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Sara woke feeling groggy and a little sick, but she couldn't understand why she felt so bad. She knew she hadn't been drinking, but her memory was a jumble. She had a vague recollection of one of the Rangers staying the night and only the haziest memory of Sam getting her into bed. She groaned and rolled over to see a fresh glass of water on her bedside unit with a small piece of folded paper lying next to it with "Mom" written on it. Propping herself up on her elbow she took a slow drink from the glass and then picked up the piece of paper.

It was as she had hoped; a note from Sam, but as she read the note she began to cringe and feel very uncomfortable. The note read: 'Mom, I hope you read this before you see me this morning. I won't have slept much because I was trying to keep Andrew away from you. I don't want you to freak out, but I think you were drugged last night. You weren't acting like yourself so I put you to bed as fast as I could. I'll explain more when we get a chance. I love you.'

Sara hugged her knees to her chest and rocked back and forward a little in distress; were her first thoughts about the Ranger right? She checked herself over, slowly and carefully she didn't feel sore or abused in any way and the fact that she was still fully dressed in her pyjamas reinforced her belief that nothing had happened to her during the night.

Sara gradually forced herself out of her bed and started pacing back and forth across the room. Was Andrew a rapist, she wondered? The thought terrified her that she had been so welcoming and friendly even after her immediate distrust of him. She had to speak to Sam soon; she knew she couldn't be left alone with Andrew for her own safety. At least with Sam close by she had a level of control of the situation.

Knowing that the two males would be awake soon Sara dressed herself in some black jogging pants and t-shirt and tried to put her worrying thoughts to the back of her mind. She opened her curtains and looked out over the land. The storm looked to have past, but the sky still remained dark and overcast. Feeling a sudden rush of unease as her ear twitched, picking up the sound from the main room of someone moving around.

Sara pressed herself back against the far wall from the door; panicked thoughts flooding through her mind again. What if it was Andrew there on his own? Could it be Sam? Was Sam hurt? What would she do if it wasn't Sam?

She took a moment and steadied herself and her breathing before taking slow steps towards the door. She listened carefully at the door and could only make out the sound of muffled steps that seemed to be pacing between the kitchen area and the couches. Finally building the courage to leave her room Sara slowly opened her door and braced herself for the worst to come.

She breathed a quiet sigh of relief as Sam turned towards her and smiled in relief. He approached her quickly, stopping only to embrace and lift her off her feet and back into her room.

He gently lowered his mother back onto her feet and released her from his embrace before quickly and quietly closing the door. "Sam..." Sara began but couldn't find any other words to say.

Sam returned to her and hugged her tightly. "I was so worried about you Mom, are you ok?" He asked with a lump in his throat and fighting back tears.

Sara slowly placed her paws on his cheeks and stared deeply into his eyes before she kissed him deeply and passionately. After a long moment her paws slid gracefully to his chest as she reluctantly broke their kiss. "I'm fine sweetie, but I want to know something." She said in a hoarse voice. Sam nodded and stared into his mother's eyes with deep concern. Sara continued to speak lowering her voice further. "Were you serious about me being drugged?"

"Yes." Sam replied in a voice that was barely above a whisper as his ears flattened against his head.

Sara shivered and gripped on the Sam's t-shirt tightly. "How?" She asked with fear cascading through her voice.

"After he finally went to bed I started looking around his stuff." He paused for a moment as his ears shot up, hearing movement from upstairs. "Mom, the glove compartment in his car was full of Ritalin and Rhohypnol. It looks like he'd been mixing them."

Sara gritted her teeth and clenched her fists against Sam's chest; she was furious. She cried silent tears of anger that wouldn't stop growing inside her. She wanted to scream but gradually decided that keeping control of the situation was best. She levelled her breathing and slowly backed away from Sam, wanting to stand on her own and compose herself. Sam watched his mother, unsure if telling her was the right thing to do. It had to be the right thing he thought; having her know now, she could better defend herself if something did happen.

"Sam..." She said firmly. He stared at her waiting for her to continue. "I want you to pretend like nothing happened."

Sam stood in shock at her statement. "You cannot be serious!" He said with the deepest of concern.

Sara locked her eyes with her son's. "I'm deadly serious; he probably doesn't know what you were up to last night, so as long as we can stay close together I think we can get rid of him now that the storm has past."

Sam suddenly looked worried; Sara knew the look on his face well. He had been trying to do something and there had just been a sudden change to his plan. It was the same look he had given her when she had told his they would be going to the cabin.

"What is it?" She asked quietly.

