by Mike Storey
Out of habit, Bill led the group right up to Luke’s usual nest, only to experience a near heart attack when Luke himself popped out of the scrub.
“Hi, Bill!”
Bill skidded to a stop. His brain felt slanted. Was he seeing things? He hadn’t slept for days, the stress was real enough to taste metallic in his mouth, and the circumstances were bizarre enough to play tricks on anyone.
“Luke?” he whispered, wide-eyed. “Is that you?”
“That’s right, I’m back, baby!” Luke did a little spin and flip.
He seemed to be in good spirits and physically intact.
“For a minute there I thought I’d lost my mind,” Bill said. “What happened to you? Tell me everything!”
“Wait a minute,” said Luke, peering down the path behind Bill. “Who’s that with you?”
“That’s our group,” Bill said. “From Cloud Kingdom. We came to find you. Well, we came to tell the Olingos that we were committed to finding you. And Elena and Jack. But wait, how did you escape the humans? When I left they had you wrapped up like root mash in a palm leaf.”
“Yeah, thanks for that, by the way,” said Luke.
Just as Bill was about to reply, Felix, Omar, and Diego approached.
“Who’s this?” Diego said.
“It’s Luke!” Felix said.
“Hello, Luke,” Omar said coolly. “I thought you were with the humans.”
“I was!” Luke said.
They stood there in the jungle’s humid static for a moment, Luke just grinning until even Felix began to tap his paw impatiently.
“So spit it out, already!” Bill said.
“Look, I’ll tell you everything. But can you at least come inside the den first? This isn’t Cloud Kingdom; you can’t be so loud.”
Luke looked around, clearly thinking about predators, and Bill and Felix took the hint.
“He’s right,” said Felix. “Let’s go on inside.”
It took a little while, but eventually everyone’s frayed nerves were soothed, diplomatic relations were repaired, and the Selva family welcomed the visitors into their section of the den. Between the trees, there was a leafy, shaded patch where the air was cooler and the ground was soft. Diego and Felix both slumped down with a sigh, while Bill and Omar looked on with jealousy as Luke and his family stuffed their faces with the sweetmoss and figs.
“So the humans . . .” Bill prompted, after the Olingos had finished chewing and thoroughly licking their paws.
“Right, the humans,” Luke said. A belch ripped out of his mouth, impressively loud considering how tiny his gut was. “So,” he said, addressing the entire group, “I was out with Bill, helping him look for Elena, when, next thing I know, I’m dangling from a tree!”
Luke’s mother, Doris, was a pudgy but powerfully built Olingo. She shook her paw and squealed at the very mention of the human’s trap.
“After the human gave up looking for Bill, it cut me down and carried me to its den. It was a real nasty place.”
Now Bill’s ears were perked. “Do you remember how to get there?” he asked.
“Bill,” Felix scolded, “let him speak.”
“Sure,” Luke said to Bill, after offering Felix a little smile. “It’s not too far. But . . . I don’t know if you’d want to go. Like I said, it’s nasty. Dark and loud, with a fire and lots of smoke. Oh, I saw another Teddycat—”
“You did?” Omar interrupted, speaking for the first time since being inside the Olingo den.
“I did. But it wasn’t Elena . . .” Luke said, and Omar’s face fell.
“Must’ve been Jack, then,” Diego said.
“How . . . how is he?” Bill ventured.
Luke looked away. When he turned back, his eyes were welled up with tears. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t really see much. But . . .” He stopped, then looked toward Doris, who gave him a quiet nod of encouragement. “It sounded like they were hurting him.”
Diego was silent. Felix placed a paw on his shoulder.
“What about Elena?” Bill asked quietly.
“I didn’t see any sign of her,” Luke said. “I wasn’t there long. I saw the smoke, the fire. I heard the humans shouting. I heard . . . Jack. And then, suddenly, I was free.”
“Free!” hollered Freddy, Luke’s father.
“Wait, slow down,” said Diego. “Slow down. You escaped?”
