by K. E. Rocha
“You can eat this,” he said, grabbing a handful of kibble from the bag. It looked like oversized dog food. Aldo lowered his snout to the kibble in Spencer’s hand.
“You’re sure?” The bear didn’t seem very impressed by the smell.
“I’m sure.” Spencer dropped the handful of kibble back into its bag and pushed it toward Aldo. “It’s not exactly a dinner at Raymond’s, but eat as much as you can, just in case we don’t find anything better and can’t get back here for a while.”
Aldo didn’t seem to need any more encouragement to eat. He buried his head in the bag and started to crunch. Spencer stood up and scanned the rest of the supplies. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to eat bear kibble himself, but at least they knew it was here if he got desperate.
As Aldo gulped down the bear kibble, Spencer reviewed the plan that he, B.D., and Aldo had worked out back in B.D.’s cave cell. They were going to make their way to the grove of trees near Dora’s enclosure, and find a hiding place that gave them a view of B.D. The Head of the Guard would watch Pam in his house overlooking the Caves. When Pam went to bed, B.D. would rise onto his hind legs, signaling to Aldo and Spencer that the coast was clear.
Aldo removed his head from the empty bag. “I guess that was better than nothing,” he said, snorting kibble crumbs out of his nose.
“Ready to go?” Spencer grabbed the bag and crumpled it up. He shoved it to the back of the shelf.
“Ready.” Aldo led the way to the door. He smelled the bottom edge of the door, then stepped aside for Spencer to open it. Spencer peeked out into the shadowed alleyway. Nobody was there. They quietly stepped outside. “Climb on.” Aldo immediately crouched low enough for Spencer to swing onto his back.
When Spencer had a good hold on Aldo, the bear padded toward the opening at the end of the alley and beyond the protection of the rock formation. He stayed close to the wall as they took a closer look at the route they’d planned.
In order to get to the grove on the hilltop beside Pam’s home and Dora’s matching enclosure, Spencer and Aldo would have to cross the lawn between the Airy Aviary and the Caves, then make their way up the neatly gardened hill. The open space would be dangerous, particularly because they didn’t know exactly where Pam was. They hadn’t seen him since last night. There was no telling when he might step out onto his viewing deck, or drive up to his own front door, returning from wherever it was Pam spent his time.
“I don’t know about this, Aldo,” Spencer whispered. “It feels too risky to move now, when we don’t know where exactly Pam is.”
“I feel the same way. But we can’t stay here. Sooner or later, someone’s going to come feed the bears. It’s better for us to move now, when no one has any reason to be paying attention to the Caves.” Without waiting for Spencer’s reply, Aldo lurched forward, making a break for the hill and the grove.
Spencer could feel Aldo hurtling over flower beds, trying to leave as little evidence as possible of their sprint through Pam’s neat garden. He held on tightly to the bear, his body leaned low against Aldo’s back, and soon enough, they were leaving the ground, climbing up into the limbs of a tree.
“Ouch!” Spencer whispered. Something knocked him in the head as they moved around the branches. Ouch! He got clocked in the head again. What was that? Spencer didn’t lift his head to look until Aldo had stopped moving.
“I think our luck has officially changed,” Aldo said quietly. Spencer peeled himself off Aldo, looking around the tree for the first time.
Pears!
The tree was full of pears! The leafy branches were bursting with them. Spencer scrambled off Aldo’s back, carefully finding his own branch in the tree to perch on. Finally, something Spencer could eat!
“And I’ve got a view of B.D.,” Aldo added.
Spencer didn’t answer. He was too busy pulling his first pear off the tree. His stomach growled. He didn’t care that the leaves around the pear rustled. He took a big bite of the pear, then heard Pam’s voice.
“Can I help you with something?”
Spencer froze. Fruit juice dripped down his chin.
Aldo’s eyes widened. “I may have spoken too soon about our luck changing … ” the bear grunted quietly.
“I said, can I help you?” Pam’s high-pitched voice carried up into the thick, leafy branches of the pear tree from somewhere Spencer couldn’t see.
Spencer started to panic. What are we going to do?! But then another voice reached them.
“I apologize … sir. I’m your … your manicurist for the day,” the woman’s voice stammered. “Your assistant called to schedule—” Spencer clapped a hand over his mouth and almost gagged. She has to touch Pam’s fingernails!
