Fantastic Fables of Foster Flat Volume Two

by Orrin Jason Bradford

  AS MIMI RAWLINGS PARKED her bike in the bike stand and reached into its basket to retrieve her bagged lunch, she noticed a late model automobile driving down Main Street and pulling into one of the thirty-minute parking places just a few doors down from her mom's gift shop. She glanced down the street a little farther to the large town clock. Not even 8 AM yet. Seems like the tourists start showing up earlier every year, Mimi thought, shaking her head. Don't they know that nothing opens for another hour? Well, except The Apothecary a couple blocks away that opens for breakfast at 6 AM. It was one of the few things she liked about helping her mom open Narnia, the gift shop where her mother spent so much of her time. Mimi enjoyed the quiet mornings before the surge of out-of-towners descended on her town. She realized how essential the tourists were to the success of her mother's business, but that didn't mean she had to like them.

  Mimi finished locking her bike to the stand and started walking towards her mother’s store when she noticed the new additions to the street and her heart soared. The new Bearfooting Bears had been placed along Main Street since the last time she’d been downtown. These sculptured bears had become an annual event and a major fundraiser for several of the nonprofit organizations in the area, but what Mimi enjoyed most about them was the creativity exhibited by the local artists who decorated them, often using resources from the area.

  Before entering Narnia, Mimi paused long enough to watch a small girl, probably no more than four or five years old, dressed in a bright pink pinafore dress, exit from the fancy auto and rushed over to the closest sculpture, a mother bear and her cub, her arms outstretched preparing to hug one of the bears. Oh, how cute, Mimi thought as she watched, remembering fondly her own first times with the bears during her preschool days. Despite having grown into a skeptical teenager, when it came to the Bearfooting Bears, she retained that childlike innocence that this small girl was now demonstrating.

  Mimi started to turn to enter the store when a sudden movement caught her eye. Had that been the small cub that had moved? Surely they hadn’t ruined the Bearfooting Bears by automating them, had they? Just as quickly as she had the thought, Mimi realized there were two small cubs, one that continued to lean against its mother and a second one that was very much alive and scurrying away from the little girl. The girl’s mother let out a bloodcurdling scream that sent a chill up Mimi’s back, but that her little girl ignored as she chased after the frightened cub.

  “Missy Ann, you stay away from that dirty animal,” the mother shouted. She looked around frantically for help. Spying Mimi looking on, she shouted. “Is that your filthy animal attacking my daughter?”

  Is she talking to me? Mimi wondered. Her next thought was to straighten the woman out. The animal isn't all that dirty, it's certainly not mine, and it looks to me like it's your daughter doing the attacking. She opened her mouth to reply, but then closed it again, remembering her mother’s warning earlier in the week: "Not every smart-aleck remark that comes to mind needs to be spoken."

  Instead, she answered, "No ma'am, my mother won't let me keep a bear cub for a pet. Would you?"

  The woman ignored her comment, turning back to her daughter. “Missy Ann! Come to me this instant,” she shouted, with enough vinegar in her voice that even Mimi was tempted to comply. Missy Ann stopped in her tracks and watched as the bear cub rounded a corner and disappeared down a side alley.

  “What kind of town is this that would allow a wild animal to threaten my poor little girl? Your mayor will hear about this.” This last remark was directed to Mimi, who simply shrugged. She was more concerned with the baby bear than either the woman or her daughter. Ignoring the two tourists, Mimi ran to the alley to see if she could see the cub, but by the time she arrived, it was nowhere to be seen.

  MAGINA MARTIN, CHAIRPERSON of the town council, banged on the desk in front of her for the third time. "Please, everyone sit down and shut up. Mayor Etheridge has the floor." She emphasized her demand with three more forceful raps with the gavel and a stern look that threatened to peel the paint off the meeting room walls.