Sam slowly built up the courage to say what he had to. "Mom, there is no way he's a Ranger. I checked the phone last night too and whoever he called has nothing to do with this place." He stopped and prepared himself for the reaction to his next statement.

"Anything else?" She asked quietly.

Sam nodded. "I have to leave you alone with him for a little while Mom." Sara's eye's widened in shock that he wanted to leave her alone with him, but also with curiosity as to why he had contemplated such action. His mother's lack of words didn't make the unsaid question any less obvious. "I think I can find out who he is, but I need about ten or fifteen minutes to get what I need."

Sara was angry at him, more so than she had ever been at him for his childish misdemeanours as he was growing up; this was on a whole new level of anger and disappointment. She readied herself to deny him what he thought was right when they both heard an upstairs door open. They looked at each other in startled silence before they heard footsteps moving towards the stairs.

"Don't you dare leave me alone with him Sam; I'll never forgive you if you do." Sara growled with authority. Sam whimpered and dipped his head, no longer sure what he could do. "Now come with me and act like you've been checking on me." She said quietly.

Andrew looked towards Sara's room as her door opened and both she and Sam left together. "Thank you sweetie, I don't know what came over me last night." She said as she took a drink from the water Sam had left for her earlier.

Andrew looked at her curiously. "Good morning. You ok? You were a little shaky last night."

Sara turned her gaze towards him and smiled as best she could. "I'm just fine; I might have eaten something that didn't agree with me though."

"Would you like me to make some breakfast for you two?" Andrew asked with a pleasant smile on his face.

"I beat you too it." Sam said cheerfully with just a hint of smugness in his voice. "Everything is on the table." The food had cooled a little, but Sam had deliberately not cooked a lot or for very long.

Breakfast was more intense than dinner had been the previous night. Sam kept an ever watchful eye on Andrew. The coyote had been eyeing his mother with increased frustration. Sam knew that he had denied him of his prize for now and was just glad he had gone to his jeep and emptied the contents of his glove compartment and other items about the car into a small rucksack that he now kept in his old room.

The rain had started again, lightly pattering on the roof and windows. Sam watched the clouds roll on outside and noticed a large break in the light rain heading their way. He looked over at his mother who was washing up. She was still obviously on edge but trying to keep herself calm. Andrew had returned to his room to change and ready himself to leave; Sam was at least glad of that.

Sam got up from his chair and headed to the kitchen area. Standing behind his mother who hadn't noticed him, he carefully lay his paws on her hips and spoke softly in her ear. "Mom, are you ok?"

Sara jumped and nearly dropped a large plate. "Damn it Sam, don't sneak up on me."

"I didn't sneak up on you Mom. You've been locked in a world of your own worry." He said softly and lightly rubbed her hips.

Sara rested back against him and sighed softly. She wanted to cry, but she was in such nervous state she couldn't form any tears. "Sam..." She said barely above a whisper "We can't let him see us."

He nuzzled her cheek softly and whispered softly in her ear "I know, but being so far and yet so close to you; it's been too much." He softly kissed her cheek and hugged her tight against him. A moment later he released her and let his paw trail lightly across her back.

Sara sighed softly, hating the fact that the situation was as tough for her son as it was for her. They were both straining at the edges with what they knew they wanted and being able to do almost nothing except play innocent and ignorant. She simply hoped that Andrew would leave sooner rather than later.

Sam returned to his room and changed his clothes. A t-shirt, jeans, warm sweater and heavy walking boots. He knew his mother had told him not to leave her, but he had to be ready just in case the opportunity presented itself. He knew it would put his mother in danger leaving her alone with Andrew, but it would also give him a chance to call for help. He made sure all the evidence he had pulled from Andrew's jeep was safely in his rucksack and made sure his mother's cell phone still had a good amount of power in it.

Sam lifted his rucksack and headed down stairs, looking into the kitchen. His mother was still clearing up and hadn't noticed him again. He felt sorry for her, knowing that she was the object of Andrew's lust and that it was frighteningly clear he wanted her. Sam wondered for a moment what Andrew had considered doing to him and dared not imagine what nightmare he might have been subjected to, knowing what he had recovered from Andrew's glove compartment.

Placing his bag carefully by the door and then heading to the main room Sam began to build a fire to take his mind off everything that was going on. Sara finished her clearing up and headed into the main room to see Sam busying himself around the fire. She moved behind him as he lit the fire and gently rubbed his shoulders. "How are you holding up sweetie?" She asked quietly.

