Jack James and the Tribe of the Teddy Bear (12 page)

TWELVE

TAKOTA FOLLOWED CHEYTON, though at a much slower pace. He wasn’t interested in racing. So many other thoughts were already running through his mind. Cheyton had said something that raised all kinds of questions. Why this sudden ability to use Eteea? Did it have anything to do with Savage and the experiments they were doing on him at the lab? And what about that boy, Jack? Why such a strange, powerful connection with him?

CRASH!

Something hit him square in the back, sending him careening in midair.

BAM!

He landed flat on the floor, his legs tangled in a knot with someone else’s.

“Wha…what was that?” he realized he was wrapped in a twisted heap with Pud and a bunch of cold metal.

“Ha! Pud hit you!” Ayita rode past them on a shiny contraption. “That hadta hurt!”

“It wasn’t my fault,” Pud picked himself off the floor. “He was right in the middle of the track,” he glared at Takota. “Didn’t you hear me yellin’?”

“All right, Pud. It was nobody’s fault,” Enola skidded her machine to a stop. “He didn’t know any better, that’s all.”

“Well, he made me lose my lead,” Pud seemed determined to get his wheels upright again. “I can’t let her beat me this time!”

He threw himself onto the narrow seat, pushed with his feet and sped off, screaming madly at Ayita.

“They have so much fun on these,” Enola chuckled.

“What do you call those things?” Takota examined her silver machine.

“A bicycle.”

“Bicycle, yeah,” he nodded. “I saw some humans on those today. Only the ones they rode were a lot bigger.”

“I know, it’s weird,” she agreed. “They have bigger ones here, too. Then they have these tiny ones. I can’t imagine a human riding one of these, though, even a child. It’s as if they built them especially for us Tanakee.”

She got off and tilted the little bicycle toward him.

“Here, you wanna try?”

Takota didn’t want to be teased in case he happened to be terrible at it.

“No, thanks.”

“Go on. Try it,” Cheyton rolled up on his own mini-cycle. “It’s not that hard. For someone with such a natural command of Eteea like you, it should be a snap.”

Takota took a step back and waved his hands, grayish-brown fur swishing between his fingers. “Really, no. I’ve never…”

Ayita came out of nowhere, powering her bike sideways while keeping it parallel to the floor. She kicked her foot and the cycle slid toward the nervous group. At the last second she flexed her left leg, straightened her right and stopped with a
SCREECH!

“Hey!” she seemed unconcerned about the momentary terror she’d caused. “Get off the track, will ya?”

“No, no, no!” Pud appeared at the end of the aisle, peddling intensely. “You’re not gonna cheat this—hello! What have we here?”

“Takota hasn’t ridden a bicycle before,” Enola explained. “So we need to help teach him.”

“All right! Another loser to eat my dust!” Pud rejoiced.

“Wait a second,” objected Takota. “I’m not riding that thing.”

“Pfft!” Ayita sputtered. “I knew it.”

“Yeah, what a wimp,” Pud chuckled.

“I’m not a wimp!” Takota snapped. “I just don’t feel like it right now, okay?”

“Don’t feel like it, or scared? Which is it?” Ayita sneered.

“Chicken,
brock, brock
!” teased Pud.

“Okay, okay,” Enola attempted to calm the waters. “We shouldn’t try and force him. If he’s too scared then, uh, I mean…”

“That does it,” Takota huffed. Angrily, he took that bike by the seat, threw his foot over the metal frame, and stretched his legs to reach the pedals. He felt for the handlebars with confidence and, instead, found himself flailing at air.

“Ha! He’s backward!” Pud exploded into hysterics, joined by Ayita and Cheyton. The only one not making fun was Enola. She helped him get pointed in the proper direction.

She said, “Don’t worry about them. Just push off and pedal. You can do it.”

Just push off and pedal
, he thought.
Okay. I’m pushing. I’m pedaling! I’m doing it! I’m riding!

One, two, three shaky rotations of the pedals and it appeared to the entire world he was already an expert.

“Would you look at that! He’s a natural!” Pud proclaimed. “Go, Potato, Go!”

