Chapter 1

Butterbean had gone everywhere Joanie went for the past two years. And I mean everywhere.

Butterbean went grocery shopping, riding along-side Joanie in the wire cart, and nibbling on juicy strawberries and grapes. He went clothes shopping at the mall, riding around on Joanie’s lap in the stroller, and sometimes trying on hats or scarves with her, and tasting frozen yogurt. 

He went to the doctor’s office, sitting quietly with Joanie in the waiting room chairs. Then later in the examining room, they sat shivering in the cold, Butterbean hoping they would not get shots.

He went to church and sat next to Joanie on the pew, munching on cereal and banana slices to help keep hunger away. He went out to eat at restaurants, sitting in his own highchair, sharing Joanie’s meals and often forgetting his napkin or having it slip off his lap and onto the floor.

He went for long walks in the evening (actually long rides in the stroller) to get some fresh air and exercise, sometimes dragging his feet on the sidewalk just for fun. Once he even went on vacation to Grandma’s house in New York, riding proudly in the backseat of the car, enjoying the breeze from the open windows.

Everywhere!  The two were always together.

Joanie’s mother said, “No,” to the nightly bath, however.  Butterbean had to wait on the counter of the sink while Joanie bathed, and her nightgown pulled over her head, before he could join her for bed.  Her mother told Joanie that some bears might drown in the bathtub and she did not want to risk it.

Butterbean especially liked the bedtime stories they always heard before they were tucked in, and the light turned off. Stories about bears in the woods were his favorite. He often tried to imagine what that would be like, but he thought it would be too scary to actually try.

         As you might imagine, after two years of being constantly on the go, without ever taking a bath, Butterbean was getting quite dirty and more than a little smelly.  In the beginning, he had beautiful tan fur, one inch long and shiny with looping curls. But now, his fur was dull brown and very matted. Dirt had collected in patches that were sticky from syrup and ketchup and strawberries and bananas and grapes and yogurt.

Joanie did not care, but her parents did. They were always watching for a good time to separate the two, and get Butterbean cleaned-up again. Joanie however, never wanted to be away from Butterbean long enough and so he just kept on getting dirtier and dirtier and smellier and smellier.

         Enough time came on that fateful day when Joanie fell off the swing set and had to spend the night in the St. Petersburg hospital for observation. The nurses would not let Butterbean into Joanie’s room because he was so dirty and so smelly. They said he might give her an infection.  He had to wait out in the hall on a chair. Imagine! 

Joanie could not imagine and she cried for Butterbean until it was time for her to go to sleep. Still, the nurses said, “No!”

         Her mother decided to spend the night trying to comfort her. Joanie liked her mother being there, but she really wanted Butterbean.  It was the first time they had been apart and she did not like it one bit.

         Joanie’s father left the hospital and drove home with Butterbean. On the way, he decided this was the chance he was waiting for. As soon as he came in the backdoor, without waiting for instructions from Joanie’s mother on the very best way to do it, he tossed Butterbean into the washing machine.  He poured in some strong detergent, closed the lid, and pressed the button that said, “WASH.” Then he went into the living room, turned on the TV, and tried to relax. Over the sounds of the Rays baseball game, he heard the water filling in the washing machine. He heard the machine begin its sudsy cycle. He soon forgot all about it.

         And that, was nearly the end of Butterbean.

Chapter 2

         As Joanie’s father was getting ready for bed, he suddenly remembered Butterbean and the washing machine. He hurried down to the utility room, intending to run Butterbean through the dryer, when he discovered that the very wet bear had shutdown the washing machine because of its weight.  Holding Butterbean up over the open door of the washing machine, he let the bear drip while he thought what to do. His eye spotted some clothespins, and he decided that he would just hang Butterbean up to dry on the clothesline in the warm air of the backyard.

         Clipping Butterbean by his heels onto the clothesline with two springy clothespins, Joanie’s father gave a yawn and went back into the house and up to bed. He thought that Butterbean should be dried out enough in the morning so that he could run him through the clothes-dryer. That would fluff him up before he had to go to the hospital to get Joanie and her mother. He turned off the back porch light and then the kitchen light. The back yard glimmered in moonlit darkness. Butterbean just hung there, dripping softly into the grass, watching the fireflies flit and wink around the backyard.

         Sometime during the night, a small windstorm blew through Joanie’s neighborhood. Dead leaves from the big magnolia tree rustled noisily underneath the clothesline. Fronds of the Royal Palms swayed in the wind overhead and Butterbean began to swing back and forth from his heels, slipping from the clothespins a little each time he did. Finally, first one pin then the other let loose, and Butterbean dropped to the yard, landing in a small pile of leaves left there by the swirling air. Imagine his relief to land so softly.

But this bear was not out of the woods yet. No sir! 

