Tracina's Treacherous Trail of Troubles (eBook)
358 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-9325-7 (ISBN)
Don Maeder was born and raised in Southern California's San Fernando Valley. From a toddler and up, his love for animals remains undeniable. Fondest childhood recollections linger with beloved dogs and cats in the home, each bringing joy and companionship after school, after all-day trips to Disneyland, or returning home from watching a game at Dodger Stadium, then later, collecting favorite ball-player autographs by their cars. Special end-of-year memories also include dogs close by eagerly watching the unwrapping of Christmas presents while mischievous cats stole tinsel and broke delicate Christmas Bulbs-- the shiny kind you could see yourself looking funny with tiny eyes above a bulging nose and chin. Once he had added three semesters of college to his high school diploma, Don entered the job market as an outside salesman, selling industrial supplies to manufacturing plants by day and working nightclubs as a singer-guitarist at night. His all-work and no-play schedule paid the bills but left little time for himself. Years later, he sought a creative hobby and purchased a camera per a visit to the Los Angeles Zoo, which sparked a fascination with capturing close-up animal headshots through a zoom lens. As a zoo member, he frequently explored the wildlife exhibits from Fresno to San Diego, honing his photography craft. This dedication eventually led him to a volunteer docent position at the L.A. Zoo, where he deepened his understanding of animals from around the globe. With practice, his photos improved, and a friend who worked with terminally ill children began purchasing his prints to use as visual aids during Chemotherapy. News spread at the hospital, and other healthcare professionals assisting children became customers. Word of mouth grew that even doctors were added as clients, seeking larger prints as examination room wall coverings for easing patients' nerves. Making cold call pitches to dentists proved easy with a stack of 16 x 20 images of animals yawning. $65.00 each. He called his new business Memorable Mammals and Animals, turning his Fujichrome slides into pre-ordered larger prints as needed. However, after almost a year, he moved out of state, where healthcare professionals dwarfed the tourist trade, and Don turned his business into developing photographic brochures and picture postcards for the Hotel Industry. As a token of appreciation to those browsing about the author brief, Don offers a fun tip on how to get better images of zoo animals. Most everyone knows popular animals on display usually sleep during open daylight hours. Therefore, take a small empty aspirin bottle and secure at least seven pennies inside. Now, you have what sounds like a rattlesnake when shaken vigorously. This new noise will awaken the animal, so be sure to have your camera ready, focused, and framed, then wait till it looks at you because it will. The rattling arouses curiosity, guaranteed. A dog whistle brings the same results if you're in a crowd and unsure how others will react to the racket. The whistle won't hurt ears unless you are face-to-face with an animal, so please be respectful to all domestic fur babies in your neighborhood. Happy Reading.
Donovan and Tracina, the first of their kind, valuable white coat flying squirrels, live a life of pampered care at an experimental breeding ranch. But disaster erupts and blindsides the caretakers after the chief fund's supporter and rightful owner demands their delivery five months sooner than suggested. Halfway to their new home, unique Donovan and Tracina fall into chaos when their cargo plane crash-lands in a remote meadow inside Yosemite National Park. Stranded in the untamed wilderness, the frightened, devoted duo must seek survival skills or suffer the consequences. Just when things worsen, a twist of fate unfolds a remarkable pattern of partnerships with four unlikely forest animals, and together, they share each other's strengths to face living in the wild successfully. Days pass, and the forest friends think all is well except for one thing they fail to notice: a human hunter. The greedy, get-rich-quick, shadowy figure sets his sights on the rare squirrels and schemes how to trap the high-priced white coats. The moment the hunter captures poor Tracina, and she goes missing, Donovan and his friends launch a daring plan of action rescue. Once ready, the rescuers' journey across the wilderness filled with hurdles, delays, and hazards while facing risky challenges and outwitting aggressive enemies in hopes they can safely return Tracina home. Perfect for readers aged 9 to 13 who adore heart-pounding adventures and unforgettable animal heroes, this tale of love, loyalty, and courage will sweep you through the heart of the high Sierra and beyond, proving that no journey is too jarring when friendship leads the way.