“Where’s Tobias?” Pam asked. “Tobias knows how I like them done.”
“He wasn’t able—”
“Fine. All right. Come in.”
Spencer and Aldo didn’t relax until they were sure Pam and his manicurist had gone inside Pam’s house.
“I thought the mission was ruined,” Spencer whispered, taking a big bite of pear.
“So did I,” Aldo answered. “But Pam didn’t see us. It’s not over yet.”
“Aldo,” Spencer whispered, taking his eyes off B.D. for the first time in what felt like hours. The moon was high above the Caves, casting just enough light into B.D.’s enclosure for Spencer to see the bear. He hadn’t moved from the mouth of his cave since Spencer and Aldo had left him. Even when the zookeeper had come to clean the space and leave food for B.D., the bear had stayed put, swatting the ground angrily anytime the worker got too close.
Aldo stirred on the branch beside Spencer. They had stayed in the tree and taken turns standing guard all afternoon and evening. During his last shift, Spencer had heard the manicurist say good-bye to Pam and let herself out, and then he saw Pam and Dora leave together soon after. They had returned an hour later, during Aldo’s shift, while Spencer rested. Now, after hours of keeping watch from the tree, finally, B.D. was rising onto his hind legs in his own enclosure, giving the signal Spencer had been waiting for.
“Time to go?” Aldo asked. His ears and snout twitched, gathering information.
“Yes. Look,” Spencer pushed a leafy branch aside, clearing a space for Aldo to see B.D., who stood unsteadily on his hind legs. Spencer pulled the flashlight out of his mission pack and aimed it toward B.D. in the Caves. He turned it on, then off again quickly, signaling to B.D. they had received his message—Pam had gone to bed. The coast was clear for Spencer and Aldo to go to Dora. B.D. dropped back to all fours.
Aldo climbed down from the pear tree without wasting a second, but Spencer hesitated. The last time they were close to Dora, she was viciously attacking B.D. He wasn’t exactly eager to see her again, but according to this plan, the sooner he did, the sooner he would see Mom and Dad.
Spencer carefully climbed out of the tree. Once he joined Aldo on the ground, they crept out of the grove toward Dora’s enclosure. As they got closer, Spencer realized enclosure wasn’t the right word for Dora’s home.
Glass sliding doors made up an entire wall of the small building, and now those doors stood open. Dora could come and go as she pleased. The rest of the structure seemed to be an imitation of Pam’s own large home. Parts of the small square building were hidden from view with wood and iron walls, and portions of the glass walls were covered by enormous velvety gray curtains, but most of Dora’s home was completely transparent. Dora padded into view. She bowed her head to drink from a crystal clear stream that ran through the middle of her home.
Spencer and Aldo stepped onto the path that led straight through the open glass doors to Dora. Here we go, Spencer thought. He knew how important it was for this meeting to go well. If Dora attacked them, the mission would be over, and his chances of rescuing everyone would be gone.
Dora lifted her head from the stream. Her ears flicked in the direction of the open doors. Aldo didn’t stop walking. Dora huffed and rose onto her hind legs, facing the
door.
Spencer cast an anxious glance down at the Caves. He could tell that B.D. was watching them, but if things didn’t go well between Dora, Spencer, and Aldo, then B.D., locked in his cave, wouldn’t be able to help. Spencer hoped that his teammates knew what they were doing, sending them here to walk right into Dora’s home with no protection and zero backup …
Pop! Dora’s warning stopped Spencer in his tracks. Aldo kept walking.
“Maruh,” Aldo growled to Dora, as “hello” translated through Spencer’s Ear-COM. Dora didn’t answer. Her eyes flicked back and forth between Aldo and Spencer. “Maruh, anbranda,” Aldo said, adding the bears’ word for “friend” to his greeting. He continued to approach Dora.
Spencer waited for Dora to warn them with the jaw-popping sound again. When she didn’t, he took a step forward, falling in behind Aldo on the path. Dora huffed, but Aldo didn’t stop when he reached the open glass doors. He crossed the threshold into Dora’s home. Spencer wished he could reach for his jade bear now, to muster some courage. I just have to be brave enough without it, he told himself firmly and stepped inside after Aldo. Dora huffed again.
