Teddycats (9 page)

EVEN DURING UNCERTAIN
times like these, it was hard for Bill to resist the excitement of the jungle. He anxiously led the way as they approached the Olingo den. Familiar landmarks warmed his heart until he remembered the purpose of his visit. On the plus side, Felix's limp seemed to be improving. Whether that was due to the heat in the jungle or the stretch of exertion, Bill had no idea.

Bill was supposed to stay with the group, but he wanted to make sure the Olingos saw him first. They knew him. He didn't want them taken by surprise, alarmed by the sight of a jaguar and a one-eyed Teddycat at their door, asking for help.

The Olingo den was always quiet and a bit messy, kind of like what Bill imagined a king vulture nest to look like. The den consisted of a stand of shabby trees, awkwardly gnawed into a beehive of warrens and tunnels. Higher up in the tree crowns the Olingos stored
their scant supplies and few valuables. It's possible this tendency toward disorganization was connected both to the Olingos' historical sense of impending doom
and
the nasty stereotypes spouted by Teddycats. But Bill could see that the Olingos understood their position in the jungle food chain better than almost anybody, Teddycats included, and if the Teddycats didn't see their reflection in the fate of the Olingos, well, they weren't looking hard enough.

The Olingos were very industrious, especially given their relative physical weakness—and lack of powerful claws. This is what Bill had wanted to say back at the powwow, if he hadn't been too nervous to cause a stir. Just because they didn't have a stately refuge like Cloud Kingdom to call home didn't mean they wouldn't know what to do with one, or that they wouldn't keep it tidy and humming and happy with ritual and community.

Out of habit, Bill led the group right up to Luke's usual nest, only to experience a near heart attack when Luke himself popped out of the scrub.

“Hi, Bill!”

Bill skidded to a stop. His brain felt slanted. Was he seeing things? He hadn't slept for days, the stress was real enough to taste metallic in his mouth, and the circumstances were bizarre enough to play tricks on anyone.

“Luke?” he whispered, wide-eyed. “Is that you?”

“That's right, I'm back, baby!” Luke did a little spin and flip.

He seemed to be in good spirits and physically intact.

“For a minute there I thought I'd lost my mind,” Bill said. “What happened to you? Tell me everything!”

“Wait a minute,” said Luke, peering down the path behind Bill. “Who's that with you?”

“That's our group,” Bill said. “From Cloud Kingdom. We came to find you. Well, we came to tell the Olingos that we were
committed
to finding you. And Elena and Jack. But wait, how did you escape the humans? When I left they had you wrapped up like root mash in a palm leaf.”

“Yeah, thanks for that, by the way,” said Luke.

Just as Bill was about to reply, Felix, Omar, and Diego approached.

“Who's this?” Diego said.

“It's Luke!” Felix said.

“Hello, Luke,” Omar said coolly. “I thought you were with the humans.”

“I was!” Luke said.

They stood there in the jungle's humid static for a moment, Luke just grinning until even Felix began to tap his paw impatiently.

“So spit it out, already!” Bill said.

“Look, I'll tell you everything. But can you at least come inside the den first? This isn't Cloud Kingdom; you can't be so loud.”

Luke looked around, clearly thinking about predators, and Bill and Felix took the hint.

“He's right,” said Felix. “Let's go on inside.”

It took a little while, but eventually everyone's frayed nerves were soothed, diplomatic relations were repaired, and the Selva family welcomed the visitors into their section of the den. Between the trees, there was a leafy, shaded patch where the air was cooler and the ground was soft. Diego and Felix both slumped down with a sigh, while Bill and Omar looked on with jealousy as Luke and his family stuffed their faces with the sweetmoss and figs.

“So the humans . . .” Bill prompted, after the Olingos had finished chewing and thoroughly licking their paws.

“Right, the humans,” Luke said. A belch ripped out of his mouth, impressively loud considering how tiny his gut was. “So,” he said, addressing the entire group, “I was out with Bill, helping him look for Elena, when, next thing I know, I'm dangling from a tree!”

Luke's mother, Doris, was a pudgy but powerfully built Olingo. She shook her paw and squealed at the very mention of the human's trap.

