Gifted

by Richard Bard

  Safe.

  She blinked. I inched backward. Sarafina moved with me.

  Come.

  Mama Bear slunk out of her cage and stopped in front of me, her snout wriggling a few inches from my face. She huffed and I felt her warm breath on my cheeks. I moved to one side and pulled Sarafina beside me. Her body was shaking.

  Family.

  Mama Bear’s gaze took us both in, and the rolls of muscles under her furry shoulders relaxed. I felt a projection of warmth from her mind. It reminded me of Mom.

  Follow.

  She padded beside us as I moved to the next cage, expanding my mind to embrace all six remaining bears, urging them to follow her lead. Mama Bear woofed, and as each of the other bears became present in my mind, I had the sense they had long since established a group bond of their own, formed as they’d shared the fear imposed by their imprisonment and the anguish of others like them inside the building. I opened the next cage, and the male bear hurried out so fast that for a moment I thought he was coming for me. Instead, he brushed past and turned a quick circle behind me, and I felt his joy at being free. I moved quickly to another cage and Sarafina unlatched the one past that. Within a few moments, all the bears milled eagerly around us. I sensed each of their connections individually and the purity of their emotions felt good.

  The squelch of a radio drew our attention toward the building, just as a guard trotted around the corner. He skidded to a stop at the sight of us, his eyes huge as his hands scrambled to unclip the radio on his belt. Backing away, he raised it to his lips and shouted in Chinese. Then he turned and ran around the corner.

  The bears’ thoughts combined to form a single thought:

  Danger!

  I felt their combined urge to run up the hill toward the safety of the darkness. But I threw the force of my will behind my thoughts as I ran after the man.

  Protect.

  Mama Bear was immediately beside me. The other bears followed.

  “Are you crazy?” Sarafina said, quickly catching up. “What are you doing?”

  “Creating a distraction.” I charged as fast as I could around the corner, knowing we’d only have one chance for this to work. The floodlights were still glaring. We ran past the first truck, and as soon as I spotted the running guard, I let out a loud, angry scream. The bears picked up on my emotion, their roars fueling my own, and we became a marauding band of man and beast assaulting an enemy tribe.

  Chapter 10

  “AHH!” SARAFINA SHOUTED as she and I and the bears charged at the guard.

  The running man glanced over his shoulder, his face filled with terror. His friends at the far end of the building were already speeding toward one of the shacks behind them, the woman and her partner leading the way. The SUV was still parked at the end of the row of vehicles, smoke coming from its exhaust. The driver was inside, his face frozen in shock. The boss man was in the back yelling at him as he rolled up his window.

  An instant later, Ahmed popped up on the opposite side of the car, swung open the rear passenger door, and jumped inside. The driver’s head snapped around. His hands went up in the air, as did the boss man’s, and I knew my brother was pointing a pistol at them. The driver shook his head, probably refusing to get out to face a gang of attacking bears. But when a warning shot shattered the driver’s-side window, the door flew open, the driver scrambled out, and he fled toward the shack faster than a jackrabbit chased by a pack of wolves.

  I slowed and the bears slowed with me. Growls turned to huffs as we approached the SUV.

  Ahmed had the pistol aimed at the man in the backseat. Timmy ran around from behind the car and jumped into the driver’s seat. “Get in!” he shouted, slamming the door closed so hard that the remaining glass fragments spilled onto the ground.

  Sarafina slid into the front passenger seat. I turned toward Mama Bear and the others. They all looked my way but seemed confused, moving about restlessly, their skin twitching under their fur.

  I pointed up the ridge and the darkness beyond.

  Freedom!

  The thought unified them, and all but Mama Bear raced up the hill. She hesitated a moment, and it was like she took one last look into my soul. Then she turned and raced away. I clambered into the backseat next to Ahmed and pulled the door closed.

  “Go!” Ahmed yelled.