“We’re coming to you as friends, Dora. We are here to help you, and we need your help,” Aldo said. “We only mean—”
Dora dropped to all fours and cut Aldo off with a jaw pop. She stepped toward him, showing her teeth.
“Aldo,” Spencer said. “Maybe this isn’t such—”
Dora’s eyes flicked to Spencer. Pop! She stepped forward and thrust her face into his.
“Yi hu aro valu,” Spencer blurted out the phrase B.D. had taught them. Dora froze. “Yi hu aro valu,” Spencer repeated, his growls coming out as gasps.
Dora looked at Aldo. She dropped back a few paces, moving away from Spencer.
“With you I am home,” Aldo said. “B.D. asked us to relay that message to you. He hoped it would show you we are friends of your family. We just need to talk to you. We have something that can help us all communicate. It’s safe—I’m wearing one in my ear now. If you’re willing, Spencer can give you one.”
Dora’s head was bowed, but she seemed to be listening. She growled back at Aldo, but Spencer couldn’t understand her. Dora swung her head in Spencer’s direction, grunting, then began to pace the length of her indoor stream.
“Yes, he is a Plain, and he’s loyal to bears. You can trust him,” Aldo growled. A moment later, Dora turned and charged at Spencer.
“Aldo!” Spencer hissed. He put both hands up to hold off the bear, but it was too late, Dora had reached him. She headbutted him in the stomach with another grunt.
“She wants the Ear-COM,” Aldo said, stepping closer as though to protect Spencer if Dora changed her mind.
Spencer’s hands shook as he fit the translating device into Dora’s ear. As soon as it was in place, he stepped back.
“Team,” Aldo said, connecting his own Ear-COM with Dora’s and Spencer’s. Dora winced, then shook her head as though trying to shake a fly off her fur. “Dora, can you hear me?”
“I can hear you better than I want to,” Dora answered.
“Uh … it’s nice to meet you, Dora,” Spencer said awkwardly. He forced a smile. Dora shot him a blank stare, then turned her back on Spencer and Aldo. She walked a lap around the inside of her home before speaking again. She passed each of the four big, perfect trees in the four corners of the square building, circling the stream that made a soothing, babbling sound as it ran through the middle of the room. The section of the building hidden from the outdoors by a wood-and-iron wall and gray curtains was outfitted similarly to the bears’ cave-like bedrooms in Bearhaven. It was the only part of Dora’s home that was covered by a roof. She must sleep there.
“All of this is mine,” Dora said at last. “My home. Do you know how I used to live?”
Spencer gulped. This wasn’t how he’d imagined the conversation going, but Dora had taken charge.
“I used to live in a tiny cage with my brothers at Gutler University. You see my muzzle? You see no fur here?” Dora thrust her head into their faces, showing them the furless patch of skin on her jaw. It matched the one on B.D.’s own muzzle. “Margo always put the food outside the bars of our cage. We had to push our jaws through the bars to eat. Every bite hurt but we were starving. It was a bad life but at least we were together. Then your family came and took my family away. But not me.” She glared at Spencer. “And my family left me. You think a bear can survive like that? Starved and hurt all the time with nobody to trust? No. Did that matter to your family, or mine? No. Nobody came back for me.”
Spencer opened his mouth to explain. Mom and Dad had gone back for Dora, but they were too late. Dora had already disappeared from Gutler. Dora bared her teeth at Spencer, and he closed his mouth.
“Pam took me from Margo and Ivan, and now I live here and have all the food I want without any help from my family or yours,” Dora went on bitterly. “You came here thinking I needed you to rescue me? Ha! Now look where you are. I am free here, and you are trapped. You all need me to save you. But why should I help you? I don’t need any of you, just like none of you—none of you—needed me all these years.” Dora sat back on her haunches in front of Spencer and Aldo, glaring at them both.
Spencer didn’t know what to say. He understood why Dora was so angry. She had spent twelve years thinking she had been abandoned by her family and forgotten by humans she had once trusted.
