by K. E. Rocha
Evarita squeezed Spencer’s shoulder. “Just wanted to look nice for my son Billy here.” She spoke in a Southern drawl that was surprisingly convincing.
“Billy?” he asked, but she’d already switched into operative mode.
“We need to get moving,” she said, dropping the fake accent. “Grady’s been shifting the schedule around all day. I don’t trust him not to start the bear baying early.”
“Okay, what can you tell us about the setup of the place?” Uncle Mark asked as he led everyone toward the back of the truck.
“He’s running the whole show out of a barn,” Evarita reported. “And he’s got a flea-bag carnival set up outside. Nothing flashy, just some food and a few games and rides for the kids.” She tossed the truck’s keys to Uncle Mark. “I’ve got a bad feeling, Mark. Something’s off. And I mean more off than a bear baying. There’s more there than we realized, I’m sure of it.”
“My parents,” Spencer broke in, holding on to a secret hope that they’d bring the bears and his parents home today. “Are they—?”
“No sign of them yet, my love,” Evarita answered. “But we’ve only just gotten started.” Spencer nodded, trying to hide his disappointment.
Uncle Mark unlocked a padlock at the rear of the truck. He rolled the door up and peered into the cargo space. “Nice.”
Inside the truck was a dusty silver Cadillac, its windows tinted. Spencer’s excitement picked back up. Now that there was a getaway car, this was starting to feel like a real mission.
“All right,” Uncle Mark said, clapping his hands. “Let’s move. Spence, you’re going to ride back here with B.D. We’ll pull off a mile from Grady’s. You and Evarita will drive the Caddy in, and B.D. and I will follow in the truck. Once we’re on the premises, you’re Billy, Evarita is your mom, and you don’t know me. Until I tell you otherwise, the plan stays the same. You’re to locate the cubs and stay close to them. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Good. Up you go.”
“But—” Spencer didn’t want to ride in the back. He wouldn’t be able to see anything back there.
Uncle Mark shot him a look. B.D. was already lumbering up into the back of the truck.
“Okay, okay.” Spencer climbed in after the bear.
Spencer strode around the side of the Cadillac to the driver’s seat. If he had to ride in the back of the truck, he could at least pretend he was driving the getaway car. Mark rolled the truck door down. In the darkened cargo space, Spencer was surprised to hear B.D. open one of the doors to the Cadillac’s backseat. He turned on the interior lights.
“You didn’t think I was going to stand in the back of the truck the whole way, did you?” said the bear as he maneuvered himself through the door that, after taking a second look, Spencer realized was customized to be big enough for a bear. The back of the car had also been widened, and all that was behind the front seat was a big open space. The Cadillac’s backseat had been removed so that its large trunk opened right into the rest of the car, creating one huge space. B.D. stretched out on his back, his legs extending deep into the trunk.
From his position in the driver’s seat, Spencer felt the truck start to move, then accelerate. He glanced into the rearview mirror. Ha! I’m a bear chauffeur. Cheng and Ramona are never going to believe this.
Spencer moved over to the passenger’s seat of the Cadillac, making room for Evarita to slide in behind the wheel. The truck had stopped a minute ago on the side of a dirt road, and Uncle Mark had rolled the back door of the truck up to let Evarita hop inside.
“Want me to back it out?” Uncle Mark called into the truck. “This thing’s a little bigger than your Prius . . .” he added playfully.
“I’m sure I can handle it.” Evarita started the car. With her eyes on the rearview mirror, she assessed the short ramp that extended out of the truck and down to the dirt road.
“All right, easy does it.” Uncle Mark stepped aside and motioned for Evarita to start backing down the ramp. Evarita winked at Spencer. Without hesitating, she hit the gas and reversed smoothly down the ramp at a speed that Uncle Mark clearly wasn’t too pleased with.
“I said easy, Evarita!”
“Unnecessary showmanship,” B.D. grumbled from the backseat. Once the car had come to a complete stop, the bear waited for Uncle Mark’s signal that the coast was clear, then pushed open one of the Cadillac’s oversized doors to maneuver his way out of the car, and climbed up the ramp into the truck.
