by K. E. Rocha
“There’s no way I’m reconsidering my answers,” he muttered as he examined the progress he’d made in untying the knot. If Margo thought leaving him tied in a cage surrounded by bears was going to make him change his mind and give her the information she wanted, she was very wrong. Working on the knot a few more seconds, it finally came free, and Spencer shoved the rope into the pocket of his jeans. Might need that again later.
Spencer knew the cage was going to be incredibly hard to break out of with its smooth, impossible-to-climb walls. Bears were smart—able to pick locks and outsmart zookeepers—and Margo would know that as well as Spencer did. She wasn’t going to take any chances. Still, Spencer stood up and slowly walked around the perimeter of his cage, going over every inch trying to find a way out. Maybe he could break apart the wooden chair and use its pieces as a lever? He got down on his hands and knees, examining the place where the door met the floor. There wasn’t so much as a millimeter of space there. Spencer stood back up.
A few feet away, sitting close to their shared wall, sat the bear that Margo had used to scare him. The bear was calm now as it stared back at Spencer. It was as though a completely different animal had hurled itself against the plexiglass only minutes before, shaking the entire cage with its fury. Wait! That’s it!
When the bear had thrown itself against the wall, the door had shifted in the track that held it in place. Spencer was sure of it. And now, after examining the rest of the cage, he was also sure that the door was the only possible way out.
“If I hit it directly . . .” Spencer whispered as he studied the door, “maybe I can throw it out of its track enough to wedge something into the open space, then I can lever it open from there . . .” It’s the best plan I’ve got. Spencer lifted the chair up over his head and smashed it down onto the ground.
Crack! One of the legs broke and hung precariously from the chair. Spencer lifted the chair again. Smash! With the second smash of the chair on the cement floor, the broken leg came off. Spencer grabbed the shaft of wood and turned back to the door.
Without hesitating, Spencer ran as fast as he could toward the plexiglass. He took a last huge step, then leaped into the air, slamming his left shoulder into the transparent surface. With his right hand, he jammed the chair leg at the place where the door met the track. The door shook, vibrating against him on impact, but no space opened. The chair leg hit the plexiglass and bounced off.
He’d just have to try again. Shaking off his first attempt, Spencer ran, jumped, and crashed into the plexiglass door. It shifted a little, but no space opened.
Rubbing his now-sore shoulder, Spencer dropped to the floor to sit beside the onlooking bear in the next cage. He leaned his back up against the wall between them, wishing he could talk to this bear like he could talk to Kate.
Then it hit him. Maybe he could!
Spencer spun around to face the transparent wall. He might not be strong enough to move the door, but he hadn’t been strong enough to move the boulder, either, and he’d found a way. This was no different! Spencer may not have the muscles of a bear, but there were bears on either side of him, and each of their cages was attached to the one he sat trapped in now. He’d already seen the bear beside him move the door as it attacked the plexiglass wall in fury; if only he could get the bear to do it again . . . Quickly, Spencer reviewed the words he knew in Rescue Ragayo. Friend seemed like a good place to start.
Spencer locked eyes with the bear. “Anbranda,” he growled. The bear’s ears twitched in Spencer’s direction. He tried again, more loudly this time. “Anbranda!” The bear lifted its head, ears alert, to stare at Spencer. “Anbranda!”
“Anbranda.” The reply came from behind him. Spencer shot to his feet. The bear in the cage on the other side of Spencer’s was on its hind legs now, front paws pressed against the plexiglass. “Anbranda,” it growled again.
Just as Spencer opened his mouth to reply, another “anbranda” sounded behind him. Spencer turned to find the first bear on its hind legs, front paws pressed to the glass.
“Yes!” he shouted as “anbranda” echoed around him. Like dominoes, the message was carried from cage to cage. Spencer counted. There were sixteen cages altogether. Spencer’s cage was in one of the two corners farthest from the steel door at the front of the room, putting it close to the middle of the U-shaped row. Fourteen bears stood facing him from cages around the room, ready to respond. Only Ro Ro and her cubs hadn’t answered. They were huddled against one another in their cage, quiet and still.