“After the human gave up looking for Bill, it cut me down and carried me to its den. It was a real nasty place.”

Now Bill's ears were perked. “Do you remember how to get there?” he asked.

“Bill,” Felix scolded, “let him speak.”

“Sure,” Luke said to Bill, after offering Felix a little smile. “It's not too far. But . . . I don't know if you'd
want to go. Like I said, it's nasty. Dark and loud, with a fire and lots of smoke. Oh, I saw another Teddycat—”

“You did?” Omar interrupted, speaking for the first time since being inside the Olingo den.

“I did. But it wasn't Elena . . .” Luke said, and Omar's face fell.

“Must've been Jack, then,” Diego said.

“How . . . how is he?” Bill ventured.

Luke looked away. When he turned back, his eyes were welled up with tears. “I'm sorry. I couldn't really see much. But . . .” He stopped, then looked toward Doris, who gave him a quiet nod of encouragement. “It sounded like they were hurting him.”

Diego was silent. Felix placed a paw on his shoulder.

“What about Elena?” Bill asked quietly.

“I didn't see any sign of her,” Luke said. “I wasn't there long. I saw the smoke, the fire. I heard the humans shouting. I heard . . . Jack. And then, suddenly, I was free.”

“Free!” hollered Freddy, Luke's father.

“Wait, slow down,” said Diego. “Slow down. You escaped?”

“Sorry, I got a little ahead of myself. When I first got there, the human threw me into another cage. All of a sudden, a super-bright light was shining right in my eyes, practically blinded me! I balled up in the corner, but even though I couldn't see anything I guess the humans could still see me, because then the human
started prodding me pretty good. I only saw its face for a second, when the light went away. Its head was huge, with dark eyes and a strong smell.”

“Was it Joe?” Omar asked.

Bill knew it wasn't the time to tell Omar that the Olingos had a different relationship with the humans, that they didn't separate Joe from the others they saw every day below the canopy.

“There's no way he'd know for sure,” said Diego.

“Then what happened, Luke?” Felix asked, and Bill was grateful that he was the one to change the subject.

“Then, after the blinding and the poking, I must have done something to make the human angry, because all of a sudden its face turned red and . . . boy, I thought that was it. I mean, I thought I was a goner. The human reached for me with a grubby paw, and I closed my eyes real hard, wishing I was anywhere but there, but then . . . nothing happened. I heard a big bang overhead, and the cage rattled—like what happens when the earth quakes—and so I opened my eyes, and the cage was open. I took the chance and I ran!”

“That's it?” asked Bill, incredulous.

“That's it. Nothing chased me or anything. In fact, I swore I saw it just sitting there, by that mean, smoky fire, watching me as I scampered off.”

Nobody said a word.

“I'm sorry about your friends,” Luke said. “I don't think there was anything I could have done to help
them. Like I said, I didn't see Elena, and Jack . . . well, I think I was too late.”

“It sounds like you did all you could, Luke,” Felix said quietly. “Thank you.”

Luke looked up at Felix gratefully again.

“That human was probably looking for your claws,” Felix said. “I'll bet that when it saw you didn't have any that look like your friend's here, he let you go.”

Of course
, thought Bill with a sinking heart. The humans thought they'd captured something new. A Teddycat. “You said the human prodded you?” Bill said.

“Yeah,” Luke said.

“Where? Your paws?”

“All over,” said Luke. “But yeah, definitely my paw.”

“I can't stand to think of those no-good crooks messin' with Jack,” said Diego, his gravelly voice sounding somewhat soggy.

“He will be remembered as a great and brave Teddycat,” said Felix.

“What good's all that?” Diego scoffed. “The Elders left him to die.”

“That's why we're here,” said Bill. “That's why we're asking the Olingos for help.”

Doris and Freddy groaned, breaking up the solemnity that had settled over Bill's group. Bill looked at their threadbare fur, streaked with a dull gray, dulled by exhaustion and perpetual terror.

“So now the Teddycats
need
the Olingos,” Doris said. “That's rich.”