“See you at Grady’s,” Uncle Mark said, nodding to Evarita and Spencer as he rolled down the back door of the truck.
There’s no turning back now! Spencer thought excitedly.
Evarita swung the Cadillac onto the dirt road and took off, leaving Uncle Mark and B.D. with the truck, preparing to follow. It wasn’t long before she turned onto a paved road, narrowly missing a wooden arrow with Grady’s Grandstand painted on it. “This thing’s like a boat,” she muttered, then accelerated past another sign directing them to Grady’s.
When they passed a third wooden arrow pointing them on to Grady’s, Evarita sighed dramatically. “Heaven forbid anyone miss the place.” A few yards later, they came to a fourth sign, and the biggest yet: DON’T MISS THE PLACE! Grady’s Grandstand is RIGHT HERE! it read, pointing them into a parking lot. They’d arrived.
They pulled into a dirt clearing lined with muddy trucks and other old cars. Evarita parked at the end of the front row of cars, just barely maneuvering the Cadillac into a space between a red pickup truck and the trees lining the clearing. Spencer could see that she’d chosen the spot at the far side of the parking lot for a reason. The huge barn was directly in front of them, so it would be easy to pull the Cadillac up behind it from here. With the carnival sprawling out on the opposite side of the barn, everyone would be occupied elsewhere when the time came to get Ro Ro and her cubs into the car. Or so he hoped.
“Have a hankerin’ for a corn dog, Billy?” Evarita trilled in her most authentic Southern accent. She hopped out of the car without waiting for an answer, grabbing a straw purse from under the driver’s seat as she went.
Evarita and Spencer fell in behind a family of four, following them around the side of the huge barn to find a carnival in full swing. Stands with snacks and games were crowded into the clearing that posed as carnival grounds, and picnic tables were peppered throughout. A few small, rickety buildings were mixed in among the disorderly booths, their doors open, inviting people to enter, and a handful of dangerously old-looking rides stood in a cluster on the outskirts of the carnival. Mom would never let me ride that . . . Spencer thought, spotting a miniature Ferris wheel that seemed to stutter and lurch as it revolved. Its highest point didn’t even rise above the barn.
The family ahead of Spencer and Evarita stopped at a wooden table at the carnival’s entrance.
“That’ll be six dollars for the kiddos, and ten for you folks,” said the man behind the table. He was wearing a faded denim shirt with Grady’s Grandstand embroidered over the pocket and a navy baseball cap with the same logo. Spencer examined the man’s face. That has to be him . . . He wished he could ask Evarita, or know for sure somehow.
“When’s the big show, Grady?” Bingo. The father ahead of them passed Jay Grady his money.
“Not too long now,” Grady answered, dropping the money into a green metal cashbox. “I’m running it early today. Dogs are in a lather.” He snapped the cashbox shut. “Fixin’ to chew their way right out of the crates if I don’t let ’em at a bear soon.” The couple thanked him and went into the carnival, shooing their children off to play.
Evarita stepped up to pay Grady. “What time did you say that show’s starting?” she asked sweetly.
“’Bout half an hour from now, little lady.” He shot her a toothy grin, ignoring Spencer completely.
“Looking forward to it,” Evarita called over her shoulder as she ushered Spencer toward the carnival.
“It’s about time. Where the heck you been? I
gotta get the show started!” Grady said from behind them a moment later. Spencer glanced back. A slouching boy was taking Grady’s place at the ticket table. He’s getting ready to start the bear baying . . . Not a good sign for Ro Ro. Evarita pursed her lips as Grady passed them and disappeared into the barn. Apparently she was thinking the same thing.
“You go on ahead, Billy,” she said distractedly. “I’m gonna see if I can save myself a seat for the show.”
“Okay, Mom. I’m going to find the petting zoo,” Spencer answered in character. He looked beyond Evarita to the big, open barn doors. There was a makeshift grandstand made of mismatched, unstable-looking bleachers inside the building, but he couldn’t make out anything else.
He scanned the carnival. Finally, he saw a sign strung between two of the small buildings: Petting Zoo. Spencer navigated his way through games, food stands, and clusters of people only to find that the “petting zoo” wasn’t much of a petting zoo at all.