Spencer looked into the eyes of the bear who’d been ordered to attack him. If he could just make it understand, the rest of the bears would follow. Determinedly, Spencer strode up to the door of his cage, then mimed sneaking out through a crack in the side. He returned to the bear and mimed attacking the wall, rapidly shaking and flailing his arms to show that the whole cage shook when he did it. “Please work,” he muttered, repeating the actions a second time. The bear watched intently, paws still pressed against the plexiglass.
Spencer grabbed the broken chair leg and returned to the door. He pointed to the bear. “Hachuk!” He yelled the command to attack. The bear hesitated, then leaned back and pounded the wall between his cage and Spencer’s with its front paws. Spencer nodded excitedly, waving the nearby bears to do the same. “Hachuk!” Four more bears followed suit.
Spencer stood ready to jam the chair leg into the space that would open if the door was knocked out of its track, but the door on Spencer’s cage didn’t move as much as he’d hoped. The bears weren’t hitting the walls hard enough. They needed to go faster, to get more momentum. Spencer returned to the wall between him and the first bear. He ran and slammed into it himself, then looked at the bears around him. “Gal!” he called out. They watched him attentively; one bobbed its head in a nod.
“Hachuk!” he yelled, running back to the door. Eight bears dropped to all fours, backed up, and launched themselves at their cage walls. The crashes thundered through the room. The cages shook. Excitedly, Spencer jammed the chair leg into the space that the bears’ attacks opened, but the door was way too heavy. Once the attacks stopped, the door slipped right back into place, snapping the broken chair leg in half.
Spencer grabbed the rest of the chair. He wasn’t giving up now. If all of the bears hit their cage walls at once, the door might slide out enough to jam the entire chair into the crack . . . “Hachuk!” he yelled again. This time, Spencer added the bears’ word for now, “Ko!”
BAM!
The impact echoed around the room as all fourteen bears attacked their walls at almost exactly the same time. Everything shook violently.
Spencer’s cage door was jarred out of place. He managed to shove the chair into the opening. As the door began to close on the chair, the wood started to splinter. It wouldn’t hold for long. Before the shaking of plexiglass had quieted, Spencer leaped over the chair, hurtling himself out of his cage.
“Yes!” Spencer cheered as a deafening roar erupted from the bears around him. He took off running. Thanks to Ivan, he knew exactly where to go next.
Right beside the steel door at the front of the room, there was a silver panel covered in buttons. Two rows of numbered buttons lined the sides, and a bigger button sat in the middle with #1–#16 etched in its center. It must control all of the cage doors! Spencer thought, smacking his hand down on the biggest button. All the cage doors began to rise. Some screeched and clattered, having been shaken out of place, but soon, every cage was open. The bears clambered out, blocking Spencer’s view of Ro Ro and the cubs. He pushed into the crowd of massive animals to find them.
Bang! The door to the room slammed open.
“Spencer PLAIN!” Margo’s grating voice howled.
Spencer had gotten this far. There was no way he was going back into a cage, and there was no way he was leaving without the bears he’d come for. Ignoring the chaos around him, he scrambled through the sea of newly freed animals, heading for Ro Ro and the cubs.
/> Margo hurriedly shut the door and stood at the front of the room, screeching demands as she fumbled in her lab coat pockets. The bears jostled her, knocking her off balance. Ivan tried to muscle his way toward Spencer, menacing prod in hand, but every time he got past one bear, another moved to block his way.
“Do something, you oaf! Get him!” Margo shrieked from the doorway at Ivan, who looked puny compared to the bears surrounding him.
The bears were starting to paw the ground, huffing and growling. They paced and butted into one another in confusion. They reared up and snarled, but most importantly, they bought Spencer enough time to get to Ro Ro.
Ro Ro was standing just inside the open door of her cage, her stance lopsided and awkward as she favored her injured leg. Her cubs were only barely visible, tucked behind their mother’s back. The floor around them was spattered with blood. Spencer raced toward Ro Ro, but immediately she growled, warning him not to come any closer.
Spencer stopped. He hadn’t expected to have to convince her to be rescued. Quickly, he looked over his shoulder. Margo was finally pulling the remote control out of her pocket. Ivan was getting closer, clearing a path through the bears with the threatening prod. We’re running out of time!
