Jack James and the Tribe of the Teddy Bear

by J. Joseph Wright

  “But Mom, we need it to save the universe,” he snatched it back.

  “Okay,” she sighed. “I think we’ve played fantasyland long enough. Nobody’s saving the universe because nobody’s coming to destroy it. It might be all neat and fun to sit around and light candles and tell stories, but we’ve got real-world problems here. I think we might be wanted by the law and, and,” she checked her watch. “And it’s a school night. I haven’t even thought about what I’m going to do for dinner yet. And now I have all these extra mouths to feed.”

  Teresa sprang to her feet. “That’s right, you must be hungry!”

  “Oh, yeah! Yeah!” Pud’s tongue wagged.

  “Starving!” announced Lily.

  Liz stood. “No, we have to go home. I’ll make dinner for them there.”

  “Nonsense,” Teresa said. “You can’t go home, now. Not after all that’s happened. Besides, I’ve got plenty. Plenty! You’re my guests. And I’ve been just itching for an occasion to brew up some of my grandmother’s famous bat brain stew!”

  “What!”

  “Eeeewwww!”

  “Ha! Got ya!” she pointed at Lily, then Pud. “That’s a little witch joke. I’ve got something wonderful for you. Just wait.”

  She dashed into the kitchen. Behind closed doors, pots clanged, glass shattered, silverware banged against ceramic, pounding rocked the house.

  “Are…are you okay in there?” Jack called to her.

  “Oh yes, dear,” Teresa sounded out of breath.

  “Do you need some help?” Liz yelled. She tried to get in the kitchen but the door seemed jammed.

  “No, no, dear. You just relax. Dinner will be coming right up!”

  Liz flashed a look of silent concern toward her children. Jack read his mother clearly. Her frown said it all.

  “We need to leave, Jack. If Teresa won’t take us, I’ll have to call your grandmother and she can come get us,” she found her phone in her purse. “No cell service? Isn’t that just wonderful? Well, there must be a phone around here somewhere.”

  “Dinner is served!” Teresa strode into the dining room carrying an ornate serving tray, complete with a large, domed cover concealing the mystery food inside. A sweet, succulent aroma chased away the secret. Everybody at the table smelled it. Noses twitched, mouths watered.

  “What is that?” Pud swallowed back his drool.

  “Is it?” Amelia tasted the air.

  “It can’t be,” Liz quivered.

  “Mommy,” Lily smacked her lips. “It smells like…”

  Teresa set the tray on the table and removed the lid, revealing a tremendous, golden brown bird.

  “It’s a turkey!”

  “Wow!” Pud’s eyes bulged.

  Liz gasped. “But how? You were in there for maybe five minutes. How on earth could you possibly cook a turkey in that time?”

  “Let’s just say I knew guests were coming. Now, let’s eat.”

  THIRTY

  SAVAGE! YOU FOOL! Is there any limit to your incompetence!” Davos paced the heavy stones. Savage shook his head, not sure where he was. Then the glyphs on the rock walls stirred a stinging memory.

  “Not this place again!” he searched for the huge spa, infested with reptiles and shredded corpses, yet found only solid floor beneath his feet.

  “Savage!”

  He shot his attention toward Davos, though he didn’t want to look directly at the man, or whatever it was.

  “Sir, I promise. I almost had them, I just need…”

  “You need to shut up!” Davos sneered. “You fool! You had five of them—five! Right in your grasp! And you let them get away! Fool!”

  “But they had help, sir,” he explained. “There were these children and they…”

  “Children! Savage do you hear yourself? You’re saying you were duped by some children? How incompetent are you!”

  “Sir, you don’t understand. They weren’t normal children. The boy’s the son of a local inventor. They had some sort of advanced technology or something. To tell you the truth, it seemed magical. It was terrifying. Whatever they have, it’s powerful.”

  “Advanced technology, you say? Magical?” Davos held out his hands and cupped his palms, touching the fingertips together. A tiny dot of vermillion light forced Savage to squint. He watched it grow to the size of a fist. As it hovered between Davos’ fingers, emitting showers of sparks, Savage stepped back and protected himself from the miniature inferno.