  "Thank you, Madame chairperson," the mayor replied, remaining standing as the other people around him finally sat down. "As I was saying, as the person representing the fine merchants of Foster Flat, we must take today's report of a wild animal on our Main Street seriously. That's why I called this emergency meeting and invited Bo Rawlings here along with his niece Mimi. As I'm sure you all know, Bo is one of our most respected citizens and an avid hunter and sportsman. Mimi is one of the only people who live in this area who has actually seen the beast." He waved his hand in the direction of the two Rawlings, then waved Bo back into his seat before he had a chance to finish standing up. "I'll have both of them speak in just a moment, but first, let me share with you just a few of my thoughts about this matter." Mayor Etheridge ignored the groans that came from several of the other citizens in attendance.

  "As you all know, we're heading into a most important time of the year for Foster Flat—tourist season. So much of the continued prosperity of our fine town depends on these next six months. The last thing we need is for the word to spread that it's not safe to walk the streets of Foster Flat. Why, such a rumor could be devastating to our economy. That's why I say we need to nip this matter in the bud...in the bud I say."

  There was a growing mumbling of consent from this last comment, followed with several “hear, hear,” and “that’s right.”

  “And how do you propose we ‘nip this in the bud,’ Mayor?” Magina asked, the gavel raised once again in an effort to subdue the others.

  “We hunt down the vicious beast. I shoot it before it has a chance to accost any more of our fine visitors,” Etheridge proclaimed.

  “What?!” Mimi shouted before she realized what she was saying. “That’s ridiculous. It was just a small, frightened bear cub.”

  Magina’s gavel crashed down with forceful authority. “You’ll have your turn to speak, Miss Mimi, but you do not have the floor at the moment.”

  Bo Rawlings patted his niece’s knee as he stood up. “Magina...Mayor, if I may?”

  Magina glanced over to the mayor, who nodded his ascent.

  “Yes, Bo. You have the floor.”

  "Mayor Etheridge has already shared his proposal with me prior to this emergency meeting, which is one of the reasons I agreed to attend. Y'all know me to be a pretty simple, straightforward kind of guy, so I'll give it to you straight. We may indeed need to resort to shooting this animal who's taken it upon itself to visit our streets..."

  "You're not serious..." Mimi started, but stopped when her uncle placed his hand on her head and squeezed it not so gently.

  "...But I think such actions are premature. I recommend we first do our best to capture the beast and return it to the wild where it belongs. After all, we have over twenty statues of bears lining our streets for the twelfth year in a row. What kind of public relations nightmare would occur if the word got out that we'd killed a small, innocent bear cub that has stumbled into our town?"

  “Why, it would show that we take the safety of our citizens and visitors seriously,” Marcus Warren stood up, ignoring Magina’s stern look and the raising of her gavel. He was a large man, easily over six feet, who looked even more imposing in his outfit of camo, complete with military style boots. “Listen, I’m not the only one at this meeting who depends on the tourist trade this time of year. My Army Surplus and Gun Shop makes over two-thirds of its revenue in these next six months. Beergut and I will be happy to take it upon ourselves to hunt this varmint down and eliminate the threat,” he said as he slapped the man sitting next to him on the back with enough force to make Beergut wince in pain and move his chair out of range.

  At this remark, Mimi’s hand flew into the air, where she waved it back and forth. The chairperson’s gaze flitted to her and then away, so Mimi added her second arm as she bounced in her seat. “Okay, let’s move on,” Magina said, continuing to ignore the teen. “Do we have a motion...”


  “Excuse me, Madame Chairperson,” Bo interrupted. “I believe you said that Mimi would have an opportunity to speak as well. She is the only one here that has actually seen the animal.”

  “Well...” Magina started, as she glanced at the Mayor again, who shrugged. “Okay, but just for a minute. We do have other business that needs our attention.”

  Bo nodded to his niece, who stood up, but then seemed frozen in place.

  “Go on, Mimi,” Bo encouraged her. “Say your piece.”

  Mimi nodded, took a deep breath, then let the words pour out. “Our recent visitor that y’all are so scared about is more afraid of us than we have any right to be afraid of her. She’s a small bear cub, probably just a couple months old...”