As luck would have it, shortly after Butterbean thought he was safe, two dogs wandered along, sniffing the grass for signs of anything good to eat or roll in. Oscar, the larger of the two, discovered Butterbean nestled in the pile of magnolia leaves and he decided to play a trick on his smaller friend, Mike. The big dog grabbed Butterbean by one arm and shook him from side-to-side two or three times, growling and getting slobber onto Butterbean’s damp but almost clean fur. According to plan, Mike thought that Oscar had found something good to eat and he tried to grab some of it while he could. There was a short tug-of–war between the two, won by Oscar who then took off running, carrying Butterbean and leading the snapping Mike a merry chase away from Joanie’s backyard. A frightened Butterbean just flopped along with one seam torn open.

         The two dogs ran this way for more than two blocks, when Oscar skidded to a stop and dropped Butterbean onto the ground. While Mike grabbed Butterbean in victory, Oscar jammed his nose onto the ground and began to circle around, sniffing loudly. The big dog’s growing excitement was too much for Mike and he too dropped Butterbean and began to sniff around.

         A fat raccoon, that everyone in the neighborhood called Fatso, watched from high in a nearby jacaranda tree. The dogs were tracking his scent. Fatso watched with some humor and no fear at all, as the two dogs turned in the wrong direction and hurried back the way he had come earlier. Fatso could hear them running through the bushes and along the sidewalk, heading toward the overturned trashcan he had just left. Satisfied that they were gone for a while, the raccoon scuttled down the tree and hurried over to where Butterbean lay. Butterbean grew worried as Fatso crept near.

          Fatso stooped down and sniffed Butterbean, smelling only the two dogs and a human. Confused, he poked at the bear with one finger, trying to see if it was some kind of strange, dead animal. Then making up his mind, he grabbed Butterbean by one leg and began dragging him back toward the jacaranda tree. He had gotten only a few steps when Mike came trotting back down the sidewalk. Mike spotted Fatso with his prize. The dog gave a sharp bark and began running to catch them.

         Fatso quickly decided that this strange thing was not worth as much as his own hide. He dropped Butterbean at the foot of the tree as he scampered up into the safety of the high darkness. Butterbean watched from the sidewalk as Mike continued to circle the tree, jumping upward as high as he could every time he completed one lap. The small dog’s commotion brought Oscar running to investigate, and shortly both were looking hungrily up into the branches of the tree, trying to trick Fatso into coming down.

         Butterbean just lay forgotten there at the bottom of the jacaranda tree, freshly dirty, a little soggy from the dogs and Fatso, but safe for the time being.

         After awhile, the two dogs got tired of jumping up toward Fatso’s hiding place. Oscar decided to go back to that overturned trashcan and root around for good things to eat. When he left, Mike thought he should probably go too. After first picking up Butterbean, the little dog started across the sidewalk, but then he decided that the bear was not that tasty and he dropped him into the gutter on the other side of the street. Mike trotted off after Oscar into the darkness, quickly forgetting about Butterbean.

         Butterbean just lay there until morning came.  No one or nothing seemed to notice him. He was lost, and he just wished Joanie would come and save him.

Chapter 3

         Joanie’s father woke up that morning with the plan of bringing Joanie and her mother home from the hospital. He got up, brushed his teeth, and got dressed. While the coffee was brewing in the kitchen, he looked out the window and noticed that Butterbean was not hanging on the clothesline where he left him.

With a surprised look on his face, Joanie’s father hurried out to the backyard clothesline and stood staring at the two empty clothes pins still stuck there. He scratched his head in confusion as he looked around the backyard wondering where Butterbean could be. He began to worry when he could not find him anywhere in the yard. Puzzled, he walked back into the house to think about what he should do next.

         He thought that he might call the police, but he was sure that they would laugh at him for calling about a missing bear. He knew that the fire department could not help him because he was sure that Butterbean had not gotten himself treed like a cat. The Army and Navy were out too, they did not do bear rescues that he knew of. The Coast Guard was out of the question because Butterbean certainly had not jumped into the Gulf of Mexico, it was more than three miles away. He did not have many people left to help he finally realized, and he decided to go out and look by himself.

         Hurrying outside and climbing into his car, Joanie’s father carefully backed out to the street, trying to look everywhere at the same time as he did. He turned north along the street and slowly drove for two blocks, looking closely in the grassy lawns and staring under bushes and shrubs. But he didn’t see him. 

Then he turned his car around and drove south, back toward his house, while he watched for any places a bear might hide. But he didn’t see him. When he passed their house, he kept on driving, still watching for any signs of Butterbean. But he didn’t see him. When he got two blocks away, he turned around once more, and with a sick feeling in his stomach he headed back toward his house.

