Penny screamed, Katie dropped her wand, and Ellen stood and stared in blank horror.
“Hi, Zoe,” the bear said, and poked its head through the part in the willow limbs framing the trail into the hollow. “Don’t shoot, Sheriff, I’m not here to eat you.”
“Dad?” Zoe lowered her wand and craned her neck toward the phantom figure standing high above them. “Dad? What ... how ... what?”
Erasmus gave a squawk of surprise and sprinted up the hill, his wand leading the way.
“What are you?” His stubby legs pumped frantically to propel him up the crumbling slope. “What do you want?”
Erasmus topped the hill and stumbled as the bear pushed past him and loped down into the clearing.
“I wondered where you were sneaking off to every night,” the bear said, and Penny recognized the voice now, though she w