“Sorry, I got a little ahead of myself. When I first got there, the human threw me into another cage. All of a sudden, a super-bright light was shining right in my eyes, practically blinded me! I balled up in the corner, but even though I couldn’t see anything I guess the humans could still see me, because then the human started prodding me pretty good. I only saw its face for a second, when the light went away. Its head was huge, with dark eyes and a strong smell.”
“Was it Joe?” Omar asked.
Bill knew it wasn’t the time to tell Omar that the Olingos had a different relationship with the humans, that they didn’t separate Joe from the others they saw every day below the canopy.
“There’s no way he’d know for sure,” said Diego.
“Then what happened, Luke?” Felix asked, and Bill was grateful that he was the one to change the subject.
“Then, after the blinding and the poking, I must have done something to make the human angry, because all of a sudden its face turned red and . . . boy, I thought that was it. I mean, I thought I was a goner. The human reached for me with a grubby paw, and I closed my eyes real hard, wishing I was anywhere but there, but then . . . nothing happened. I heard a big bang overhead, and the cage rattled—like what happens when the earth quakes—and so I opened my eyes, and the cage was open. I took the chance and I ran!”
“That’s it?” asked Bill, incredulous.
“That’s it. Nothing chased me or anything. In fact, I swore I saw it just sitting there, by that mean, smoky fire, watching me as I scampered off.”
Nobody said a word.
“I’m sorry about your friends,” Luke said. “I don’t think there was anything I could have done to help them. Like I said, I didn’t see Elena, and Jack . . . well, I think I was too late.”
“It sounds like you did all you could, Luke,” Felix said quietly. “Thank you.”
Luke looked up at Felix gratefully again.
“That human was probably looking for your claws,” Felix said. “I’ll bet that when it saw you didn’t have any that look like your friend’s here, he let you go.”
Of course, thought Bill with a sinking heart. The humans thought they’d captured something new. A Teddycat. “You said the human prodded you?” Bill said.
“Yeah,” Luke said.
“Where? Your paws?”
“All over,” said Luke. “But yeah, definitely my paw.”
“I can’t stand to think of those no-good crooks messin’ with Jack,” said Diego, his gravelly voice sounding somewhat soggy.
“He will be remembered as a great and brave Teddycat,” said Felix.
“What good’s all that?” Diego scoffed. “The Elders left him to die.”
“That’s why we’re here,” said Bill. “That’s why we’re asking the Olingos for help.”
Doris and Freddy groaned, breaking up the solemnity that had settled over Bill’s group. Bill looked at their threadbare fur, streaked with a dull gray, dulled by exhaustion and perpetual terror.
“So now the Teddycats need the Olingos,” Doris said. “That’s rich.”
Freddy laughed mirthlessly. His dour features were framed by a thin, puffy mane. “Funny how you only come down here when you need something.”
Bill instinctively opened his mouth to respond, but then, remembering his follies over the last few days, shut it. He looked to Felix, who nodded encouragingly.
“You’re right,” Bill ventured.
“About why we’re here. We do need your help. And if we don’t at least try to squash our differences, then we’re all in trouble.”
“Oh, please. You see it yourselves,” Freddy said. “They don’t want us. They want you. They want your precious claws.”
“Ironic, isn’t it?” said Doris.
“In case it’s news to you, ’lingos,” Diego snarled, “the way to Cloud Kingdom goes right through your dirty little den.”
Doris and Freddy exchanged defiant glances. “Tell you what,” said Freddy, his spine straightening with a crackle. “We’ll bring this to our Elders, and they’ll take everything said here into consideration. But I’ll tell you one thing. It will take a real disaster to bring the Olingos and the Teddycats together again.”
“That disaster is exactly what we’re trying to avoid,” said Felix.
Doris scratched behind one of her droopy ears. “Does your little search party represent all of Cloud Kingdom?”
