As I am sure you can tell by now, dear reader, our hero wasn’t very bright. It was his one big weakness. Henry the Bear knew this and used it to set a most ingenious trap for him. A trap that would have very painful consequences, but also lead to the beginning of one of the greatest adventures ever told.

It’s a very sad part of our story, I’m sorry to have to tell you. It’s also, I’m afraid, quite scary. If there was ever a time to skip ahead or hide under the covers, that time would certainly be now. But if you’re feeling brave, I would encourage you to read on. Here is what happened to him that day.

After guiding our hero and Ava through the tunnel, Henry led them down into Snake Valley—a dark, barren and dusty wasteland that was famous for its tall, thin mountain in the middle, called Snake Mountain. It was black and jagged looking—like out of a nightmare—and full of little holes where the deadliest snakes lived. At night, you could see their eyes glowing out of the shadows. If it was quiet enough, you could even hear their hisses and whispers.

The snakes guarded a tree at the top that was full of plump, juicy fruit. Many animals in the forest had ventured there and tried to climb for it, but all had failed. Skeletons lay at the bottom and the whole valley was teeming with vultures. They sat in their nests, patiently waiting for whoever would be next. When they saw Henry guiding our hero there, they licked their lips and cackled.

Ava didn’t want to be down there at all. She didn’t like Snake Valley. Least of all, she cared for surprises. Besides, the first storm of winter was approaching. It was closing in fast. That meant it wasn’t long before the winter predators would arrive. The winter predators were stronger than she was and she was afraid that they might even be stronger than our hero. His abilities had not yet been tested against them. All of this made her very nervous.

“Listen,” she said. “I don’t think we should be here now. Can you please get this over with so we can go home?”

“Relax, Ava,” answered Henry. “You’ll both be warm soon enough. I promise! Hee, hee . . .” He stopped when they got to Snake Mountain. “Well, here we are! Surprise!”

He directed our hero’s attention up to the fruit at the top. The sunlight glimmered through it. It looked beautiful—and so delicious. But our hero wasn’t excited. If anything, he just looked sad.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?” asked Henry. “Look! Look! Don’t you see it?”

“Yeah, I see it,” answered the boy. A cold shiver went down his spine as he remembered all his friends who had climbed and fallen.

“You mean, you know about this fruit?”

“Yes,” the boy answered, lowering his eyes. “I’m sorry, Henry. I know you were wanting to surprise me. But I’ve been here before. I know about this place. I have for a long time. But that fruit is impossible to get. Snakes live there. I’ve seen them. They’re very dangerous. One bite can kill. They guard it day and night. Not even birds will fly up there. It’s hopeless. I’m sorry . . .”

“Yeah,” added Ava. “What kind of surprise is this? We know about this place. Everyone does! This is what you wanted to show him? Come on, kid. Let’s go. Henry, it was nice knowing you. Do us a favor now and buzz off.”

Ava turned to walk away and signaled the boy to follow, but Henry wasn’t finished with them yet.

“Ho! Ho! Ho!” he laughed, clapping his paws together.

“What?” asked Ava.

“Did you really think that showing you this fruit would be my surprise?”

“Well, you did say ‘surprise,’ Henry,” answered the boy, confused.

“Yes, but it wasn’t the FULL surprise. You haven’t yet seen that.”

“Well get on with it then!” yelled Ava at him. She was getting very impatient with all his games. “We don’t have all day!”

“Patience, my friends! Patience!” he chuckled. “It will happen any moment now.”

Our hero was intrigued. What could he possibly be waiting for?

“I discovered it two years ago,” Henry continued, “as I was walking in these parts, not too far from here. Walking and singing my favorite song! Ahem! Ahem!

“Gah, hah! Come on! Sing it with me! You know the words!”

But the boy didn’t know that song at all, and just looked confused. Ava didn’t look like she wanted to sing either. So, he just went back to telling his story.

“Ahem! Well! Anyways! As I was saying . . . after I—ugh—asked for the honey very politely, the bees were generous enough to give me some. I took it to this spot so I could sit and eat it. I looked up and saw the fruit! Oh, how delicious it looked! Perfect for winter! See how it glows! But, drat! So high up! Too high! And so very dangerous to climb too! Especially at my time of life! I almost left at that moment. It seemed like an impossible task, as you said. But then—and I don’t know what it was—something inside me told me to wait just a little longer. So, I did. And that’s when it happened!”

Henry started wagging his stubby little tale as he recalled it. Our hero’s eyes lit up curiously.