Freddy laughed mirthlessly. His dour features were framed by a thin, puffy mane. “Funny how you only come down here when you
need
something.”

Bill instinctively opened his mouth to respond, but then, remembering his follies over the last few days, shut it. He looked to Felix, who nodded encouragingly.

“You're right,” Bill ventured. “About why we're here. We do need your help. And if we don't at least
try
to squash our differences, then we're all in trouble.”

“Oh, please. You see it yourselves,” Freddy said. “They don't want us. They want you. They want your precious
claws
.”

“Ironic, isn't it?” said Doris.

“In case it's news to you, 'lingos,” Diego snarled, “the way to Cloud Kingdom goes right through your dirty little den.”

Doris and Freddy exchanged defiant glances. “Tell you what,” said Freddy, his spine straightening with a crackle. “We'll bring this to our Elders, and they'll take everything said here into consideration. But I'll tell you one thing. It will take a real disaster to bring the Olingos and the Teddycats together again.”

“That disaster is exactly what we're trying to avoid,” said Felix.

Doris scratched behind one of her droopy ears. “Does your little search party represent all of Cloud Kingdom?”

What should they tell them? Too much truth might scare off the Olingos, but they didn't want to mislead them. The Teddycats looked to Felix, who nodded again at Bill.

“You'll talk to your Elders,” Bill said, “and we'll work on ours.”

“Very well,” Freddy said.

“It really is lovely to see you again, Bill,” Doris said. “Now that you're all grown up.”

Bill blushed. He'd always liked Luke's parents. “I'm not that grown up. I'm just trying to make things right.”

“Hard work, isn't it?” Freddy said.

Bill knew Freddy was no stranger to tough stuff. Though Luke's dad wasn't an Elder, it was his job to bury their dead with dignity after attacks. This was considered a high calling, and it was a duty he fulfilled with great reverence.

“Yeah. It feels never-ending,” Bill said.

“Sometimes,” said Freddy.

“But I'm lucky,” Bill said.

His mind leapt to an image of his parents and Maia, huddled in fear against some advancing threat. And just like that, his determination returned anew.

“Lucky?” It was Omar, poking his head out from behind Felix's shadow.

“Yeah, lucky. Because I still have plenty to lose,” Bill said. “Maia taught me that.”

Omar recoiled slightly at the mention of Maia, while Diego nodded proudly.

“We need to find that human den, Luke,” said Felix. “Can you take us there?”

“Hold on a minute,” said Doris, grabbing her son and clutching him to her chest. “You're not going anywhere with our baby. We only just got him back!”

“Classic Teddycat thinking,” Freddy said, shaking his head. “Our kid gets nabbed while risking his scruff on their behalf. Then he escapes by the skin of his tail, and the very next day—no kidding, the very next day—they show up with a jaguar, demanding a guided tour back to the scene of the crime!”

“Unbelievable,” Doris said.

“Well, forget that,” said Freddy. “Luke is staying right here. Where he belongs.”

Luke struggled against his mother's tight embrace.

“He can scratch you a map,” Doris said.

“Stop!” shouted Luke. “I'm going with them!”

“Oh, no you don't!” Doris said.

Luke's scrawny limbs wriggled against her grip. “And after, we can go back to Horizon Cove,” he said. “It still exists!”

“Horizon Cove was razed to the ground,” Freddy said, “all because of
them
. We'll never find our way back—the ravine would have closed up by now.”

“But we can bring it back,” said Luke. “It's still inside of us.”

“Listen to your kid,” said Diego. “He's smart. We need to work together.”

“Don't you dare tell me that,” said Freddy, the anger rushing to his eyes. “I've got scars, too, you know.”

Diego's haunches tightened as Felix stepped between them. Doris finally released Luke, who scrambled free and tried to reclaim some semblance of cool.

“Look,” Doris said quietly. “You've got your claws and your Kingdom up in the clouds. I'm sorry you're having trouble. I am. But you're not taking my son, no matter what he thinks. And that's final.”

“We understand,” Felix said. “Please forgive us.”

“Good luck,” said Freddy, and Bill believed he was sincere. “And thanks for the moss.”