After passing under the sign, he followed a dirt path to two outdoor pens. In one pen, a couple of piglets were lying on their bellies in a slant of sunlight, and in the other, a cow and a calf shared the space with three scrawny goats. None of the animals showed any interest in the families trying to tempt them closer with hay or handfuls of pellets. More importantly, none of the baby animals were bear cubs.
Spencer doubled back to take a closer look at the buildings on either side of the sign. The one on the left was outfitted as a miniature fun house, but the one on the right had a sign that said Grizzlee Den. He’d been so intent on checking the petting zoo that he’d missed it completely.
He went up the three sagging stairs and through the door, surprised that more people weren’t going in and out. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the dim interior of the room, Spencer realized why nobody was paying any attention to the Grizzlee Den. It was empty.
The building was just one room, a converted chicken coop by the looks of it, and half of it was caged off. Spencer stepped up to the cage. The cage stank. He held his breath. There were droppings all over the damp floor, and aside from the door, there was only one window to let any air in. A wave of anger washed over Spencer at the thought of Ro Ro’s cubs being kept in such a terrible place. The space inside the cage was way too small for two bears, even if they were cubs. In one corner was a wooden crate with a hole cut in its side, just big enough that a cub might be able to crawl in for relief from pestering onlookers.
“I’d better look,” he muttered, hoping to find some sort of clue inside the cage. The door to the empty cage was unlocked. Spencer stepped inside. Wrinkling his nose at the smell, he did his best to avoid the droppings and wet spots.
Just then, the sound of people arguing drifted in through the window. Spencer froze. Nobody can see me in here! Standing in the bear cage was way too suspicious! The angry voices approached the open door of the Grizzlee Den. There was only one option. Spencer dove into the crate in the corner. With all of his muscles tensed, he landed as soundlessly as he could and curled into a ball to press his entire body away from the crate’s opening and out of sight. He clapped a hand over his nose to block out the terrible smell just as heavy footsteps fell on the stairs outside. The door of the Grizzlee Den opened, then slammed shut.
They’re here . . . Spencer listened as the argument flared up a few feet away. He recognized one of the voices as Jay Grady’s. The other voice was a woman’s.
“That bear’s a dud,” Grady said. “She’s got no fight in her. Minute those dogs come running, she falls flat on the ground. Won’t get up on her hind legs. Won’t do a thing to protect herself. I got a crowd of people out there paid good money to see this show. You promised me—”
“I didn’t promise you anything,” the woman’s shrill voice cut him off.
“You said she’d had the procedure,” Grady spat back.
“She has had the procedure. But there have been cases—not many—” the woman continued, raising her raspy voice above Grady’s attempts to interrupt. “If the cubs are nearby, sometimes the implant doesn’t work on the sow.”
“I don’t care about any sow, just that no-fight bear you sold me!”
“Sow means mother bear, you dolt. Just do what I told you, and you’ll get the fight you want.”
Grady mumbled something that Spencer couldn’t make out, before his voice hardened again. “It better work, or I’m coming after you for my cash.”
“Just do what I said, Grady. My boss doesn’t do refunds.”
Grady spouted some final complaints, but Spencer focused on the sound of their footsteps heading back toward the door. They were leaving the Grizzlee Den. When he heard the door swing open and stomps on the stairs outside, Spencer slipped out of the crate as quickly as he could. He needed to get a glimpse of that woman.
Brushing himself off, he stole across the dropping-strewn floor of the Grizzlee Den to the open doorway, where he inhaled the fresh air. Jay Grady was already halfway across the carnival grounds, gesturing in annoyance to the woman beside him as he approached the barn. The woman’s back was turned, but Spencer didn’t need to see her face to know who she was. It was the straggly greenish hair poking out from under an orange hat that told him.
It was Margo Lalicki.
Margo Lalicki is here. Margo Lalicki is HERE. Spencer paced inside the Grizzlee Den.
“Calm. Down,” he commanded himself. It was already too late to follow Margo. Not like that was a good idea anyway. His job was to handle the cubs, not the creepy woman who just so happened to also be on the premises. But the cubs were nowhere to be found. And Uncle Mark and Evarita didn’t know that Margo was here . . . He needed to tell them right away.