What should they tell them? Too much truth might scare off the Olingos, but they didn’t want to mislead them. The Teddycats looked to Felix, who nodded again at Bill.
“You’ll talk to your Elders,” Bill said, “and we’ll work on ours.”
“Very well,” Freddy said.
“It really is lovely to see you again, Bill,” Doris said. “Now that you’re all grown up.”
Bill blushed. He’d always liked Luke’s parents. “I’m not that grown up. I’m just trying to make things right.”
“Hard work, isn’t it?” Freddy said.
Bill knew Freddy was no stranger to tough stuff. Though Luke’s dad wasn’t an Elder, it was his job to bury their dead with dignity after attacks. This was considered a high calling, and it was a duty he fulfilled with great reverence.
“Yeah. It feels never-ending,” Bill said.
“Sometimes,” said Freddy.
“But I’m lucky,” Bill said.
His mind leapt to an image of his parents and Maia, huddled in fear against some advancing threat. And just like that, his determination returned anew.
“Lucky?” It was Omar, poking his head out from behind Felix’s shadow.
“Yeah, lucky. Because I still have plenty to lose,” Bill said. “Maia taught me that.”
Omar recoiled slightly at the mention of Maia, while Diego nodded proudly.
“We need to find that human den, Luke,” said Felix. “Can you take us there?”
“Hold on a minute,” said Doris, grabbing her son and clutching him to her chest. “You’re not going anywhere with our baby. We only just got him back!”
“Classic Teddycat thinking,” Freddy said, shaking his head. “Our kid gets nabbed while risking his scruff on their behalf. Then he escapes by the skin of his tail, and the very next day—no kidding, the very next day—they show up with a jaguar, demanding a guided tour back to the scene of the crime!”
“Unbelievable,” Doris said.
“Well, forget that,” said Freddy. “Luke is staying right here. Where he belongs.”
Luke struggled against his mother’s tight embrace.
“He can scratch you a map,” Doris said.
“Stop!” shouted Luke. “I’m going with them!”
“Oh, no you don’t!” Doris said.
Luke’s scrawny limbs wriggled against her grip. “And after, we can go back to Horizon Cove,” he said. “It still exists!”
“Horizon Cove was razed to the ground,” Freddy said, “all because of them. We’ll never find our way back—the ravine would have closed up by now.”
“But we can bring it back,” said Luke. “It’s still inside of us.”
“Listen to your kid,” said Diego. “He’s smart. We need to work together.”
“Don’t you dare tell me that,” said Freddy, the anger rushing to his eyes. “I’ve got scars, too, you know.”
Diego’s haunches tightened as Felix stepped between them. Doris finally released Luke, who scrambled free and tried to reclaim some semblance of cool.
“Look,” Doris said quietly. “You’ve got your claws and your Kingdom up in the clouds. I’m sorry you’re having trouble. I am. But you’re not taking my son, no matter what he thinks. And that’s final.”
“We understand,” Felix said. “Please forgive us.”
“Good luck,” said Freddy, and Bill believed he was sincere. “And thanks for the moss.”
“It’s from my mom,” Bill said.
“Thank her for me,” said Freddy.
“I will,” said Bill. “If I ever see her again. You know, I think you guys would really like my mom. I think you’d really hit it off.”
“Maybe,” said Doris. “But it’s getting late. You should go while you still have some light.”
17
LUKE MADE THEM a map out of berry juice and sun-dried fronds, and the crew set off toward the human den. But despite the brief rest, Bill’s pace had slowed down to something closer to that of his older companions.
“You did your best, Bill,” Felix said, not for the first time.
“I just . . .” Bill said, then trailed off with a sigh.
Conflicting emotions battled in his chest. Obviously he was relieved that Luke was okay, but he still wished he had been able to convince the Olingos to join their fight then and there. Sometimes it seemed like wherever he went, there were Elders standing in the way, stubbornly refusing to admit that the world was changing and their old ways no longer worked. Add to that the news of Jack’s fate, plus the heat, general jungle fray, and the wispy width of the path they were following, and Bill was having real problems placing one paw ahead of the other, much less rushing.