  “I’ve got my own little surprise for those annoying children. I’ll teach them for interfering.”

  Savage tried to comprehend what he was seeing. Who was this man? Was it even a man? Obviously the sphere was highly advanced. He snuck a look, not caring if the brightness scorched holes in his retinas. It projected power like a tiny, crimson star. He wondered how much it would fetch on the defense market. He knew of several countries that would pay through the nose to get their hands on this kind of hardware.

  “What, what is it?” he drooled.

  “Just a little toy of mine.”

  “Great!” Savage stood straight. “You can use that to fight off those kids and their magic machine while my men and I grab the creatures. It’s perfect!”

  “Not so fast, Savage,” Davos snapped his fingers. Three women stepped from a network of stone pillars behind him, their black lace gowns mixing into silhouettes, making it difficult for Savage to tell if they were real or not.

  “Who are they?” he asked. They chuckled to one another. The one in front was the smallest, yet what she lacked in height, she made up for in width. Short and round with a bulging nose, she seemed to be the leader of the trio.

  “They’re the ones who are going to do what you couldn’t. They’re going to locate those creatures for me once and for all.”

  Savage studied them more intently. The women wore dark shawls over their heads. His vision adjusted to the murkiness and he made out features on the two taller women, one bone thin, the other not so thin. Scorn cut crevices across their foreheads, frown lines forming shadows down their cheeks. Sickly eyes in deep sockets sprinkled by thick, gray, bristly brows creased and lowered at the sight of him.

  He shivered, trying to chase away a disturbing sensation. Davos alone left him feeling empty inside. Together, with these foul women, the effect was bleaker than he thought possible. The short one held up a small dagger and chanted in some unfamiliar language. The others joined her, their words barely a murmur, though somehow powerful enough for him to feel a twinge in his stomach.

  “What are they!” he demanded, his insides seething with the peculiar feeling. “Tell me, Davos!”

  Davos laughed softly. “You needn’t worry yourself,” he gestured to the women. “My followers won’t hurt you or your men. The only spells they’ll cast are ones to locate those vexing little beasts.”

  “Spells!” Savage’s skin prickled. “Witches! That’s what they are! They’re witches, aren’t they!”

  “Very good, Savage. It took you that long to figure it out?”

  “But, but…if they’re witches, then what are you?”

  Davos lost his smile. The women fell silent. Water trickled over stone somewhere, the faint sound of an echoing droplet slinking to the floor. Savage had always tried not to look Davos in the eyes. They scared him. Completely pale with almost no pupils, they were unnatural and he knew it. However, Davos forced him into a deep, enduring stare. His eyes seemed to split down the middle, a black, vertical line becoming thicker and thicker until what formerly was all white became total darkness. Two bottomless pits.

  “You want to know what I am?”

  The women resumed chanting, this time faster, louder.

  Davos let half of his mouth rise in a partial grin. “I’ll show you what I am!”

  Savage stumbled when he saw Davos’ hair begin to come alive. The ends of his long, thin, dark dreadlocks twisted and whipped into a frenzy—hissing and clicking and grinding. Savage watched closer and stepped back again.
The tufts of hair were actual living beings with large mouths and razor sharp fangs. His mind raced, knowing he’d seen the strange creatures before. Then it hit him. They were the same serpents and gargoyles he’d seen in that huge bath. He held his breath, hoping that would keep the things from noticing him. Not a chance. They looked at Savage directly, standing on end while their dim color spread all the way to Davos’ feet. Then his skull divided and his whole body split apart, separating into long bands. Dozens of them.

  They twitched and twisted. Wings extended from their sides, flapping violently until each took flight, a tempest of darkness swirling above Savage. The witches began chanting again, raising their short, curved blades. Their incantations became a fever pitch. They seemed on the verge of ecstasy, as if seeing the transformation gave them energy, or pleasure, or both.