  “Yeah, but cubs grow up fast in these parts,” Marcus interrupted, then shut up when Magina threatened him with her gavel.

  "Sure they do, and that's why we need to do whatever we can to find him and get him back where he belongs," Mimi added. "As far back as I can remember, every year at this time, our little town has invested time, effort and money in our Bearfooting Fundraiser. In the process, we've become known as a ‘bear-friendly' community." Mimi glanced around to see several people nodding in agreement. Bolstered by this, she continued. "Killing a small, innocent cub who's done nothing wrong other than stumble into our town and spend a night curled up next to the closest thing to a mother that he could find...well, it wouldn't be right, and it certainly isn't who we are. Least that's my view. Foster Flat is ‘bear-friendly,' and we need to stay that way." With that, Mimi nodded to the chairperson that she was finished and sat down as several people in the audience applauded.

  Magina pounded on the table in front of her again to silence the crowd. As she did so, Bo stood up. “Madame Chairperson, I’d like to make a motion that we do everything in our power over the next week to capture the cub. Since we don’t know where it comes from, I further recommend we take it to the nature science center in Asheville once we apprehend it. I volunteer to head up this effort.”

  The motion was rapidly seconded and was passed by the council members unanimously.

  AS EVERYONE FILED OUT of the meeting room, Mayor Etheridge motioned to Marcus to follow him out of the room and to his office adjacent to the council room.

  “Come on, Beergut, let’s go see what the mayor wants.” The two men meandered among the crowd for a minute or two before quietly slipping into the mayor’s office.

  “You wanted to see us, Mr. Mayor?”

  Etheridge looked up from where he was sitting behind his desk and frowned. “Actually, I wanted to see you...in private.” He glared at Beergut, who simply stood there with a silly smile on his face.

  “Sorry,” Marcus replied. “I didn’t...”

  “Never mind,” the mayor interrupted. “What I need to talk to you about will likely take more than just one man. Let him stay.”

  “What’s on your mind?” Marcus asked.

  “I take it from what you said in that meeting that you’re no more happy about the outcome than I am.”

  Marcus nodded. “Seems like a waste of time to me. Plenty more bears where that one came from, but I don’t know that there’s much we can do about it. The vote passed unanimously.”

  Yeah, well, that’s why you’re not sitting in this seat, the mayor started to say, but then thought better of it.

  “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my many years in politics, it’s that sometimes leaders need to do what they know is right, and be damned what the public may think.”

  Marcus stared at him. “What are you saying?”

  “Just that you seemed to have a viable plan of action as well. One that would resolve this matter once and for all. In fact, if it were handled properly, no one need be any the wiser about how the matter was resolved...if you get my drift.”

  Marcus glanced from the mayor to Beergut, who nodded. “Yeah, I get it. Is this an official request from the mayor’s office?”

  Etheridge paused for a moment before replying. “If you’re discovered, the mayor’s office will deny having any knowledge of the incident.”

  Marcus frowned.

  “But I can tell you this. Walter Etheridge, private citizen and one of the wealthiest men in the county, never forgets a favor.”

  “That’s good enough for me,” Marcus replied. “Let’s go, Beergut. We’ve got work to do.”

  MIMI SAT WITH HER BACK to the Oriental maple, which did a good job of hiding her from view, and checked her supplies for the third time: binoculars that allowed her to see clearly down most of Main Street, sleeping bag just in case it turned into a long night or grew too cool in the early morning hours, four ham and cheese sandwiches (down from the original six she’d brought), and a quart bottle of Fresca, still half full even after she’d used it to wash down the other two sandwiches. She sure hoped her little bear cub friend liked ham and cheese as much as she did. She slid to one side and reached beneath her rump to pull out the collar and leash that she hoped to slip on the bear cub if or when he showed up.