Suddenly, Omar let loose a high-pitched scream. “There’s something in my pack!”
Diego jumped into action. “Stand very still,” he said, slowly approaching Omar. He held his walking stick in front of him like a sword.
“I felt it squirm! I think it’s a snake!” Omar yelled. He began spinning in wild circles. “A whipsnake! No, wait, a bushmaster! Help!”
“I said freeze!” Diego said. “Quit flappin’ about!”
Reluctantly, Omar froze. Diego inched forward, ears straight back, then jabbed the stick into Omar’s pack.
“Ow!”
Omar screamed, winced, and commenced running in circles as his bindle unfolded.
“Stop!” Bill shouted, a smile breaking his face. “It’s not a snake!”
A pair of scraggly ears poked out of Omar’s bindle, and then out popped a whole head. It was Luke, smiling with a mouthful of figs.
“Did you really think I was going to let you guys go without me?” he said.
Bill helped him out of the bindle, and everyone—except Omar, still recovering from his snake anxiety—greeted Luke warmly.
A party of five, they resumed their travels. Luke regaled them with the noisy drama surrounding his bold insistence on leaving the family den.
“I stood up and said, ‘Mom, Dad, I’m outta here! Like it or not. It’s time to rewrite Teddycat–Olingo history!’”
“Wait a minute,” Bill said. “Are you sure you didn’t sneak out, then hide in Omar’s bindle for the last half a klick until Diego poked you with a branch?”
“I guess that’s about right,” Luke sniffed. “Anyways, you’re welcome.”
Omar was still catching his breath and trying to act casual, but Diego was unembarrassed by his vigilance. In fact, Bill thought he seemed disappointed that there hadn’t been a snake strapped to Omar. But nevertheless the atmosphere was still buzzing with danger, as ever-present and tangible as the humidity, as species clashed amid a constantly shifting food chain. And maybe it wasn’t the snake—or lack of a snake—that had Diego still on edge. He and Jack had been through a lot together, and Bill knew how much it had to hurt Diego to learn that he was probably gone.
“Aye, that was good stuff, kid,” Diego said.
“Thanks,” said Luke, bopping along now.
“And I think you’re right,” Felix said. “I think we can find it again.”
“Where’d you learn all that stuff anyways?” Omar asked.
“Different places,” Luke said. “Some of it from Bill.”
“Yeah, that was good stuff, Luke,” Bill said, trying to deflect any attention—or follow-up questions—Luke’s praise might attract. “I almost felt like I was really there, prying my way through the ravine. Say, wanna give me a hand with my pack?”
“Quit trying to off-load your responsibilities, Bill,” said Omar.
“Hey, Omar,” Bill said, “there’s something on your neck.”
Omar started hyperventilating again, and when everybody laughed, since there was nothing actually there, he relaxed into a scowl.
Bill looked up. Light trickled through the canopy. Best he could tell, it was early afternoon. He could still hear the distant grumble of rushing water that had been accompanying them for quite some time, which at least provided a constant, a North Star. Every few minutes it seemed to grow louder.
“So first we go back to where Elena was taken, the same place you were taken, Luke, then find the humans from there, right?” Bill asked.
“Huh?” said Luke. “I know the way from my den, that’s about it.”
“I thought your map had us following the trail from the clearing!” Bill said. “Didn’t the human take you straight from the trap to the camp?”
“But I don’t remember much of that trip . . .” Luke confessed. “I was scared. Everything was a blur. And there was a giant leaf or something draped over the cage!”
Bill stopped. The others followed his lead, and they all stood there in an uneven, rumpled circle. Dragonflies and other winged beasts circled their heads. Every now and then the scent of deep rot would pass through, an unwelcome reminder of the jungle’s bottomless capacity to absorb life. Felix wiped grime from his face. His expression was pained but still doggedly patient.