Sam turned and looked back up at her and grimaced weakly. "Not great, I just want him gone." He sighed.

Sara firmly rubbed his shoulders and looked back into his exhausted eyes. "Sweetie, get on the couch and rest for a while. You're about ready to keel over."

Sam rested against his mother's leg and stared back into his newly lit fire. "Not while he's still here." He grumbled.

Sara smiled and wanted to praise his vigilance openly, but all she found she could do was softly scratch and rub his ear before she stepped away and sat on the couch. Sam pushed the old metal poker back into the fire then gradually lifted himself from the floor and sat near his mother but not close enough to rouse Andrew's suspicions.

With a loud creak the door to Andrew's room opened and he stepped out and headed quickly for the stairs. "I'm going to have to use the phone again, and find out how bad the trails are." He called out as he made is way into the main room.

"That's fine." Sara called back and stared into the fire, as she wondered who it was he was calling. Sam's curiosity had clued her in to the fact that he was acting and everything he had told her earlier kept her guessing as to whether or not he would make a move or not. She hoped not.

Andrew dialled on the phone and then launched into a long conversation with who ever was on the other line. It sounded official, but highly unconvincing to Sam. "Yeah it was pretty heavy rain up here last night; I'll have to do a quick check on foot first." Andrew said obviously a little frustrated. "Yes I'll be sure to take those back." He paused as the conversation continued. "Soon I hope, all the signs are good. "

Sam was far too irritated to sit still and got up to stand by the main window. Sara wondered what was going through his mind and how difficult it was for him to know what Andrew had done and not act on it.

"Alright, I'll hopefully see you soon." Andrew said then hung up the phone. He stepped towards the door and grabbed his heavy jacket. "I'll be out for a few minutes; I've got to do a manual check of the track, apparently the other tracks are all in different states."

"Oh, ok." Sara chirped. "Take care then." She said trying to be polite. Andrew smiled and headed out and walked down the track. Sara sighed in relief as the door closed behind him. She knew it wouldn't be for long but at least she had a moment to think clearly.

Sam had been hoping for this opportunity, he watched Andrew head down the trail and grinned menacingly as he moved out of sight. He waited a moment then headed to the door himself and grabbed his jacket and backpack.

"Where do you think you're going" Sara growled at him.

Sam stopped and looked directly into his mother's eyes. "Out, I won't be long."

Sara quickly rose to her feet and growled angrily. "Sam! I've told you already, you're not leaving me here alone!"

"Mom, I've just got a feeling if I don't do this, then we're both going to regret it." He said quietly.

Sara had never had cause to doubt Sam's judgement in the past, but now she couldn't understand why he was thinking like that. Sara hesitated before she spoke again. "Sam; please don't leave me." She whimpered.

"I have to do this Mom." He said firmly as he strapped his backpack on.

"You do as you're told Sam!" She screamed at him fiercely and suddenly.

Sam stopped and looked at his mother carefully. In all his life she had never once screamed at him like that. Sam felt his shoulders slump, but his sense of conviction in what he had to do was too strong for him to stop now. "I'm not a little cub any more Mom. I can make my own decisions."

All of a sudden Sara's semi-innocent, mental picture of Sam shattered. He really wasn't a cub any more and their sudden confrontation had just proved that. Sara stood in quiet shock unable to move or speak.

Sam slowly opened the front door of the cabin and then looked back to his mother. He had clearly shocked her, but he couldn't leave without trying to lay the first stone of yet another new peace between his and mother and him self. "Mom." He said quietly as Sara slowly let her gaze fix back to her son's eyes. "I love you. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Sara started to cry as Sam left the cabin and ran up one of the mountain trails. She remembered the look in his eyes; it was the same deeply loving look he had given her when they committed themselves to each other. Something inside her, told her that, that love would never leave them, no matter what happened to try and cause a rift between them. Sara fell to her knees and wept openly. "Just tell me what you're going to do." She whimpered to herself.

* * *

Sam had been running for several minutes trying to get as high as he could. He panted heavily and pulled his mother's cell phone from his pocket. Checking it over, time and time again as he ran the signal was weak and kept dropping off every few seconds. Sam was getting frustrated as he continued on along the path; it was taking too long. He began to doubt his decision to leave his mother and turned his thoughts to heading back to the cabin.

His frustration grew as he toiled with the new decision he could make. Finally he stopped dead in the trail and growled angrily at the cell phone in his paw. "Damn it, just work for fuck sake!" Sam readied himself to throw the phone up the trail when he heard it beep several times. He stopped himself and checked the phone again. Sam looked in amazement as the signal strength was at full and the phone had just picked up a text message from his mother's work.