“Anbranda,” he growled, looking Ro Ro in the eye. “Anbranda,” he repeated, careful to get all of the sounds right. Urgently, he added, “Shala.” He promised her safety. “Shala.” He motioned for her to leave the cage. She understood. He knew she did. But still she hesitated.
Suddenly, the chaos that had been swirling around Spencer quieted. He turned. The bears were dropping to all fours, padding back to their cages.
“Wait! Come back!” Spencer yelled.
“Thought you were so smart, didn’t you, Plain?” Margo waved the remote control. “Get him, Ivan!” she growled. Ivan lurched forward, his path finally clear of bears.
Spencer leaped backward. But before his feet had even hit the ground, a great dark mass flew into the place he’d just been standing. Ro Ro snarled viciously, rising up on her hind legs to tower over Ivan. Baring her teeth, she stopped him in his tracks.
Spencer ducked into Ro Ro’s open cage. “Shala,” he murmured to the cubs. They responded to Spencer’s Rescue Ragayo right away, allowing him to propel them out of the cage and position them safely behind their mother. He had to get them out.
Ivan tried to duck around Ro Ro, extending a muscled arm to grab Spencer. Ro Ro roared, swung out her enormous paw, and knocked Ivan off his feet. Margo started toward them, furiously pounding on the control. But the control had no effect on Ro Ro, who continued to snarl and snap at her. Margo stopped.
“What, Lalicki? Afraid of bears?” Spencer taunted, stepping out from behind Ro Ro. Margo’s muddy-brown eyes were full of fury. If they didn’t escape now, there was no telling what she might do to any of them, but the only way they were going to be able to make their exit was if Margo and Ivan couldn’t.
Using himself as bait, Spencer tried to tempt Margo and Ivan toward him, toward Ro Ro’s open cage. “Some football player you are, Ivan. Is that what you call a tackle?” It worked. Ivan swore and lunged at Spencer again. Again Ro Ro knocked him off his feet. This time, her blow sent the oaf sprawling into Ro Ro’s own cage.
Margo crept forward, pointing the control at Ro Ro, pounding on the buttons.
No! Spencer sprinted straight at Margo.
“Ivan! Stop him!” she hollered as Spencer launched himself at her. Ivan couldn’t do anything to help his sister. He couldn’t get past Ro Ro, who was swinging at him, keeping him inside the cage. Spencer didn’t hurtle into Margo, but instead slammed into her outstretched arms, snatching the remote out of her hands. Spinning in midair in a move that definitely would’ve gotten a cheer in a Cougars game, he threw the control as hard as he could into the cage with Ivan.
Crack! The remote hit the cement floor and broke into pieces. Margo screamed as she dove for the device.
Ro Ro snarled and growled, forcing Ivan deeper into the cage. Margo ran in behind them, ducking and weaving, finally scrambling on all fours, desperate to get the remote. Spencer sprinted to the buttons beside the steel door.
“Ro Ro!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. He spun around. She had to move now. “Grauk! Ko!” The bear backed up, swinging her paws and roaring at Margo and Ivan, keeping them back. The moment she started to cross the threshold of the cage, he hit the button to close the plexiglass door.
“No!” Margo shrieked. She pushed her brother toward the quickly dropping door and the furious bear beyond. “Ivan, stop them!” It did no good. Ro Ro blocked his attempts to escape as the door slid into place, locking Margo and Ivan inside.
“You will PAY FOR THIS!” Margo screamed from inside of Ro Ro’s cage.
There wasn’t any time to waste. As soon as Margo and Ivan got out—and Spencer had no doubt Grady’s goons would show up to free them soon—they’d be ruthless. Still, Spencer looked around the room miserably. How could he leave the rest of the bears locked back in their cages?
“I will find you, Plain!” Margo shrieked. “You can count on that! Your parents are done for!”
Adrenaline shot through Spencer’s veins. They had to go now. Ro Ro and her cubs lumbered over, anxiously trying to escape Margo’s menacing voice. Spencer glanced around the room one last time. I’ll come back for you, he wanted to say, but he didn’t have the words. “Anbranda!” he finally shouted as he pulled open the steel door. “Thank you!”