  Timmy backed us up in a spinning turn that threw me against the door. When the SUV’s nose was pointed down the road, he put it in Drive and stomped on the gas. The car jumped forward just as one of the guards rushed out of the shack. I recognized him as the man from the truck who had enjoyed hurting Mama Bear with his electric prod. His discolored teeth were bared in anger as he raised his assault rifle, its muzzle matching the movement of the vehicle.

  “Duck!” Sarafina cried.

  I couldn’t move. Everything seemed to slow in my mind as I stared at the AK-47. It was a weapon I’d used hundreds of times online, when damage was more important than accuracy. I was deadly with it on short-range maps, and got a chill when I imagined what it would feel like when the bullets struck real flesh. The shooter was so close he couldn’t miss and it looked like the gun was aimed directly at me. The man’s eyes narrowed, his grimace changed to a leer, and I realized he was looking forward to tearing us to shreds. The woman rushed into view and shoved the weapon aside just as he squeezed the trigger. The muzzle flashed but none of the bullets struck the car. We sped away, shimmying in the ruts, leaving a cloud of dust behind us. As we exited the pools of light cast by the floodlights, there was movement on the hill. I saw one of the first six bears disappear into the trees. Then I caught a glimpse of Mama Bear scampering along the ridgeline in the opposite direction. She was headed back to her territory to find her cubs.

  “You are all dead,” the boss man growled. He had a thick Chinese accent.

  “Shut up,” Ahmed said, jamming the pistol in his side so hard that the man winced. “Hands up. Grab the hand grip.”

  The boss man glared but Ahmed didn’t waver. Finally, the man raised his hands over his head and wrapped his fingers around the handle, squeezing it so hard his knuckles went white.

  Timmy glanced in the rearview mirror. “They’re following us!”

  I got up on my knees and looked out the back window. There were at least three sets of headlights on the road.

  Sarafina swiveled around and followed my gaze. “Faster, Timmy, please.”

  “Oh, dear,” the boss man said when he saw her face for the first time. “Aren’t you a pretty little thing. My men are going to love—”

  Ahmed swung the pistol across the man’s jaw, whipping his neck to one side. Blood flowed from a gash in his chin.

  “I told you to shut up,” Ahmed said, pressing the muzzle of the pistol into the boss man’s temple. The pulsing vein in the man’s forehead looked like it might burst.

  If he gets his hands on the gun...

  The car went into a sharp turn and I had to grab hold of the headrest to keep from falling into Ahmed. The man’s eyes narrowed and I could tell he was looking for his chance to make a move. Ahmed must have noticed it, too, because he pushed the pistol harder against the man’s temple, forcing his head against the window.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Ahmed said.

  The boss man spat a glob of blood. “You’ll be wearing a green hat in our brothel before this night is out,” he said. “Have you ever even shot a man, monkey? It’s a lot different than putting a bullet through a car window.”

  “Not yet,” Ahmed said. “But this is as good a time as any to give it a try. I suggest you keep your ugly mouth shut.”

  The boss man laughed and his grip loosened on the overhead handle. “You don’t have the balls—”

  Ahmed shot him through the biceps. The man shrieked. The window exploded in a spray of blood. Ahmed jammed the smoking muzzle into the man’s crotch.

  “My balls are fine,” Ahmed said. “How about yours?”

  The boss froze, his eyes wide, bloo
d leaking from the fingers gripping his wound.

  My ears were ringing, my heart was racing, and my mind was astonished by how easily my brother had slid into the role of protector...and aggressor. If necessary, he’d kill the man, and I suspected he’d not regret doing so. The violent reaction to the man’s threat had seemed like an instinctive response, no different than that of a bear protecting her cubs.

  Is that what I would have done?

  We pulled out of the turn and the road began to climb. Wind swirled into the car from the two missing windows and a blur of trees rushed past us. I looked out the back window again and saw the first set of headlights clear the corner behind us, getting closer.

  “Dammit,” Timmy said, giving it more gas. The SUV rocked on the uneven road.

  The road steepened. The moon broke through the clouds, illuminating the view. The landscape dropped off behind us, where two cars and a truck followed.

