Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 The trail camera wasn't far from the campsite. They trooped off together and found the paw print in no time. Arthur and Daniel both crouched down to get a closer look at the print. "As expected," Arthur said, "definitely a wild cat of some kind." "Can you tell if it's a cougar?" Abbi asked. He looked up at her. "Hard to say. It could be a bobcat, but the print looks too big. It could also be a Canadian lynx." "But they don't usually travel this far south, do they?" Steph said from behind their

camera. "So it is a cougar!" Lydia said decisively. Daniel elbowed his sister. "Arthur just said we can't tell for sure!" His sister shrugged. "Sounds to me like a cougar's a possibility." Abbi scanned the ground nearby. "Look, there's another one!" She pointed farther down the path that led away from the campsite. "We could follow the trail, right?" "Good eyes, Abbi!" Arthur said. Abbi smiled at the praise. Daniel gave her a high five. "Why don't we hang back for this part, kids?" Uncle Walker said. He had been staying

off to the side near Amy, just out of camera range. But now he stepped toward the small group and into the frame. "Could be dangerous." Arthur turned to Steph and looked into the camera. "Walker's right, everyone. Cougars are wild animals. You should never approach one if you aren't a trained professional." He swung his attention back to the kids. "But since you are with trained professionals and cougars are most active at night, you can follow along. You might see something we don't! Just stay quiet." "No problem," Daniel whispered. As they followed the tracks, Abbi made sure to keep her chair moving at a steady pace. Her motor always made a loud clicking noise when she stopped or started. She didn't want to be the only noisy one! The tracks led farther into the woods but kept to the path. Pretty soon, though, they

came upon a stream and couldn't find any more prints on the other side. "Dead end," Arthur said, shaking his head. Everyone seemed disappointed. They were all hoping to find the big cat at the end of the tracks!

"So what next?" Lydia asked. "Oh, that's easy," Amy said. "This is his favorite part." Arthur leaned down and beckoned to everyone. They joined him in a huddle. "It's time for a good old-fashioned stakeout."