  “What have I gotten myself into!” Savage covered himself. Sharp talons tussled with his hair, the mass of black, flying serpents swarming him. Over the fluttering of hundreds of pairs of wings, over the relentless caterwauling of the witches, Savage heard thunderous laughter. He knew it wasn’t coming from some external source. There was no echo off the slimy stone walls, no resonant vibration in his chest. Somehow Davos, as he’d done before, was talking to him without words, connected to his mind.

  “You have no idea, Savage,” Davos laughed again, so loud it forced him to cover his ears, though that didn’t help. It was inside his head. “No idea at all.”

  He breathed deep and put his hands to his side. The winged snakes circled close. The wind from their tails whisked against his face. But they didn’t touch him. Not yet. A half inch closer and he would have been shredded by hundreds of sharp claws and thick, bony scales. Yet they remained at a safe distance.

  Realizing he wasn’t going to be killed, he posed a question.

  “So what do we do next?”

  “WE don’t do anything. YOU are to wait until I summon you again. Despite your failings, I still have much use for you, Savage. The time has come, though, to fight fire with fire. My witches will lead me to the Tanakee. And when they do, I’ll be calling for you. So go back to your compound and wait. And don’t screw anything else up in the meantime, you got that?”

  Savage nodded repeatedly. “Yeah, yeah. Yes sir, thank you sir. I won’t let you down this time. I swear.”

  The flying creatures broke formation and gathered in a mass in front of him, melding into one, creating the human guise Savage recognized.

  “Good, Savage. Good,” Davos held out his hand. The winged beasts fused, forging fingertips which appeared to be covered by leather gloves. Savage now knew they weren’t gloves at all, and it wasn’t really a hand—just an illusion. Same with the thing’s flawless skin. Savage felt the compulsion to bow, just as the witches were. They stood with their heads low, their long hoods shrouding their features, repeating the same chant over and over.

  Nagas, Nagas, Nagas.

  “I still have faith in you, my human servant,” Davos’ voice was impassive. “Now go. Wait until I beckon you. Then we shall have our triumph.”

  THIRTY-ONE

  JACK DIDN’T THINK it was possible for them to eat the entire turkey in one sitting. It helped having Pud around. Surprisingly, all the Tanakee had large appetites, but Pud was hands down the most gluttonous. It also helped that Teresa’s cooking tasted delicious (even if it was a magic spell).

  “Eat up,” Teresa examined the bird, its carcass picked nearly clean. “I’ve got much more where that came from.”

  “No, no. This was quite enough,” Liz dabbed her lips with a cloth napkin. “I want to thank you, though. It’s nice to not cook for a change. Hate taking the kids to fast-food, you know. And their father’s not around to help, but you already knew that, right?”

  Teresa chewed and swallowed. “You two are just going through a rough patch, that’s all. Every marriage has one or two.”

  Liz laughed. “Yeah. Rough patch. That’s what this is.”

  “Amelia!” Jack stood. His friend had started shaking. Her eyes rolled back. He touched her shoulder. “Are you okay!”

  “Is she choking?” Liz got up and raced to the girl.

  Amelia’s trembling began to die down and she returned to normal.

  “Jack,” she breathed heavily, clutching the single feather hanging from her necklace.

  “What? What is it?”

  “We’ve got to get out of this house. We’ve got to go. Now.”

  Ayita stood on her chair. “I sense it, too. They’re coming.”

  “Who? Who’s coming?” Jack begged.

  Amelia jumped to her feet. “No time. We have to go.”

  “Everybody, get into the van,” Teresa suggested.

  “It’s too late for that,” Ayita said.

  “She’s right,” agreed Amelia. “That road’s the only way in or out. We can’t take it. We have to find a place to hide.”

  Teresa brightened. “I know! Everyone, follow me!”

  She led them out the back door, down a flight of stairs, and across her large backyard to where the forest grew dense. She stopped at a mass of thickets and reached into the wall of tangled vines to pull open a hidden door. Inside, the space was larger than it seemed, its walls lined with rows and rows of even more books.

  “It’s okay. Just a little shed I use for storage. No one will find you in here.”

  “What about you?” Amelia held her hand.

  “Don’t worry about me. You just stay in here. All of you. That goes double for you guys,” she gestured to the Tanakee. “You don’t so much as poke your heads out, you got that?”