Takota angled right instead of left, putting his bike on a path into an area with racks and racks of clothes. Probably to a human it wouldn’t have seemed daunting. To a Tanakee it was akin to navigating a canyon maze. Luckily, the walls of this particular canyon were soft. Attempting a sharp turn around a stack of socks, he overcompensated. He lost his balance and twisted out of control. Then the bike stopped. He didn’t. The force sent him over the handlebars against a wall, burying him in an avalanche of little pajamas.

“Are you all right!” Enola sounded worried.

“Takota, say something!” Cheyton was getting close.

Embarrassed, Takota waited under the mountain of pinks and purples and allowed himself to be dug out by his rescuers.

“Speak to me! Where are you?” Enola tossed aside garment after garment until she had him excavated entirely.

“Are you okay? Can you move?” she asked.

“Yes,” he blushed. “I’m fine.”

“Wow, cool!” Pud rode a wheelie past them. “He just made up a new game! The obstacle course!”

Despite some initial objections from Pud and Ayita, they all pitched in and helped clean Takota’s crash scene. They scrutinized, straightened, refolded and rehung each item until the entire section appeared exactly as before.

That’s how things were done around there. If someone made a mess, they cleaned it up. When they ate something, they made sure it wouldn’t be noticed. And when they used something, such as a bicycle, they insisted it be placed in the precise spot where they’d found it.

It was their strategy of survival in that place, encapsulated by the world of humans, living every second of the day under constant threat of discovery and capture. And the games, the competitions, the goofing off allowed them an outlet to deal with such stress. Sure, the complete trappings of a luxurious and carefree lifestyle were there. Winmart was a vast, climate controlled Garden of Eden with food prepared and packaged for them. But at what cost? Not only were they putting themselves at great risk by spending so much time so close to people, it also threatened the entire Tanakee race.

THIRTEEN

 “WHAT DO YOU MEAN you’re still working on the O/A?” Liz was red-faced. “How much longer are you going to torture your family? Look around, Ben. We’re in an apartment! The house is in foreclosure! We’re broke!”

“Hey, princess!” Ben set down his black flapover briefcase and scooped Lily into his arms. She touched the whimsical yellow stars and comets on his midnight blue necktie. “How’s my little Lilipad, huh?”

“Don’t ignore me,” Liz didn’t let her daughter speak. “I need answers!”

“Not in front of the kids, Liz, please,” he kissed Lily’s cheek then put her on her own feet again. She clung to his leg.

“Since when do you care about the children?” Liz ranted.

“You look nice, honey,” he tried a different tactic, pointing at her fitted plaid shirt and skinny jeans. “New outfit? Thumbs up! Right, kids?”

“Don’t try to change the subject, Ben. Your invention, that’s all you care about. You nearly killed your children, your own children!”

“Jack, my boy!” he returned to not listening. “How’s my little genius?”

He took his progeny by the shoulders, beaming.

“Jack, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”

“Oh, yeah. Dad, this is Amelia Klein. Amelia, this is my dad, Ben James.”

“A pleasure, a pleasure,” he shook her hand with vigor. “Hey, Amelia. If you’re smart, you’ll stay good friends with this Jack character. Did I mention he’s a genius?”

She narrowed her eyes. “A genius, huh?”

“You’ve got it,” Ben clapped his hands once. “And I’m not saying that just because he’s my son, either. He truly has an incredible mind. Superior creativity and intellect, a combination even I don’t possess.”

“Ben, knock it off. I mean it,” Liz warned. “You’re putting too many ideas into that boy’s head. He’s stressed out enough already.”

“Oh, honey,” he hobbled to her with Lily attached to his jeans. “It was his breakthrough that’s taken the project to a whole new level. Without him, the O/A would still be the size of a microwave from the seventies. Now that it’s portable, the operator can fully utilize its omnidimensional energy absorption capabilities.

Amelia spoke up. “Omnidimensional energy absorption? How does it work?”