Chapter 1
4 a.m. Wednesday - November 24, 2016.
Yosemite National Park, California,
Last Saturday, achy bones beneath Grisgray’s six-year-old skin guessed that misery was afoot. Hardship followed mere hours after the weather report announced its bad news, affecting tourists, hired workers, and nearby residents.
“Master––why wasn’t I born a human? I’d be so much more at home in a nicer house, seated on a leather couch in front of a big screen TV with its remote control in my five-fingered hand. Unlike living in a bedtime cage all night.”
“You have free roam before bedtime, and I switch the video stream on my PC whenever you ask.”
“It’s an embarrassment that I can’t switch the videos myself. I’ve day-dreamed a million times my body came with a pair of thumbs. You have socks and boots to protect your feet from freezing and thumbs to put them on each foot. Frozen soil maddens me into a crummy mood because my toes hate the snow, and I’d kill ten Komodo dragons for two thumbs.”
“Last night’s documentary about Indonesian wildlife gave you a startle.”
“I wouldn’t live on such a dangerous island just for the tropical climate, but I liked its annual weather.”
“I like you the way you are, Grisgray. People madden me into a crummy mood. You’re better than people, and I like you better than people.”
“How can you say that? Most people support one another with sound advice. I’m not even a seven-year-old and must learn a thousand other things before I’ll be able to provide exceptional advice.”
“I say it because you’re my best friend.”
Eleven miles outside Yosemite Village, bedded an over-groggy Grisgray and his master in a lonely cabin hidden near the Red Peak hiking loop. The entire national park, all 748,000 acres, shivered sleepless, snowed-in from a three-day blizzard that imprisoned everyone until prayerful high winds had whooshed the beast toward Texas minutes ago, leaving a colder, clear sky.
Although the morning hour still mirrored a dark, sunless evening, sizzling scorched pine and red fir scents followed valuable heat, mushroomed around a modern potbelly stove opposite a fireplace unused for years, and fought the chill. A charred amber glow flickered inside the burner, serving as the main room’s light source. The efficient flames pushed warmth and firewood aromas sixteen feet straight to the bedroom. There, a tall, skinny man lay beneath the covers wide awake. His deep, sunken brown eyes and thin-lipped mouth seldom smiled, unless fake or left to himself. He and his string bean body was a withdrawn loner best known as the hermit without whiskers, given the twenty-five-year-old had no facial hair to grow. His Cherokee bloodline arranged it.
Hungry and tired, Yosemite’s animal expert, Wade Tolmie, recognized the loud clang outside his bedroom window, followed by the unmistakable clatter animals cause once a spring-loaded trap seals their exit.
“Whoo-hoo,” said Grisgray, a six-year-old African Grey parrot given to Wade as a high-school graduation present by his mother almost seven years ago. “We caught him. Squawk.”
Wade shot off the bed, flung himself onto the wooden floor and redressed in yesterday’s clothes. He earned a modest income removing critters from hotels, campsites, and other areas people need them flushed out, captured, and released ten or more miles away. But day in and day out, Wade dreamed he’d find wealth in another line of work and get rich with minimum effort.
He zipped his goose down jacket to his Adam’s apple, slipped both hands into seen-better-days waterproof ski gloves, and grabbed the brightest flashlight off the stubby end table.
“Don’t forget me. Squawk.”
Wade huffed and removed one glove. “It’s cold outside, you silly bird.”
“I don’t care. I want to see the ringtail cat.”
Wade slipped off the bird-cage sheet, and Grisgray opened the access door. Both froze in a stare down until the bird ruffled his clipped wings and said,
“Knock, knock, Fred Flintstone.” Grisgray imitated Wilma Flintstone.
Wade frowned and folded his arms. “Who’s there?”
“Wilma.”
“Wilma who, Wilma Flintstone?
“Squawk. Nope,” said the parrot, sounding like himself. “Wilma master please shove his arm in so I can leave my perch and settle on your shoulder?”
