the snake.

It slithered into the underbrush.

“Tinkerbell is a good girl for warning us.”

She gave me a doggie grin.

It took us thirty long, hot minutes of hiking down a rocky obstacle course called a path to reach the cactus. I was amazed that Harriet had made it as far as she had. The first thing that caught my attention was the hum of thousands of bees.

Jana looked around nervously. “You hear that?”

“Kinda hard to miss.” I sent up a silent prayer that they weren’t Africanized bees.

Larry shuddered. “Gives me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Wuss,” Adam said.

“There.” Dad pointed at an enormous hive nestled under a ledge. “The little buggers are still a bit riled up.”

Bobo barked excitedly, jumped out of Jana’s arms and ran to his momma.

The bees surged out of their hive.

“Shit!” I put out calming psychic vibes. “Go get Harriet.”

Dad, Jana and the medics hurried down the slope.

The mass of bees swirled wildly. Insects of any kind were extremely hard to control, but bees were the worst. Drawing on every ounce of power I had, I formed a mental shield around me and projected peace,“Calm. Friends. Not enemy. Hive safe.”

To my amazement, Tinkerbell never moved a muscle or made a sound.

After what seemed like an eternity, the bees slowly returned to their hive.

I let out a shuddering breath.

“They’ve got her,” Dutch murmured in my ear.

I bit back a shriek. “Stop sneaking up on me.”

“Sneaking is in my job description.” Dutch said quietly and tugged on my backpack. “Slow and easy now, move away.”

---