“What, Henry? You saw what?”

“Well, take a look, my boy! And see for yourself!”

Our hero and Ava looked at each other confused, and shrugged. Neither of them saw anything out of the ordinary. Snake Mountain seemed as it always was—barren and dry. But then, suddenly, a cold gust of wind swooshed down into the valley from the approaching storm. A wind so strong that it frightened the vultures and even toppled a few of their nests. They all began cackling and fleeing. Then the wind hit Snake Mountain. You could hear it whistle as it passed through the little holes. That’s when our hero and Ava saw what Henry was talking about.

Terrified and frozen, all of the snakes suddenly slithered out of the mountain. They came out and down the slope. They raced right past our heroes and Henry, and down into the ground wherever there were open spaces. It wasn’t long until Snake Mountain appeared entirely empty. But the fruit in the tree near the top was still intact. Our hero and Ava were left utterly astonished.

“Hah, hah!” laughed Henry. He began dancing and prancing around, tickling and pinching himself more. “Ooh hoo hoo! Hee hee! Look! Look! It worked! It happened again! I knew it! I knew it! Look! Snake Mountain is empty!”

“Wow . . .” gasped the boy in amazement. “Yeah, you’re right. It sure looks like it.”

At first, Ava thought it was just a stupid trick that only two stupid animals like Henry and our hero could possibly be amused by. But then she started to realize what Henry was doing—and became very upset.

“Hey! Wait a minute! This is your big surprise? You want to climb up there?”

“What? Me! Hah!” Henry cackled. “You must be joking. Look at me! I could never get up there. My paws are too big to grip the holes. And at my time of life!?”

“Oh, so you want him to go and get it for you then? Is that it?”

“I never said that,” answered Henry. “But now that you mention it, it does sound like an interesting idea . . . doesn’t it, sonny?”

“Oh, please. You expect us to believe that? No—you planned this whole thing out, didn’t you? Let me guess. You didn’t prepare for winter. You want us to do your work for you. Well, you can forget it.”

“Ava,” sighed Henry, offended. “I would never ask either of you to do a thing like that for me. I brought you here so that you two could have it, not me.”

“Why!?”

“Why? Well, because you’re my friends! Right, bucko?” he said, turning to the boy. Our hero agreed.

“I don’t believe it!” answered Ava. “A bear dragging someone all the way out here just to be generous? No, you’re up to something! I know it!”

Henry crossed his arms and looked very hurt by her words.

“Besides,” Ava continued, “even if he were to climb up there—how is he supposed to get it down? Did that thought ever cross your brain?”

“Now, now, Ava,” chuckled Henry. “Look, I wouldn’t expect you to understand. But some of us like helping others. Don’t we, my boy?” Our hero nodded. “And, of course, I’ve thought of that! How would he get it down? What a silly question! Why don’t you open your eyes and see? Look! Right over here!”

Henry strutted over to a small, but deep pool of water that was located beneath where the fruit hung. He dipped his paw in and splashed them with it just to make sure they knew he wasn’t lying.

“Hah! You see, laddy? You can drop it right in here. The water will break its fall. Easy!”

The boy ran over and inspected it for himself. It was indeed under the fruit. It seemed wide and deep enough. Everything checked out.

“It’s perfect!” he yelled out. “You know what? I think it could actually work!”

“Exactly! You see? Your old Uncle Henry came through, just like he said!”

Henry messed up his hair and splashed him some more. Our hero laughed wildly and then threw himself into the bear’s arms, giving him a big hug.

“Oh, Henry! Thank you! I love the surprise! You’re so smart! You’re the best bear in the world! Thank you! I love you!”

For a moment, Henry felt a little guilty, reader. His plan was working perfectly. As bad as a bear as he was, there was something about the boy that sometimes made him feel warm and fuzzy. He didn’t like the feeling. But he had to pretend to.

“Aww . . .” he finally said. “Thank you . . .” He patted our hero on the head and proceeded to pry him off. “But you’d better hurry. Look! It’s growing colder every minute! Winter is coming. The edges of the pond are beginning to freeze. You don’t have much time. If you wait any longer, whatever falls here will be squashed—and become a frozen jelly popsicle!”

He licked his lips and smiled. Our hero looked over at the approaching storm and agreed. But Ava still wasn’t buying it. And she was growing more frustrated.

“No!” she barked and growled. “You mustn’t do this! The storm is too close. Even if you managed to get to the top, and even if there are no snakes left, there is no time! It’s too dangerous. We’re running late as it is! I can’t believe how foolish you two are. You’re so—”

But as Ava became enraged and began to scold him, as Henry predicted she would, the clever bear put his paw on the boy’s shoulder and began whispering.