“Yeah, hop on.”
Below the front porch, unidentified tracks semi-hidden in the falling snow looked hopeful. “Yes, we captured the ringtail cat your client requested; I can sense it.” But the parrot had jumped too fast to conclusions. “You again,” Grisgray said to the familiar young raccoon. “My master sacrificed his last tin of sardines to fetch your distant cousin. Don’t you understand we’re desperate?”
Wade released the latch and opened the cage. “Out you go, little one,” Wade said. “Find your family den and don’t come back. It’s twenty-two degrees above ground.”
Disappointed, Wade and Grisgray returned to the cabin for some needed shut-eye, worried about money. Sleep grappled with two hours of tossing and lost. The sandman failed, as did the blizzard’s strength, and the sky cleared. After a skimpy breakfast, a bath, and changing clothes in long-awaited sunlight, his phone rang.
“Goody goody, a phone call,” Grisgray said. “Put it on speaker.”
“Don’t I always? Just remember to use my voice.”
“Squawk. Don’t I always?”
Wade pointed at the phone, and Grisgray took over. “Quality Care Critter Removal Done Cheap.”
“Good morning, Mr. Tolmie. Rhonda Holt calling. Apologies for the 7 a.m. call. Unable to leave this place for days had me thinking it was later.”
“Greetings, Mrs. Holt. How are things at the Ahwahnee?”
“Busy, busy. I am so ready for tomorrow’s four-day weekend.”
Wade’s bony fist pumped his elbow. End-of-the-month bills were due, and he signaled Grisgray to continue.
“I’m okay hitting the grindstone Thanksgiving Day; now that the flurry has died down, I could use the dough. I’ll fire up the snowmobile first thing in the morning.”
“But, Mr. Tolmie––”
“Your request for help will buy some groceries and pay for the gas to get me back home. What do you need?”
“I would like to agree on a new twelve-month term contract before the year-end Christmas season marches upon us.”
“Oh.”
Wade cringed at the disappointment in his voice, as used by Grisgray, and shook his head at the parrot, holding up three fingers.
Grisgray understood the blunder. “I mean, great, Mrs. Holt. Let’s make this easy. Add 3 percent above all current services beginning January 2nd and we’re good.” He turned bubblier. “Without fail, I’ll keep your landmark lodge pest-invested-free top to bottom.”
“I’m afraid your fees moved in the wrong direction,” she said. “An unfamiliar competitor, Mr. Cushman, has rates 45 percent lower than yours. I’m telling you this because you rescued my calico kitten high in the tree from those vile Cooper hawks last spring and refused a reward. Meet his price range, and you secure our business.”
Wade held the phone far from his mouth, took a deep breath, and moaned before returning the receiver to Grisgray. “You’re killing me.”
“Don’t blame me. My boss received the submission, and I’ll get demoted if I refuse the lowest bid.”
Grisgray exhaled louder than he intended. “The Ahwahnee Hotel is killing me.”
“Hold the line; I think I can sweeten the pot, but I need our restaurant menu first. Don’t go away.”
Rhonda swiveled in her chair. Grisgray detected squeaks and creaks on the phone speaker and looked at Wade. “I wonder how she might fix lower wages?”
“Okay, I’m back with benefit perks you’ll find worthwhile. I’ll add free meals whenever your needed to sugarcoat our agreement. While on my clock, you may start your shift with excellent breakfast choices. In addition, our lunch menu awaits your pleasure if you don’t mind your morning and noon servings in the staff break area. Come evening, dinner in our dining room will be my treat after you’ve showered and made yourself presentable. Enjoy a medium-rare steak, prime rib, Pacific swordfish, or anything you wish, starting with a choice from our world-renowned salads.”
Wade smacked his lips and showed a picture of the hotel’s chocolate cake to Grisgray.
...
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 23.2.2025 |
|---|---|
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen |
| ISBN-13 | 979-8-3509-9325-7 / 9798350993257 |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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