Stepping down from the dumpster, Bea, the exasperated wee bear, stomped her toes, claws, and paws to get as much muck off them as she could. She felt relieved to get herself to the ground, sad when she noticed the ground had no dirt or grass. It was covered with the same black hardness that still covered Bea's Golden Path.

She remembered what she'd said to Scruffles at that horribly devastating moment when the two discovered her tracks buried. The same was going on here. The tracks of all who had the opportunity and privilege of walking upon this land lay buried under the same gloom.

The thought that someday all of the mud for clay pots-- topsoil for planting trees for Timothy--would be covered with blackness made her cringe inside. Her eyes grew round with worry. The softest of fallen pine needles for bedding and other unnamed dirt paths would be no more. She wondered how many dirt paths had been covered over and if any of them had been named.

She wondered if any of the stone pilers had paths buried under her feet. The concerned bear hoped very hard that none of the important piles of stones had been disturbed and moved or torn down to make room for this dark deadness. She was also sad when she thought of how many trees and maybe even someone's cave was under here.

She decided it was time to end her sad wondering. Ready to move on, she realized Sweet Puppy was not standing anywhere near her assigned post. She could see an excited puppy off in the distance, running toward them, tail wagging, with something her mouth.

It was not a chipmunk. Bea had to admit she was relieved about that. She had no idea what Sweet Puppy could have gotten into. As she got closer, Sweet Puppy slowed her pace. Very hesitant and resistant, she dropped the leg of chicken to tell what she'd been doing.

Determined they would not return home without having accomplished their goal, she did an investigation exercise. She didn't want everyone to be disappointed once again. They'd planned and practiced for a long time, even doing a dry run which turned out to be a very wet one.

She told of how she wondered if three was one and one was three. That ingenious puppy discovered that was exactly what had caused the confusion which led to a mushy, messy mishap. Neither Scruffles nor Bea had any idea what Sweet Puppy was talking about. But they did see chicken.

Noticing their confused expressions, Sweet Puppy explained further. Wondering if Doolie meant the last was the first, she investigated the farther one. All kinds of foods lay spread out for anyone to take without any dangerous dumpster diving required.

She'd found a sled which was kind of torn up but would do fine for carrying whatever they wanted to collect. She cheerfully announced she'd always dreamed of being a sled dog. Scruffles happily found quite a few packages of tuna, and Bea, several chipped jars of her "be good to myself" treat.

An official sled dog, Sweet Puppy led the joyous group home. As they danced their way back, Bea licked a non-chipped side of a honey jar and puzzled how one could be three and three be one.