  “This is their territory. We’ll never lose them,” Sarafina said. She glanced at the boss man. “But maybe we can slow them down if we pull over and let him out—”

  “No!” Ahmed and Timmy said at the same time.

  “As long as he’s with us, they won’t shoot,” Timmy added.

  “But they’re getting closer,” she said in a choked voice.

  “The money,” I said.

  “Huh?” Timmy said.

  “Give them the money,” I said.

  “What money?” Ahmed said, never taking his eyes off the boss man.

  “That’s right,” Sarafina said, pointing to the back of the SUV. “There are three bags of money back there. From the drug deal.”

  Ahmed risked a quick peek over the seat. “Timmy, can you roll the back window down from up there?”

  “No. It’s a flip-up.”

  “Never mind,” Ahmed said, keeping an eye on the boss man as he removed the pistol from between his legs and aimed it at the back window. He waited until I dropped low and covered my ears before he fired two shots. Then he turned the gun back on the boss man. When I peeked over the seat, I saw that the window had shattered and most of the glass had blown outside.

  “Get back there and open ’em up,” Ahmed said.

  I climbed over and unzipped the first duffel. It was filled with bound wads of colorful money.

  “Start ripping off those rubber bands,” Ahmed said. “Timmy, I need you to slow down.”

  “Dude, are you nuts?” Timmy asked.

  “They’ve got to be close enough to see what we’re doing.”

  “Oh man, oh man,” Timmy said, easing off the gas.

  I pulled off one band after another and before long there was a pile of loose bills in the bag. The headlights rushed toward us. A few moments later the lead car was close enough that I could see the heads of four people silhouetted by the lights from the car behind it. One man leaned out a side window and looked like he held a rifle.

  “Now!” Ahmed shouted. “Start tossing it.”

  I grabbed two handfuls of bills and pitched them out. The wind grabbed hold of them and a cloud of money swirled and danced like confetti at a parade, whisking around the cars behind us. The man leaning out the window seemed distracted.

  “More,” Ahmed said.

  I threw wad after wad, and suddenly the caravan behind screeched to a stop. A figure jumped out of the lead vehicle. He waved as though he was issuing orders to the other drivers. A moment later the occupants of the second car were scurrying along the road gathering money, and the lead car and the truck were speeding up to follow us.

  “One down,” Timmy said. “Two to go.”

  I heaved more wads out the window.

  “Nooo,” the boss man moaned.

  “Not a muscle,” Ahmed said, the pistol digging into the man’s ribs.

  When the last of the loose cash was gone, I looked up and saw that the two cars had caught up to us. Men leaned out of either side of the lead vehicle and they didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the scattering bills.

  “Guns!” Sarafina cried out.

  Timmy floored it and the SUV leaped forward just as the muzzles flashed. Sparks skipped along the road behind us and two loud thunks hit the back of the car.

  I ducked and unzipped the next duffel.

  “They’re going for the tires!” Ahmed said.

  I started throwing out the bound wads of bills. They cartwheeled this way and that, several of them disappearing down the steepening slope on the left side of the road. The lead vehicle closed the gap and the men swiveled their heads to watch the money disappear. But the car didn’t slow. In another moment it would be close enough to fire at us again.

  I glanced forward and saw that the road was about to bend to the right. I gathered the nearly full duffel in my arms, lifted it to the sill, and waited. The men were leaning out of the car with their rifles raised when the SUV went into the curve and I heaved the duffel out the window. It slid across the dirt road, the centrifugal force sending it flying over the edge and down the slope.

  The sight was too much to bear for the drug dealers. The car swerved to a stop, disappearing from sight as we completed the turn.

  “Way to go, Alex,” Timmy said.

  Ahmed turned to the boss man. “I guess your boys back there decided you aren’t nearly as important as the money.”

  The man glared at him. “We shall see,” he said through clenched teeth. He still gripped the wound on his arm; it wasn’t bleeding much anymore. “This ride is far from over.”

  The road took several more turns, and at one point the headlights of the truck were still on our tail. They weren’t that far back and soon enough the two cars would be back in the chase. At best, I figured, we’d bought ourselves a minute or two. Timmy braked to a sudden stop, then backed up and angled the headlights up a steep side road.