Some what bewildered and grateful for the sudden change in fortune; He quickly dialled the number for the base cabin that he had memorized the previous night after having raided Andrew's jeep.

A cheerful older male voice rang in Sam's ear as someone picked up. "Good morning, base hut here, Mike speaking."

"Hello! Can I speak to the Head Warden please?" Sam barked enthusiastically.

"Speaking." The happy voice continued.

Sam made a simple thank you gesture skywards as he continued. "This is Sam from the Lake View Cabin; can I ask you about someone on your staff please?"

The cheery voice became very serious as he spoke. "Sam; Lake View; ah yes, you're staying with your Mother for vacation. What was it you wanted to ask? Is everything ok, you sound a little flustered?"

Sam began to tremble a little. "No, something is very, very wrong. Do you have a member of staff called Andrew?"

The individual on the other line went quiet for a moment. "We used to, but he was fired about two years ago. Why do you ask?"

Sam suddenly panicked and looked back down the trail to the cabin. "Because he's been at our cabin and I think he's coming back."

"WHAT!" The warden growled down the phone. "Sam, listen to me; get your Mom and get away from him as fast as you can. He's dangerous." The warden said hurriedly. Sam missed what the warden said next as he started to run back to the cabin as fast as he could, thinking of nothing else but his mother's safety now.

* * *

Fifteen minutes had passed since Sam had left the cabin and Sara felt very much alone. In spite of sitting next to the fire for the last few minutes she felt cold and very nervous. She added more wood to the fire and then decided to try and busy herself. She headed to the kitchen and began to tidy away things that had been left out after breakfast and then began to make herself a light sandwich. As she worked, she began to ease up and a lot of the tension she had been feeling began to leave her.

Suddenly she heard a door slam outside. She looked up to see Andrew taking a bag out of the back of his Jeep and he headed towards the cabin. Sara cursed under her breath and hoped Sam would return as Andrew came in; it was not to be.

Sara locked Andrew in her gaze as he approached the door; with a heavy creak the door slowly swung open and the coyote entered the cabin. "Hi again, the track looks pretty good after all that rain. I just need to get something before I go." He said cheerfully as he headed for the stairs.

"Oh; what's that?" Sara said with a slight hint of hope that he hadn't noticed Sam was missing and that he was just going to leave.

Her hope was quickly extinguished as he suddenly turned towards her and pulled a knife from his bag. "You actually." He said coldly and with a swift chopping action, cut the exposed telephone wire and embedded the knives blade into the wooden surface of the phone stand as he moved towards her.

Sara quickly grabbed a large knife from the drying rack on the sink and kept it close. "Sam was right about you! You did try to rape me last night!" She growled.

Andrew smirked at her. "Yeah, maybe if I'd taken care of him first I'd have had more fun with you, but it's hard to surprise some one when they're wide awake."

"You sick bastard, what wrong with you? Mommy not hug you enough when you were a cub?" Sara hissed.

Andrew laughed coldly. "Oh please Sara, surely you're better than just throwing insults at me?" He reached back into his bag and slowly pulled out a slightly cut down baseball bat. "Now be a good girl and put the knife down; I down want to hurt you more than I have to. It affects my pay."

Sara was shocked; he was being paid to do this by some one. It didn't make sense to her. Why would anyone pay some one to rape another person? She shook in terror as the thought flooded her mind.

Andrew saw the look on her face and could see she was physically shaken by his information. "Oh yeah, see I'm going to record everything I do to you and sell it on to some guys I know who run internet sites that like that kind of thing."

Sara felt sick to the core of her being; she was shaking as he threaded his words into her mind to distract her. Suddenly Andrew lunged at Sara and took a swipe at her paws. Caught off guard but not unprepared, Sara dodged the heavy swing of the baseball bat, but got the knife knocked from her grasp as Andrew continued to move in.

Sara moved quickly and violently against him, she was glad that both she and her close friend Tanya had taken up kick boxing when they were younger. She kicked him sternly in the ribs as he body checked her back against the kitchen units. They both grunted and growled at the sudden rush of pain in their bodies and tried to ignore the pain, but Andrew's hit knocked Sara off balance. With a swift grab he landed one of his paws on her breast and fondled her aggressively before he ripped part of her t-shirt away, exposing her bare chest.

Sara screamed then in a moment of wild rage bit down hard into his shoulder. Andrew howled in pain and threw her down to the floor as he firmly gripped his baseball bat again. "Been a while since anyone's given me this much of a fight." He growled.

