Last Spring

Chapter Four

I decided not to cook the bear. I soon began to wonder how was I supposed to cut something so thick and furry with just a pocket knife?Even if I did cut the skin, where was I gonna put all this meat and hide?

I began to wonder if beyond yonder was any store I could drag this bear to to get some cash. Maybe there was some store close to that paved road there was yesterday?

I grabbed the rope and untied it from the pole and released it letting the bear drop to the ground.

I saddled you my donkey, and grabbed the rope  of the bear and the rein of the donkey and we started off toward the road. The bear was just dragging along in the grass.

With a little clink and clank of my pocket knife in my pocket I began to wonder if today was gonna be a good day. Maybe putting some cash in my pocket?

For about an hour we arrived at the road, my donkey walked in the road and dragged along the bear till some time later we arrived at a store.

I go inside the store and see this tall skinny man with a beard and mustache.

"Howdy Mister! What is this store anyway?" I ask.

"This sir, is the best trading post with five miles." He said smiling. "The name is BBQ. Billy Bob Quirel. And this store is called BBQ's Trading Post."

"Well mister BBQ... I would like to trade you this bear I brought." I say.

"How big?" BBQ asked me sternly.

"Real big, about two men tall. Huge, thick and fuzzy." I say to him.

"Bring him in!" BBQ ordered.

I go outside the doors and grabbed the rope and dragged the bear in. Muster BBQ came up with wide eyes.

"That is one big black bear!" BBQ exclaimed. "May I ask you how you killed it?"

"With a rope." I reply quickly.

"A rope... a rope!" BBQ exclaimed. "How did you kill this bear with a rope."

I explained the whole story over to Mister BBQ starting from the cooking of the snake, donkey making noise, to the next day when the bear let out its last breath.

"You are on clever man!" Said BBQ. "I am still in awe at the way you have killed that bear."

"Are we gonna make a trade or deal or not?" I ask.

"Sure, if you give me the bear, I'll give you a shotgun and forty seven dollars." BBQ said.

"That is one mighty fine deal... that I will agree to." I say. I gave Mister BBQ the rope with the bear at the end, and he gave me a brand new shotgun which came with bullets and forty seven dollars in cash.

After leaving the store, with cash in my pocket along with my knife, my shotgun in my hand, I realized that i am gonna need a new knife to slice my food. I go back into the trading post and gave him a dollar for a knife, then came back out and put the cash and knives in the saddle bag. Then with the shotgun on my lap, the donkey began walking back to the barn.

My donkey and myself got back to the barn by nightfall, when I realized I was hungry, luckily I still had a bit of snake. I put the donkey up, grabbed the saddle bag and shotgun and put it by my bed of hay. I went back to the fire I had last night and grabbed the last bit of snake ate it and went to bed. The very next day, I was going to go into the busy streets of the nearby town and look for a job.