         He did not see Butterbean lying in the gutter right in front of his car because, just then he had looked up to wave at a jogging neighbor as they passed each other. Joanie’s father pulled over toward the curb where his car happened to hide Butterbean from view. He rolled down his window, and called out to the man, “Robert, have you seen Joanie’s bear?”

Robert must have thought that Joanie’s father was being goofy, because he laughed back, “No. I’m the only jogger out this morning.” Then he waved goodbye and continued jogging down the sidewalk, shaking his head as he reached the overturned trashcan at the end of the block. “That Fatso!” he muttered angrily to no one in particular.

Joanie’s father rolled up his car window and finished his drive back to their house. He never saw Butterbean lying patiently in the gutter and he did not know what he was going to say to Joanie when he picked her up at the hospital. Butterbean just watched him drive away.

Joanie’s father finished getting ready and he quietly drove to the hospital. All along the way he worried and wondered what he could possibly say to Joanie to make her feel better. He finally had the idea that he could tell Joanie that Butterbean had run away during the night, looking for her. He could say that the bear had missed her so much that he tried to find his way to the hospital by himself and that he had gotten lost.

He did not think that his story was a fib exactly. He did not exactly believe it to be the truth either, but it might make Joanie feel better about Butterbean not being there. He knew that Joanie’s mother was very likely to be angry and upset too.

Chapter 4

Arriving at the hospital, Joanie’s father filled in all of the paperwork. In the gift store, he bought a small doll, and a shiny silver balloon that said, “GET WELL!” Then he went up to Joanie’s room. He brought in the presents, kissed both Joanie and her mother and then waved Joanie’s mother out to the hallway where he could quietly tell her what had happened.

As he told about washing Butterbean, hanging him out to dry and then finding him missing, Joanie’s mother was surprised, shocked, angry and then worried about how Joanie was going to take the news. 

She asked, “Why didn’t you wait until I could help with Butterbean?” Shaking her finger at him she asked, “Didn’t you know that you could ruin that bear by getting him soaked? He’s full of stuffing and can’t tolerate too much water.”

Joanie’s father looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry,” he said softly, “truly I am. But I didn’t know, and I thought I was helping, and I thought that it would be OK.” Then he told her about his plan to make Joanie feel better. “I thought I could tell her that Butterbean had run away, trying to find his way back to the hospital to be with her.” He looked hopefully at Joanie’s mother, “What do you think?”

“I think she’s too smart to believe that story, but it might work.” She still looked angry, but she was calming down a little. “She is still going to be upset and the doctor said she shouldn’t get too upset with that bump on her head.” Then she turned to the door of Joanie’s room and said, “Let’s get this over with and get her home.”

As predicted, Joanie was upset. She cried that she might never see Butterbean again, but her father’s story about the brave little bear trying to find her on his own, made her feel a little better.

They got Joanie dressed and took her down to the car. They strapped her into her car seat and they tucked her balloon into the back seat with her, tying the string to the armrest. Joanie carried the new doll her father had bought in the gift store, but she still missed Butterbean.

They began their trip home. All the way Joanie’s parents talked to her, trying to cheer her up. Soon they turned onto Joanie’s street; she could tell because she remembered the blue house they always rode by on their walks. She was looking out her window, watching the houses and yards go past, when suddenly, she saw a pair of crows flapping away from a tan lump in the gutter. She yelled out, “Daddy, stop!  There he is!”

Joanie’s father pulled the car over to the curb and stopped. Joanie’s mother climbed out of the front seat and hurried to the back of the car. There, lying on the pavement, was Butterbean. He was dirty and covered in bits of leaves and twigs, and one of his seams was leaking damp stuffing. But he was there, waiting for Joanie. Joanie’s mother reached down and picked up the bear. She brushed off most of the dirt, and hurried back to the car.

Joanie’s mother actually wanted to hold onto Butterbean until she could get him home and cleaned up, but Joanie would not hear of it. She insisted that she hold her bear, and her father happily agreed. Joanie hugged the bear and started to give him a kiss when she stopped, wrinkled her nose, and said, “Butterbean stinks like a dog.” She looked at her mother, “Can you give him a bath and make him clean again?”

  Joanie’s mother and father looked at each other and began to laugh. “Yes,” they both said together.

And so, the family went the last two blocks home. Joanie and Butterbean took a bath together.  Joanie’s mother had managed to stitch up his torn seam, almost as good as new.  She then washed him without drowning him in the bath water.  Joanie waited patiently for the hair dryer to finish fluffing him up. Butterbean seemed to be smiling at all of the attention.

When Butterbean was all warm and clean, they gave each other a big hug. Joanie held Butterbean out at arm’s length and scolded him, wagging her finger at him just as her mother would, “Don’t you ever run away again.” 

Then, with Butterbean safely tucked under her arm, they went into the kitchen for a snack.  They both were very hungry it seems.

Joanie was happy to be home. Butterbean was too.