Sara covered her breast with an arm and picked herself up, watching him carefully. "You'll find I'm full of surprises." She hissed angrily "That is the last time you touch me!"

"I don't think so Sara; see you're going to make a nice bitch for me and maybe I'll let you son watch when he gets back." He growled fiercely "Or maybe I'll just shoot him."

"Don't you dare hurt my Son!" She growled back, fearful of Sam's life now being in jeopardy.

Andrew smirked "Well the way he took off up the trail he won't be back for a while. So how about you play nice and do as you're told."

Sara could feel tears start to burn in her eyes. How dare he force her to act against her will, how dare he threaten her son, how dare he come between them at this difficult moment in their relationship.

There was a brief sound of thundering footsteps on the veranda before a heavy kick from a booted foot kick the front door of the cabin open. Sam burst through the door and stared Andrew straight in the eyes and pulled a small hand gun from his jacket pocket and pointed it at him; a low rumbling growl emanated from Sam's chest as he spoke in a low and deliberate tone. "Get the hell away from my mother!"

Both Andrew and Sara were stunned at the sudden turn in events. Sara took the opportunity and moved slowly away from Andrew and under the stairs towards the main room.

Sam kept his gaze fixed on Andrew, the slightest movements noticed and carefully followed. Likewise Andrew watched Sam carefully not wanting the situation to turn more against him than it already had. "Nice kid; how'd you get my gun?" He grunted.

"Shouldn't have left your keys in your jacket last night." Sam growled.

Andrew grinned angrily at Sam "And here I thought you were a dumb kid with an attitude problem. There was a brief silence as Sam tried to move closer to his mother. At the same moment Sara and Andrew both noticed Sam had left the safety catch on. "So what now kid, you gonna to shoot me?" Andrew said with a sly grin grossing his muzzle.

"Sam, give me the gun." Sara said calmly as she slowly moved towards Sam. He glanced quickly at his mother then back at Andrew as he decided what to do. "Sam you left the..." was all Sara managed to say before Andrew rushed at Sam. There was a sudden look of shock in Sam's eyes as he tried to squeeze the trigger, but nothing happened.

With a sudden hit to his chest Sam found himself on the floor with Andrew on top of him trying wrestling the gun from his paws. A sudden punch to the face stunned the young wolf and he lost his grip on the weapon letting it fall to the floor. Andrew made a grab for the fire arm only to be quickly wrestled back by Sam. The two males so interested in their own struggle never heard the hissing of burnt wood being moved or the light scrape of metal on metal.

Andrew gripped Sam's throat and squeezed hard, revelling in the feeling of power he had over the young wolf. He suddenly became aware of Sara standing in front of him with a cold and deeply sinister gaze in her eyes as she stared down at the wicked coyote. "Take your paws off my son!" She growled then kicked Andrew across his face, knocking him away from Sam and up against the wall. Sam watched in horror as he saw his mother grip the handle of the fire poker tightly and drive its white hot tip through one of Andrew's paws

A piercing shriek echoed throughout the mountains disturbing the other guests at the various other sites across the range. Within moments a barrage of calls assaulted the base hut with various guests wanting answers as to what had just happened.

Sara looked down at the mess in front of her; Andrew laid writhing in pain and begging for help. She looked away slowly and saw the gun the two males had been fighting over. Slowly and carefully picked it up and clicked off the safety catch.

Sam picked himself up and stepped away from the scene slowly. "Mom..." He cringed quietly.

Sara wasn't interested or even listening to her son. She knelt down at Andrew's head and pressed the barrel of the weapon to Andrew's eye. "You piece of shit! I thought I'd crossed a line recently, but what I've done is nothing compared to you; you degenerate." She suddenly cocked the gun and pressed the barrel more firmly against him. Andrew was a garbling mess and had begun to wet himself when the sound of another jeep came up the trail.

Sam wasn't sure what to do. Had the stress of the situation pushed his mother too far, was she really going to shoot Andrew through the head? He wanted to move, to say some thing, but found himself incapable of doing anything.

"He's not worth it Sara." A gruff older voice came from the door. Sara looked up angrily at the old bear who ran the area. "If you do it Sara, you become worse than him and you give up everything you want here." He said softly and slowly.

"He tried to rape me, he wanted to kill Sam, and probably me as well when he was finished. He doesn't deserve to live, he's worse than a mindless beast!" She growled back at the old bear.

The old bear nodded. "He is worse than a beast, but you're better than that Sara and you have everything to look forward to here. Don't throw it away."