  “Take it slow,” Ahmed said. “So there’s no dust trail.”

  Timmy steered the SUV up the hill, turning off the headlights as soon as we cleared the road. He moved slowly, guided by the streaks of moonlight that pierced the thickening foliage overhead. When we were completely hidden from the road, he cut off the engine.

  “There,” Sarafina said, pointing to a flicker of lights through the foliage behind us. We heard the truck’s engine as it sped past the intersection and around the next corner. When the sound of its motor faded away, we let out a collective sigh of relief. Timmy started up the SUV, keeping the lights off as we climbed the narrow road. A minute later, the road leveled off and we found ourselves in a clearing.

  “Wait a minute,” Sarafina said, pointing out the front window.

  Timmy stopped the car. The clearing looked familiar, and when I saw the shredded remnants of the bamboo cage that had trapped Mama Bear, I knew we’d come full circle.

  “It’s the same place,” Ahmed said.

  “But why is the cage hacked up?” Sarafina asked. “When we left it was still in one piece.”

  The stout bamboo cage bars had been hacked through by a blade so sharp that it seemingly had sheared through in a single stroke. The walls had collapsed, with some of the pieces still tied together at their base, sticking out this way and that. The damage was man-made, and it reminded me of the prickly feeling I’d had when we were here before. Someone had been following us.

  “Who cares?” Timmy said. “What matters is that the road ends here. It’s a dead end.”

  “Dead is right,” the boss man said.

  Ahmed smacked the butt of the pistol into the man’s temple. The man’s eyes rolled and he slumped forward in the seat. Ahmed reached over him, opened the door, and shoved the man out. He hit the ground with a sickening thud.

  “Y-you killed him,” Sarafina said, her hand over her mouth.

  “Not yet,” Ahmed said, pointing the gun at the prone body. “But I probably should.”

  “No!” she cried. “You mustn’t.”

  Ahmed frowned, and I knew a part of him wanted to do it. But he lowered the pistol and yanked the door cl
osed. “We have to go back.”

  “It’s our only choice,” Timmy said, turning the car around on the promontory so that it pointed downhill. The jungle canopy was bathed in moonlight, stretching to the valley below. There were probably several intersecting roads under all those trees, and one of them would take us to my mom and dad. Timmy turned off the motor. “Keep an eye out. We’ll wait until the other two cars drive by and then we’ll double back behind them.”

  “There,” I said, pointing to two sets of headlights flickering through the trees below.

  We waited anxiously as the cars wound their way along the road. They sped past the road leading to our position and their taillights disappeared around the corner.

  “Whew,” Timmy said. He started up the car and steered it down the dirt road. “It’s about time we had a little good luck.”

  We were halfway to the main road when the truck’s headlights appeared around the distant corner. The two cars popped into view behind them. The caravan was slowing as it neared the intersection below us.

  “Crap,” Timmy said. He put the SUV in reverse and sped back up the road.

  “No,” Ahmed said. “The backup lights will give us away. Shut it down!”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Sarafina said. “They’re coming up here anyway.” The truck had turned onto the road, its headlight beams bouncing as it climbed our way. Our four-wheel-drive SUV kicked up gravel and dust as it raced backward up the hill.

  “They may know the roads but they’re not going to be any more familiar with the dense part of the jungles than we are,” Ahmed said, his voice jumping as the SUV lurched over a bump. “Put on your backpacks and get ready to run.”

  By the time we reached the clearing, the truck and the two cars were a third of the way up the hill. Timmy swerved to avoid the unconscious boss man on the ground and then stopped the car at the far edge of the clearing. We were out of the car in an instant. Timmy scrambled around the back. He reached through the broken window, grabbed the last duffel of money, and ran back to his open door. That’s when I realized the motor was still running. “Head for the trail we were on yesterday,” he said. He threw the bag onto the front passenger seat and jumped in behind the wheel. “I’ll catch up.”