It sounded like a giant boulder had been thrown into the water. But it was no boulder. Zack’s mom had fallen into the water, probably when she had turned to run away from the bear. Mom had a tendency to panic. Mrs. McGee also wasn’t much of a swimmer. She bobbed and gasped before getting hold of a log that was floating down the river along with her. She held on to it as she was swept along in water that could be no deeper than four or five feet. Zack’s dad now ran along the stream shouting at her as she was carried downstream. “Just stand up! Just stand up!” He had forgotten about the bear. And his car. And Zack, Taylor, and Olivia. Apparently, Zack’s dad wasn’t great in emergencies either. Really the McGees simply were not the outdoorsy type. Zack was about to mention this to Olivia, but before he could utter a word, another even larger bear stepped out from behind the passenger side. This bear looked surprised when it saw the three bug-eyed kids standing at the edge of the creek.