Sam listened closely to what the bear said and wondered if he some how knew about his relationship with his mother. "Mom, please let the Ranger take him away." Sam whimpered.

Sara turned her gaze to Sam. Seeing his face again brought with it a sudden flood of emotions. She wanted to hit him and scream at the top of her voice at him for leaving her, but at the same time she wanted to hold him, kiss him and let her feelings out as she cried in his arms.

Slowly she un-cocked the gun and clicked the safety catch back into place and threw the gun to the Rangers feet. A moment later she rolled on to her side shivering and crying.

In that moment Andrew painfully ripped the still glowing fire poker from his paw and lunged and Sara. Time seemed to slow as the old bear pulled a gun that looked like a blunderbuss from behind his back. Sam tried to make a grab for his mother as she turned to see the red hot metal bar being forced towards her side. There was a sudden loud noise like a thunder clap followed by a heavy thump. Sam and Sara both froze as they looked back at Andrew. There was a large flat rubber disk laid across Andrew's arm, chest and face; the coyote was unconscious.

Sara lay on her side and managed to kick the still hot fire poker out of the way then turned her head back towards her son and the old bear as she tried to dry her eyes. The old bear patted Sam on the shoulder "She needs you son, go to her." He said softly. Sam slowly approached his mother and knelt beside her before gently wrapping his arms around her and bringing her into his embrace. Sara grabbed on to him and held him as tight as she could. "Don't ever leave me again Sam." She whimpered quietly.

"Never..." Sam said softly in her ear as his own tears forced their way out.

* * *

Hours passed; Sam and Sara had watched the old bear restrain and remove Andrew from the cabin. He had been less than gentle taking custody of the coyote for the short time that he did. Mike had spoken with the couple briefly and explained what was going to happen when the police arrived and then left them alone for a time.

Emotions ran high as they poured out their feelings and reasoning for their actions, Sam tried to defend his actions for leaving his mother alone, while she tried to explain why she had nearly taken a life. There was a strained bitterness in the air between them.

They had been summoned to the base hut to give statements while the police gathered evidence. Sam had been congratulated for gathering so much from Andrew's jeep in case he had managed to get away. Sara had also been personally praised for her handling of the situation and off the record praised further for causing Andrew the damage she had.

As the time with the police drew to a close Sara found herself draw back to Sam and Sam to her. They stayed close not wanting to move away from each other, but finding it difficult to say anything to each other now about what had happened.

Mike had been watching them for some time and exchanged some words with a younger female bear, who disappeared into the base area garage.

Sara watched as Mike slowly made his way towards them. "Can I help you Mike?" She said softly.

The old bear smiled reassuringly at Sara. "Listen, you two have had a really rough experience. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Can we go back to the cabin?" Sam mumbled quietly.

Mike smiled and patted him lightly on the shoulder. "Absolutely; I've asked my grand-daughter to get a jeep ready to take you back to the cabin, or if you'd rather be to another cabin?"

"No, we'll be fine at our cabin." Sara sighed.

He smiled reassuringly at both of them "Alright then, but Sara could I have a word with you before you go? I'll take you back up to the cabin myself."

Sara squeezed Sam's paw tightly in her own. "Alright, but what about?" She said softly.

"Mom?" Sam whined.

Mike smiled at Sam and lifted his chin up. "Cheer up son, we won't be long, it's just about your mom taking over this place."

Sara was suddenly distracted from the recent events. "Oh! Well, is it really important?"

"Yes I'm afraid it is." He said with a soft sigh.

A moment later a Ranger's jeep pulled up and the door opened. A pretty young female bear sat at the wheel and smiled at the small group. "So who's coming with me then?" She said with a reassuring smile across his muzzle.

Sara rubbed Sam's shoulder and nodded at him. Sam suddenly felt alone again "But Mom I..."

Sara hugged her son close and softly kissed his cheek. "I'll be back soon Sam." Sam whimpered to himself and hugged his mother tight before finally letting go and got into the jeep.

The female bear smiled and offered her paw as a greeting. "I'm Vicky." She said calmly.

"Sam..." He said quietly as he took her paw and shook it gently before they drove off.

Sara and Mike stood and watched as the last of the police pulled away from the base area and out of the site. "Come on Mrs Prydein, we have something important to talk about." The old bear said with the sound of relief in his voice.

Sara followed him into the base hut and watched him as he sat behind his desk and gestured for her to take a seat. "So what would you like to talk about?" She said quietly.

To be continued......