“Aww . . . Ava really does care about you, doesn’t she? Look at how protective she is. I think that’s what I would miss most about her, wouldn’t you?”

This caught our hero’s attention and made him completely stop listening to whatever Ava was saying.

“Yeah . . .” he nodded sadly.

Henry frowned and continued.

“Oh, I can’t bear the thought of Ava starving again. The illness it caused. Then you would be alone. I’m sure you can imagine what that might be like. Have you thought about it sometimes? Being alone?” The boy nodded again and lowered his eyes. “Yes, I thought so. Me too. Wouldn’t feel very good knowing you could have prevented it, either.”

“No . . .” our hero squeaked.

Ava just kept ranting angrily, not noticing what Henry was doing.

“But you can,” whispered Henry. “I know you want to. Because you’re such a good, good boy. You don’t want to be responsible for anyone dying, do you?”

“No . . .”

“Especially a slow and painful death. This is your friend!”

“Yeah . . .”

Tears were starting to form in his eyes.

“Well,” sighed Henry. “Then I think you know what you have to do. Climb it, son. Don’t let her die like this! Save her! Choose life! It’s in your power. I’ve seen you climb. You’re SO good at it. You can do it! I know you can. It will only take a minute if you hurry. But you mustn’t delay any longer. Please . . . I beg you . . . I don’t want us to lose her either. Do it for me, too!”

Henry had our hero almost shaking in sadness. He remembered how sick she got last year. He remembered how he felt. He would have done almost anything if he could have.

Ava was midway through her lecture about the danger before she noticed Henry had been talking to him. She became even angrier.

“Hey! Wait a minute! What are you!—" Until she saw the boy’s expression.

He had the same look he did last year in the cave. She knew instantly what Henry must have been whispering to him. She also realized that getting angry wasn’t going to change his mind. Yet, she knew she had to. She walked over. For the very first time in her life, Ava spoke gently to him.

“Don’t worry about me, kid . . . I’ll be fine. Really.”

“That’s what you always say,” our hero despaired. “But things keep getting worse every year—all because of me.”

He hated that he didn’t stop growing and always needed more food.

“Everybody dies one day,” she answered. “It’s just the way it is. We can’t change that. And I’m okay with it. Besides, I’m tougher than you think. I don’t believe I’ll die. I might not even get sick. We’ve done good this year. I’m a survivor. I’ll be fine. And even if I’m not, you will be.”

Henry didn’t like this at all. He didn’t actually expect her to talk to him this way.

“But neither of us will survive if you climb this mountain now,” she continued. “It cannot be done. Not yet! Listen, if you really want to that badly, we can come back next year. We can practice. We’ll do it right—plan it out and everything. But not like this. Don’t listen to him. Trust me and let it go this time. Let’s go home.”

Henry was so worried she’d spoiled his plan, he was almost ready to charge and attack them right then and there.

“That blasted wolf!” he thought. “I’ll kill her for this! I’ll tear her limb from limb! We’ll do it the old-fashioned way, if that’s what you want!”

But he did not show it. For the boy still didn’t seem like he had decided either way.

The boy looked at the storm. It was getting close. He looked at Ava. She looked like she wanted to go home. She wasn’t even mad at him anymore. He looked at Henry, who did his best to smile. Then, he cast his eyes down. He was out of time. He had to choose. So, he thought—which is something, as you know, he really wasn’t good at—and he made a very, very silly decision.

“I’m sorry, Ava. I . . . can’t . . . I just can’t bear the thought of losing you because of me—because I was too scared. I’m sorry. But don’t worry. I’m going to get it. You’ll see. I’ll climb up and cut it down. We’ll have lots to eat this winter. You will be okay. I promise.”

And with that, Henry and Ava’s feelings switched. Now, she felt like tearing Henry apart, and he felt better again.

“Oh! Good! Good! Good, boy! Yes, you can do it!” he said comforting him.

Our hero was expecting Ava to get angry again. But instead, she just looked heartbroken.

“Fine . . .” she sighed, giving up. She knew there was no stopping him now. If she stalled him any longer, it would only be making it more dangerous for him. “Go . . . if you must. But . . . please . . . please . . . be careful.”

Henry couldn’t help smiling and giggling. “Don’t worry,” said our hero. “I’ll be up and down in no time!” And he ran off. “Trust me! I’ll be right back!”