Following Ro Ro and the cubs into the gray room with the elevator, Spencer realized that Ro Ro was still limping. The wounds on her neck and hind leg were bleeding again after her fight with Ivan, and she left a wet trail of blood on the cement floor as she nudged her cubs along. Spencer needed to get her out quickly. She needed medical attention. He raced to the elevator doors, slapping the button on the wall to open them.
Once they’d piled onto the platform, Spencer hit the button on the wall of the elevator shaft and the doors slid shut. But the elevator wasn’t moving. He pressed the button again. The doors opened. No . . . He pressed it a third time. “Come on!” he shouted, startling the cubs. The doors closed again. The platform wasn’t going anywhere. How did Margo make it move before? Spencer frantically searched his memory. The remote control. It must control everything in the building, but now it was lying busted in the cage.
The only way out was up. He knew that much. But if they couldn’t move the platform . . . He looked up into the elevator’s shaft. He could just make out the doors at the very top.
“Grauk?” Ro Ro growled softly. She knew as well as he did that they needed to go.
Spencer swallowed hard and grasped his jade bear. They’d have to climb to safety. He didn’t see any other way. He took a deep breath, then pointed up, to the doors at the top of the shaft.
“Shala,” he said firmly. Releasing the jade bear, Spencer gripped the cable beside him with both hands, then climbed a few feet up. He dropped back down to the platform, looking to Ro Ro to make sure that she understood. One of the cubs wrapped itself around the cable without hesitating and started to climb it as easily as if it were a slender tree in the forest.
Spencer watched, relieved that he’d made himself clear, but Ro Ro huffed and shook her head. The cub stopped climbing and quickly made its way back down.
No? Spencer told her again that safety was above them. The bear protested with another shake of her head, then dropped down onto the platform on her belly. Spencer knelt next to her. She was wheezing a little. Blood was oozing from her neck, and she turned around to lick the wound on her hind leg.
It’s too much for her, Spencer realized. After the horrible bear baying and everything she’d just done to protect him and the cubs from Margo and Ivan, Ro Ro didn’t have it in her to climb the cable. Whimpering, the cubs settled in around their mother.
We need help. Spencer looked up into the elevator shaft again. They needed someone who could carry her up. They needed B.D. . . . He stood. “Shala. A
nbranda,” he said, pointing up again. Ro Ro watched him intently. He pointed at the cubs. “Grauk. Ko.”
Ro Ro nuzzled each of her cubs. They clung to her tightly. Spencer looked away. She had to know they weren’t leaving her here. It’s not good-bye, he wanted to tell them.
“Shala. Anbranda,” he promised, miming someone climbing down the shaft to scoop her up and bring her to safety. Ro Ro nodded weakly. To the cubs, she growled a string of Ragayo Spencer didn’t understand. She nudged them toward him. They scrambled back to her. She pushed them again, nipping them gently but firmly. This time, when Spencer grabbed one of the two cables and pulled it toward the cubs, the cubs hopped onto the cable one after the other and started to climb.
Spencer looked back to Ro Ro. “Shala,” he promised one last time, then turned to the cable and hoisted himself up. He wrapped his arms and legs around it. Here we go. Spencer looked at the cubs scooting effortlessly up the cable. He started to climb.
Spencer climbed quickly at first, trying to reach the top as fast as possible, but the higher he went, the slower he climbed. Thoughts of falling started to creep into his head. They clouded his vision. His arms started to shake. Keep going, he commanded himself. Keep going. Don’t think about—
Then it happened. Just like it always did. The jolt of panic. The terrifying flash of images: metal, blood, leaves whipping past his face as he fell, crashing through branches, and something else. Spencer saw something now that he’d never seen before in the familiar attack of images: Yude. He wanted to scream. A wave of nausea swept over him.
And then the moment passed.
Spencer clung to the cable, his eyes squeezed shut. Every muscle in his body was tensed. He couldn’t move. He tried to turn his gasps into normal breathing. The thought of plummeting made it impossible. His lungs wouldn’t fill with air.
Now what? he thought, knowing that there was only one answer. The bears needed him. He couldn’t give up. Not this time. He opened his eyes.
