"Are we there yet?" Shane asked for the third time.

A common question that usually comes out of the backseat of a family SUV filled with kids to be answered by a gruff dad who would rather be playing golf. Without the kids and the SUV. On this particular sunny Saturday morning the question came out of the back seat of an RV filled with Postables. The response was a chorus of laughter and an approving nod from Papa Joe who had put on the mantle of 'dad' and was having the time of his life.

This fun filled road trip had been set in motion the previous Monday and began with a melancholy Postable waxing nostalgic about a lost friend, a bear who had played the part of Balthazar the Third Wise Man at a Christmas pageant. Bearthezar had never returned home to the DLO after the pageant and Norman – the melancholy – feared the worst. Riotous living and abandonment of Postable duties to live as a 'party animal' as Shane had pegged him.

Monday |

The first thing that Oliver noticed when he pushed open the door to the DLO was Norman staring absently at a space along the back wall of the DLO. "Good morning Norman," he called, setting briefcase and hat on his desk. When no response came back, he took a closer look. His friend was wringing his fingers together as if playing a game of Cat's Cradle without string. Not a good sign. Oliver was a compassionate supervisor who watched over the DLO family carefully, and Norman's actions were a warning flag that something was wrong.

"What are you looking at Norman?"

Norman waved at the empty space next to the wall. "It's what we aren't looking at that bothers me," he replied. "Oliver, where is Bearthezar?"

"Morning all," Shane's voice called. She crossed the room to Oliver's side and handed him his Steamboat Americana with a carefully place lip-stick kiss on the side. Fresh.

"Thank you Ms McInerney, he said, then let his free arm slide around her shoulders. "I enjoyed dinner last night," he whispered, deliberately touching her ear with his lips. Her very subtle shudder was his reward.

"Was it a real date, Mr. O'Toole?" she asked and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"It was a real date," he laughed.

"What are we looking at Norman?" she asked.

"Nothing," Norman said.

"Norman is lamenting the loss of our dear Brother Bear Bearthezar."

"Say that three times really fast," Shane whispered.

"He is a Postable and now he is gone and I don't know why," Norman said. "He should be here."

Shane moved to stand behind Norman and gave him a hug. "Don't worry Norman, we'll find out what happened to your – to our brother."

"Look who's here?" Rita said from the doorway as Papa Joe followed her into the DLO. Followed immediately by, "Norman, what's wrong?"

"It's Bearthezar," he replied.

"I'm sorry Norman," she said and moved to his side.

"Who is Bearthezar?" Papa Joe asked.

"Good morning dad," Oliver said.

Shane gave Oliver's father a hug. "Bearthezar is the grizzly who was lost in the mail and spent a couple of years with us here in the DLO," she told him.

"Grizzly? Stuffed I hope."

"Yes, stuffed. We sort of used him in a Christmas pageant at the hospital and he never came home."

"So what brings you to the DLO this fine day?" Oliver asked.

"Well, I had an idea and was talking it over with the Frontier Duchess here on the way in."

"Oh, it's a great idea," Rita said from Norman's side. "He wants us all to go camping."

"NO!" Shane blurted and then quickly covered her mouth with her hand as every eye turned to her. "No," she almost whispered.

Oliver turned to Shane. "A very strong negative, Ms McInerney. What is that about?" Then, "Shane!" when she suddenly teared up. His arms went around her and she sighed into him. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She sniffled, both her hands on his chest, fingers kneading gently. "I was so afraid on that mountain, afraid that I had lost you. I cannot do that again," she was whispering now.

"You both know we're still here?" Papa Joe asked "Shane, it's alright. I don't intend to go through that again either."

Shane pushed back, adding distance between herself and Oliver. "Besides, I don't want to have to call - ." She left the sentence hanging without a name but Oliver knew who it was.

He smiled and finger combed her hair back. "Shane," he whispered and gave her the same look of adoration she had seen in the Chapel. "You are not going to lose me," he said so softly that the words touched her heart as if he'd shouted.

"If its bears you're worried about, Oliver is very good with bears," Papa Joe said.

"Come on Shane. Norman and I are in," Rita said.

"No," Norman said. "No bears."

"I thought you liked bears," Papa Joe said.

"Not the living breathing part."

"Norman?" Rita said sweetly and batter her eyelashes at him. He exhaled slowly and shrugged, Norman-speak for "OK". "Come on Shane. Don't leave me hanging as the only girl."

Shane looked at Rita and growled softly under her breath. "Well, I suppose that someone should provide adult supervision. You better keep me safe Mr. O'Toole."

"I will," Oliver and Papa Joe said at the same time and then laughed.

"Sounds like a plan then," Papa Joe said. "The good news is that we don't have to caravan cars to get there. I have access to an RV and we can travel en masse."

"What RV?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah," Joe said wincing at Oliver. "That might be the bad news. I will be bringing a friend."