  Everything is ready, she thought as she twisted around to take another look at the large clock hanging over the Foster Flat Mineral and Lapidary Museum. Eleven-seventeen and the main thoroughfare is closed up tighter than a tick on a hound. That’s what she loved about the town where she’d grown up. No late night shenanigans for her town. Well, except possibly tonight if she was lucky. Straightening up, she picked up the binoculars and studied the street for any sign of a small black bear cub.

  “Please show up,” she muttered to herself. “I really don’t want to sit out here all night long. I brought you some ham and cheese sandwiches. My mom makes the best sandwiches around. She really does.” She thought about eating another one herself, but then thought better of it. Those sandwiches need to last the night as well as being an enticement to the bear that had her out here in the first place.

  Time paced slowly in the quiet little town and after a full day of school, followed by helping her mom at the store, it wasn't long before Mimi found herself dozing off. She'd pulled the sleeping bag up over her legs and abdomen to stave off the dropping temperature, but the cozy little nest she'd made for herself just made it that much harder to stay awake. Luckily the old clock chimed every fifteen minutes and marked the hour with deep bongs for each hour passed, so she could catch little catnaps without being concerned she'd spend the night sound asleep and miss the bear.

  MEANWHILE, THE BEAR cub had taken refuge in a small park a block off of Main Street, staying hidden most of the time from the few humans that passed through its walkways. She’d already checked out the two garbage cans at either end of the park, but came up with nothing more than the remains of a sausage and egg biscuit, which she had readily consumed several hours ago. She’d then crawled back under the bushes, where she’d spent the rest of the day and much of the evening until, once again, the need to relieve her hunger and thirst grew more important than staying safely hidden.

  She recalled seeing a large dumpster in the alleyway she had run down that morning to escape from the angry human with the screechy voice. She returned to it now but was disappointed to find that the dumpster’s contents were securely locked away despite all her efforts. Frustrated, she walked slowly to the other end of the alley in the direction of Main Street, sniffing the night air.

  What was that delectable smell coming from that direction? There were a number of interesting smells, many of which she didn't recognize, but one particular one had to be food. It just smelled too good not to be edible. Besides, there were also the familiar odors of her old home she'd detected the night before. That combination was simply too much to ignore. She eased herself out onto Main Street.

  “DO YOU SEE HER? WHAT’S she doing now?” Beergut asked, trying unsuccessfully to take the binoculars from Marcus, who pushed his hands away. The two men stood on the second floor of Marcus’s Army Surplus store that gave them a full view of Main Street as far north as the Mast General Store.

>   “She’s doing the same thing she was doing ten minutes ago when you asked. Nothing. Not a damn-blasted thing.” He lowered the binoculars and reached in the back pocket of his fatigues for the flask. He took a long draught of the liquid before reluctantly surrendering it to his partner.

  “Not too much,” he warned. “We need to stay alert.”

  “Sure thing, Boss,” Beergut replied, then took an equally long pull on the mouth of the flask. “Warms all the way down, it does.”

  “What if the bear don’t show?” Beergut asked, reluctantly returning the flask to its owner.

  “Then we return here tomorrow night and the night after that,” Marcus replied with a disgusted sneer on his face.

  “Seems like a lot of fuss over a little ol’ bear,” Beergut said, “especially considering we’re not getting paid.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

  “What do you mean?” Beergut asked.

  “Well, besides our corrupt mayor owing us a big favor, I took the liberty of making a call today to an old Army buddy of mine down in Atlanta. He’s got a pretty sweet deal going...illegal as hell, but just that much sweeter because of the stupid laws.”

  “What’s that?”

  “He sells wild animals,” Marcus said, as he raised the binoculars to his eyes again and leaned out the window to get a better view north and south. “He told me if we brought him a black bear cub alive and in relatively good shape, he’d pay us $500 for it.”

  “You’re shitting me,” Beergut replied, a skeptical look on his face.

  “Honest to god truth. Damn thing will be out of our hair and we’ll make a few hundred bucks to boot. Hell, we play our cards right, we won’t even have to catch it. We’ll let little ol’ Mimi do the work for us.”