“Dora,” Aldo started, “B.D. has never recovered from losing you that night at Gutler, and neither have the Plains.” The bear’s voice was calm; he sounded more like his father, Professor Weaver, than he ever had before. “They have all been looking for you on every single rescue mission. They built Bearhaven, and every day they wished you were there. They have saved over one hundred bears, and every single time, on every single rescue mission, they hoped the next bear they’d save would be you.”
“How would you know that?” Dora snapped. “You two are just cubs. You can’t possibly know how I feel.”
Aldo hesitated.
“I know how you feel,” Spencer spoke up.
Dora narrowed her eyes at him.
“I know because my family was taken away from me, too. And I know what it feels like to be the one who’s safe. It doesn’t feel … better. I’m missing a big piece of my life, too. I won’t ever stop trying to get my parents back. And I know you don’t like my parents right now, but they did try to rescue you again. You weren’t at Gutler anymore, and they couldn’t find you. B.D. really does look for you every time he leaves Bearhaven. And even at Bearhaven—”
“Quiet,” Dora cut Spencer off. He thought she was just tired of listening to him speak, but then he saw Aldo’s ears twitch.
“Pam?” Aldo asked, his eyes locked on Dora. Spencer strained to hear what the bears were hearing.
“Yes.” Dora sat back on her haunches. Spencer couldn’t read her expression. “He’s coming. If you try to leave now he’ll see you,” she added. Her voice was flat, like she didn’t care what happened to Spencer and Aldo next.
“We’re trapped … ” Spencer whispered.
“Hide,” Aldo ordered.
Spencer sprang into action. He sprinted into the darkest corner of Dora’s home and pushed the heavy gray curtain aside, stepping in behind it. He was careful to fit his body into one of the folds.
“You’re safe there, Spencer,” Aldo said, confirming Spencer was hidden from view.
“What about you?” Spencer asked.
“Tree,” Aldo said after a second. Then the Ear-COMs fell silent.
Spencer tried to take a few deep breaths, but the air caught in his throat. Had they gotten through to Dora? Would she cover for them? Spencer didn’t know, but they were at Dora’s mercy now. It wouldn’t take much for her to give Spencer and Aldo away to Pam.
Spencer heard footsteps on the path just outside.
“Good evening, Dora.”
He’s here.
“How are you tonight, my
Dora?” Pam said. Spencer hated the sound of Pam’s voice. It was singsongy and sweet, but Spencer wasn’t fooled. He’d heard Pam say threatening and evil words in that very same voice. And why wasn’t Pam in bed? Had B.D. gotten the signal wrong? “Keeping an eye on your brother?” Pam went on. “Don’t worry, he’ll be gone before you know it.”
The room fell silent. Spencer couldn’t see anything from behind the curtain, but he guessed Pam was stroking Dora’s head with his gross, long fingernails, the same way he had at the auction the night before.
The Ear-COM! Suddenly, Spencer’s mind was racing. What if Pam sees it?! The tiny piece of gear tucked in Dora’s ear was enough to put the entire mission at risk if Pam spotted it! Spencer’s stomach twisted. How could he have forgotten about the Ear-COM when he rushed to hide?!
“Of course, he has to heal before I can ship him off, thanks to your little temper tantrum, my dear.” Pam interrupted Spencer’s thoughts. “I sold him for thousands of dollars. I can’t deliver him damaged, now can I?”
Spencer clenched his jaw. How could Pam talk about B.D. that way? Spencer wished the Ear-COM worked the same way as the BEAR-COM. If the device was going to put the whole mission at risk, Dora should at least be able to hear the terrible things Pam was saying, but Spencer knew the technology didn’t work that way. It only translated back and forth between other connected devices. Dora couldn’t understand what Pam was saying now.
“You, Dora, would sell for much more than your brother, though, wouldn’t you? You are so much smarter—and such a beautiful bear. Those dealers would have spent tens and tens of thousands on you. But you’re worth more to me. I won’t sell you, Dora. Not for a long time anyway.” The room fell silent again. Spencer gritted his teeth. Please don’t give us away, Dora! he thought. All she would have to do was sniff once in Spencer’s direction, and Pam could be on to him.
“Well,” Pam said after a few more seconds, “I came because I forgot to close you in for the night. I don’t know why you insist on visiting our friends after I go to sleep. But I don’t like it, so it ends tonight.” Footsteps sounded through the room. “Good night, Dora.”