Intent on finding his uncle, Spencer left the Grizzlee Den, nearly tripping over two little kids on their way in.
“No bears?” they asked, but Spencer didn’t answer. Whatever Grady and Margo had planned for Ro Ro didn’t sound good. He needed to act fast.
The atmosphere of the carnival had changed since he’d entered the Grizzlee Den. Kids were racing around unattended from game to game, clutching hot dogs or boxes of popcorn. A few moms seemed to be chaperoning whole herds of children, but the majority of the adults had either gone inside the barn or were making their way toward the barn’s open doors.
The show hadn’t started yet, but it looked like it was about to. Spencer did a quick lap around the carnival’s small grounds, scanning the crowd for either Uncle Mark or Evarita. He made his way over to the barn. If he could just slip in behind a group of adults, maybe no one would notice—
Suddenly, a boy around Spencer’s age was thrust out of the barn’s entrance, accompanied by a loud, gruff “No kids! Out!” from someone inside.
“You didn’t have to push me. Nobody said there was a bouncer.” The boy turned to glare at whoever was attached to the muscular arm that had removed him from the barn. The bouncer stepped out into the sunshine, huge, muscled arms crossed. A football helmet gleamed on his head. Ivan!
Spencer backed up and walked a few paces away, then darted around the side of the barn. He pressed his back up against the weathered wood. First Margo, now Ivan. Spencer reached for the jade bear. He needed to make a plan.
Carefully, he peered around the edge of the barn. Ivan still stood outside the open doors to the grandstand. Spencer looked at the giant’s scariest feature: the football helmet. It wasn’t the same one he’d worn when he’d first chased Spencer. This one was red. Did this creep have a different helmet for every day of the week? Ivan turned, listening to someone, then nodded. He rolled the massive barn doors closed, shutting the wide entrance to the grandstand and stationing himself outside a regular door that Spencer hadn’t noticed before: an entrance to the barn that wouldn’t require moving the bigger doors. Spencer eyed this new option. If only Ivan wasn’t guarding it . . .
He needed to find another way in. He had to find Uncle Mark and Evarita. Releasing the jade bear, he started down the long side of the barn, searching for anothe
r door or a window. He saw some windows, but they were way too high to be helpful. He continued around to the back, studying every inch, when he came to a brass handle. A door!
The door was cut right into the side of the barn, hinged so that it could swing open, and it looked identical to the door Ivan was guarding. Spencer glanced farther down the wall. The back of the barn mirrored the front, complete with its own set of wide rolling doors. They wouldn’t be any help, though: Rolling them open would get the attention of everyone inside. He turned back to the smaller door, pressing his ear up against it.
“We got us some of the best hunting dogs in the state.” Jay Grady’s voice rumbled out over the hum of the crowd in the creaky grandstand.
Spencer tried the handle, but the door was locked. He scanned the ground for anything he might use as a lever to pry the door open with . . . A stick! He grabbed for something that was half buried in the dirt. It didn’t come up. In fact, it didn’t budge at all.
“That’s weird,” Spencer muttered, crouching to get a better look. Wait a minute . . . He pinched a piece of what he’d thought was bark on a stick and pulled. This is electrical tape, he realized, unwinding the dirty black tape to reveal a tightly packed bundle of wires. He quickly dug around it and discovered three more bundles. After studying the dismantled computer at home, Spencer knew enough about wiring to know that this was definitely not right. This is enough wiring to power all of Bearhaven! What could Jay Grady possibly need all this for? And why is he hiding it?
Spencer examined the place where the wires disappeared into the ground. It was obvious that someone had tried to bury the four bundles but hadn’t dug quite deep enough. A little ridge of dirt gave them away. Spencer followed the ridge as if it were a trail, and was led into the nearby trees. A few steps more and he found himself standing in front of two silver doors on the side of a hill that he hadn’t been able to see from the barn. Spencer had spent enough time in Bearhaven to know that even though the doors were aboveground, whatever they led to must stretch out far below, cut into the earth and hidden from view.
