15 Last Chance

Resilience grabbed Hornet by the scruff and lumbered out of the cave.

“We have to get the gold!” Bo-Bo woofed to Choi Hung. She darted toward the rock pile. Sheng grabbed her by her neck fur.

“Come on, Bo-Bo!” he cried. “I don’t care about the gold anymore! I don’t care about paying the tax anymore! Mr. Smeets can jump in the river with his gold in his pockets!”

He dragged her to the main cave entrance. She hadn’t realized quite how strong he was. He pulled her out of the cave and into the light. Choi Hung was the last one out.

The ringtail seemed to have finally let Mr. Smeets go. Bo-Bo didn’t see her. The men were swinging into their saddles. “We’re leaving, Smeets!” one of them said. “We’re not getting paid enough to get eaten by a bear!” They rode off. They didn’t even take all the shovels.

“You get back here!” Mr. Smeets shouted. He mounted his own horse and chased after them.

The entrance to the cave shook. A wooden beam snapped. There was a great crash. Rocks and dirt and wood piled up to block the place where the opening had been.

“That was close!” Sheng said.

Bo-Bo pulled away from Sheng. They still needed the gold!

She saw that the entrance hadn’t collapsed completely. There was a small hole near the top of the rocks and dirt. She ran to the cave. She wriggled through the opening.

“Stop!” Sheng desperately called out to her.

“Flea-addled, fur-brained fool!!” Choi Hung screeched.

She was inside the cave. It was so quiet, Bo-Bo could hear her own heart beating. Dust swirled in the beam of light that shone in. She ran to the stack of gold rocks.

Sheng had said they needed three.

She picked out the biggest stone. It was too big to carry. So she rolled it with her nose. It was awkward, but she kept rolling it. She got to what was left of the cave entrance. She stuck her head out of the cave and pushed the stone outside. Sheng tried to grab her. She ducked back into the cave and ran down for a second stone. She rolled that out of the cave too.

“Bo-Bo!” Sheng shouted. “Come out now!”

His hands reached through the hole to try to get her.

Just one more! She sprinted back to the rock pile.

Crack! Rumble! CRACK! The earth beneath her paws trembled. The rest of the cave was going to go any minute! She grabbed a smaller rock in her mouth. She almost dropped it. Even though it was small, it was heavier than the others.

She ran as fast as she could to the cave entrance. She dropped the rock and pushed it through the gap. Some tiny claws and some big ones, the ringtail’s and Resilience’s, grabbed for the rock. And it was out. She could only hope it would be enough.

The ground beneath her gave way. Another wooden beam snapped. And then another. Dirt and rocks and wood rained down on her. She winced, waiting for the cave to crush her. But just before it did, the shaking stopped. She hadn’t been buried. All was quiet and darkness.

It was time to get out of there. She pulled herself up to the cave entrance.

But it was gone. Now there was a thick wall of rock between her and escape.

She was trapped.

Sheng has the gold! she thought. Even if she was trapped here forever, he would be able to pay for the tax and the bear.

But she was so afraid. Please don’t let me be trapped here forever. She started digging. The rest of the cave could still collapse.

She heard a scratching sound. Then rocks moving. More scratching. And Choi Hung ordering everyone around. Finally, she heard the ringing of a shovel. Bo-Bo kept digging. Her paws were full of dirt and so was her nose. The cave shook again. She froze with terror.

A ray of sunlight shone into the cave. A tiny crack had appeared between the rocks. Bo-Bo couldn’t believe what she saw. Acorn’s paws were digging away at the rocks. In a moment, she saw his nose. The crack grew wider as some rocks were pulled away.

Sheng’s hands reached through. “I’m here, Bo-Bo,” he panted. His hands felt around for her. Bo-Bo reached with her paws. Sheng grabbed them. He pulled.

She was out. Behind her, the entrance to the cave shuddered and crashed into rocks and dust.

It didn’t matter. Bo-Bo had found the gold. She hoped there was enough.

Acorn stood a few paces away. “Thank you,” Bo-Bo woofed. Acorn dipped his head.

“Maybe we’ll see you again sometime,” he answered.

He turned and trotted away toward Scrub Hill.

A tiny warm flame sparked in Bo-Bo’s heart. The feeling spread to her face, to the tips of her ears, to her toes digging into the dirt.

But Sheng looked so upset!

“Bo-Bo!” he shouted. “Don’t ever do that again!”

Why was he angry? She whimpered and flattened her ears against her head. Sheng lowered his voice.

“What were you thinking? I told you not to go! I told you I don’t care about the tax anymore! Do you think gold is more important to me than you are?”

Bo-Bo hadn’t thought about it that way.

“Stupid brave dog! Stupid brave dog!” Choi Hung said in human speech.

Sheng buried his head in her fur. Resilience, Hornet, Choi Hung, and the ringtail watched.

After a while, Sheng straightened up. He wiped his eyes. Bo-Bo looked at him anxiously. Was everything all right?

She woofed with relief when he smiled.

“Thanks for your help,” she said to Resilience and the ringtail.

“You were kind to us,” Resilience said. “Only fair for us to help you out too! Who was that other dog?”

“A friend,” answered Bo-Bo. Resilience snuffled. She huffed and took off. Hornet trundled behind her. He looked back and squeaked a goodbye.

The ringtail chittered, “I’m heading back to my den. Try to stay out of trouble!”

Sheng bent to gather the rocks. Bo-Bo saw that the two bigger ones were more gold than rock! But Sheng picked up the smallest one. He stared. His mouth dropped open.

“This is almost pure gold!” He held it out in his palm. Every bit of it sparkled in the setting sun. “There must be more than a pound of gold in this,” he said in a hushed voice.

Bo-Bo pointed her muzzle at the sky and barked with joy. That was much more than they needed to pay Mr. Smeets. That was more than they needed for anything!

“Come on, Bo-Bo,” Sheng said. “Let’s go home.”