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“Okay. We drag him out with the winch. But how are we going to get him into the truck?”

“The three of us can lift him in.”

Milo and Abe exchanged raised eyebrows.

Justin set down the rifle. “First, let’s get him out of here.”

Abe pulled his truck as close to the porch as he could, then grabbed a tow strap and started feeding the winch cable through the door and up to the bear. “Who’s going to put this strap around Mr. Stinky?”

Milo shook his head. “Who knew bears smelled so bad?”

Justin raised his hand. “Um…” He took the strap from Abe. “Milo and I will do it.”

Milo knelt beside the bear, then slid the tow strap under its shoulders. Justin reached under from the other side and pulled it through. They pulled it tight and secured it. Abe attached the cable while Justin and Milo stood and moved away from the bear.

“Is he going to fit through the door?”

Milo looked at his undamaged door. “He came through it. Let’s try not to tear out the door frame when we pull him back out.” He held up his hands. “Hold on. Why isn’t this dude asleep in a cave somewhere? It’s still February.”

Justin shrugged. “We’ve had a mild winter. He probably just woke up.”

Abe smiled. “Hungry as hell.”

Milo scowled at the partially eaten bagels scattered on the floor. “I was going to have a bagel for breakfast.”

Justin picked up the rifle. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Abe went to the winch and turned it on. The strap tightened, then strained, before the bear began sliding across the floor. When it reached the door, Abe stopped the winch.

“You might need to help him through it.”

Milo sighed loudly, then moved closer to the bear and rolled it onto its back, holding up its back legs until it cleared the door. He let go and took several steps back.

“In case anyone was wondering, it’s definitely a dude.”

Abe laughed, then stopped the winch when the bear reached the edge of the porch. “Take the strap off of him while I turn the truck around.”

Justin and Milo removed the strap, and Abe backed the truck up to the porch. The porch was about a foot higher than the truck bed, making it easier to load the bear than if it were on the ground.

Abe got into the bed to pull while Justin and Milo lifted and shoved. A few grunts and curses later, the bear lay in the truck bed. Abe hopped down and closed the tailgate. “He’s not going to wake up anytime soon, right?”

Justin looked at the bear. “We should be good.”

“Should? I don’t want this damn thing waking up while I’m driving down the road.”

“He won’t. But in case I’m wrong, I’ll follow you.” He looked at Milo. “We could use your help on the other end. But if you need to get some sleep, Abe and I can handle it.”

“I want to see this thing through. Besides, it’s not like I’d get any sleep after all of this anyway.” Milo climbed into the truck next to Abe, then looked at him. “I’ll just call in a parent to help in class today.”

“Right. Sure. A parent.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I think we both know which parent you’ll be calling in to help.”

Chapter twelve

“That’s a whole other story.”