  They nodded. Except Cheyton. He refused to join them in the cabin.

  “What are we doing? Why are we hiding in here? Let’s just go!”

  “Cheyton, get in here!” Enola demanded.

  “You guys are making a big mistake. Trusting humans. Big mistake.”

  “Just get in here, please.”

  He paused. Jack knew he wanted to run. His bond with Enola was too strong. He plodded into the small hut and found a lonely place to sit in the corner. Enola snuggled next to him.

  Teresa closed the wooden door and covered the structure with bushes again. She put her finger to her mouth, whispered, “Shhh!” then tiptoed across the yard and up the back steps. She paused at the door, peering down at them. She smiled, and even at the distance Jack saw her wink. It didn’t make him feel any better.

  In the center of the room, a cozy sofa awaited. Liz relented, plopping down in a heap.

  She yawned. “I’m so exhausted I can’t think.”

  “So am I,” stretching, Lily joined her mother on the loveseat.

  Soon, everyone had a comfortable place to sit. Enola and Cheyton huddled together. Pud snuggled on the couch between Lily and Liz. Takota sat on Jack’s lap, while Ayita rested on Amelia’s. They watched out a small window, anticipating the arrival of the unknown.

  “Wake me up in ten minutes, okay,” Liz sounded half asleep already. Lily seemed out of it, also.

  JACK ZIPPED UP HIS COAT and studied his view of Teresa’s home. He saw her driveway, the front porch, one whole side, and the back steps. Not perfect, but a good vantage point. They waited in the growing dark, listening to a chorus of frogs croaking in the distance. Takota felt heavy in Jack’s lap. Much heavier than he looked. He glanced down and noticed the little fellow snoozing, a slight half-growl, half-whine gurgling in his throat.

  “Is he snoring?” Amelia asked.

  Jack nodded, revealing a grin.

  “I think she’s asleep, too,” she gestured toward Ayita.

  “Must’ve been all the excitement,” he said.

  “And the turkey.”

  They giggled, careful not to wake anyone.

  “Amelia, what did you see exactly?” he whispered. “Who’s coming?”

  She turned. “I-I can’t say for sure. I just knew if we stayed in that house, we’d be in a lot of trouble.”

  “What about Teresa? Isn’t
she in danger?”

  She reached under her sweater and ran a finger across the feather on her choker. “I can’t tell. It’s not clear right now.”

  He asked, “Why do you touch that feather? Does it give you some sort of power?”

  “I don’t know,” she held it higher. Chocolate-colored on one half, snowy on the other, it seemed to catch what little light remained in the day. “I’d like to think so. It was given to me directly by a Bald Eagle, you know.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Really. A Bald Eagle flew over me and this fell into my lap. Did you know some Native Americans consider eagle feathers sacred?”

  “Is that what makes it magical?” Jack inquired.

  She smiled. “I don’t know. It does seem ever since I’ve had this, my abilities have gotten sharper. I just wish I could control them.”

  He paused, considering his next question.

  “Is that the real reason why your family had to move here? Were you having problems with your clairvoyance? Did people harass you for being different?”

  Her smile vanished. She blinked twice. Then she spoke while turning away. “No. Of course not. My dad’s in the Navy. We move a lot because he keeps getting stationed all over the place.”

  “But, there aren’t any Naval bases anywhere near here,” he pressed. “Are you sure it didn’t have something to do with your…abilities?”

  She didn’t answer. All of the sudden he felt he’d stepped across an invisible line.

  “Hey,” he tried to repair the damage. “I feel the same way about my imagination. Sometimes I wish it would just stop.”

  She wouldn’t remove her eyes from the window. “You should never wish that. That’s what makes you unique. You’ll see. Your imagination will save us all, Jack James. Don’t you ever forget that.”

  He shook his head. “If that were true then I’d be able to dream up a way to get us out of this mess.”

  She looked down.

  “What? What is it?” he asked. “Something’s wrong.”

  “It’s just that…” she kept her gaze averted. “What I told you before, the other night, about you being a part of history and all that.”