He jolted his cool blue stare toward the girl. “Ah! A budding scientist, I see! Essentially, it’s quite simple. Currently it’s common knowledge in quantum mechanics that other dimensions exist, countless other dimensions, actually. And in each of those dimensions is another Amelia Klein, another Jack James…”

“And another Lily James, too, Daddy?”

He rubbed her curls. “And another Lilipad,” he again addressed Amelia. “I call them dimensional duplicates. Remember, there are infinite parallel universes, and therefore infinite duplicates. Now imagine having a device that combines the energy, the power of all of your dimensional duplicates into one.”

Amelia gasped.

“That’s right, unlimited energy,” Ben smiled wide, broadening his narrow features.

“Unlimited energy to do what, Mr. James?” she asked.

FOURTEEN

UNDER A LARGE SIGN that read, ‘
Garden Center,’
and
surrounded by all sorts of plants, both hanging and sitting in pots, the Tanakee settled down to eat.

Each of them had their personal favorite: Cheyton ate beef ribs, Enola preferred greens and berries, Pud devoured slice after slice of pizza, and Ayita enjoyed a little bit of everything from bananas to fish to something called lasagna. It was a strange sight, watching a bunch of Tanakee eating human food. The pepperoni smelled good. It all smelled good. It was fool’s gold, though. It couldn’t last. He knew their fortune was an illusion, and he needed to bring his new friends back to reality.

“How’d you guys get here, anyway?” he asked after swallowing a handful of
M&M’s
. Ayita, Enola and Pud froze in mid-chew, eyes on Cheyton. He kept gnawing.

“Aren’t you going to tell him?” Enola squeaked.

“Why should I?” Cheyton had his mouth full. “He’s not telling us everything. Are you, Takota?”

“I, uh,” he stammered.

“We’re descendants of the Lost Tribes,” Enola revealed.

“The Lost Tribes?” Takota swallowed hard.

“So, you’ve heard of us?” Cheyton asked.

“Of course. Everybody’s heard of the Lost Tribes, but I always thought it was a myth. We all did. It’s supposed to be a legend.”

“Ha!” Ayita erupted. “Tells you what
you
know. We’re the greatest, bravest Tanakee warriors ever.”

“That’s what the legend says,” agreed Takota. “Great warriors. It’s been recounted for so long, passed down for so many generations, the story itself has become part of us. Students are told from an early age about how great warriors from the Lost Tribes are, one day, supposed to return to Wind Whisper Woods.”

He glanced at each of them.

“Are
you
the great warriors?”

Pud laughed. A hunk of undigested crust must have lodged in his windpipe. He coughed and hacked into his mouth, chewed silently, then gulped.

“We don’t know why we were chosen to go, actually,” admitted Enola. “We just knew it was our duty. You see, we know the legend, too. All of our lives, we’ve been told about Wind Whisper Woods and how representatives from the Lost Tribes will one day embark to find our ancestral home. We had games where young ones competed against each other in the hopes they would be chosen for the first expedition. Some of us took these contests more seriously than others…”

Pud interrupted her with an immense belch. Enola continued as if she’d expected the outburst.

“We all knew what it meant to be chosen, though I never thought in a million years it would be us.”

“Hey, speak for yourself,” Pud dissented.

“Well, you guys, maybe,” she shrugged. “Cheyton for sure. But not me. I don’t know why I was chosen.”

“I’ll tell you why,” Ayita got up, approached Enola with outstretched arms, and embraced her sideways. “Because you’re the sweetest, nicest Tanakee ever, that’s why.”

“That’s great,” Takota said. “But it still doesn’t tell me how you got here.”

Again the group fell silent, motionless, waiting for Cheyton to respond.

“You should know. You’ve been out there,” he sighed, focused off into nowhere. “It can’t be any better now.”

“Better than what?” Takota was strangely fascinated.

Cheyton dropped his head, unable to bear its weight.

“It was terrible,” Enola continued for him. “From the very first minute of our endeavor, it seemed humans were everywhere trying to capture us. They were right on top of us, as if they knew we were coming. We didn’t know what to do. We weren’t ready for anything like it.”

She paused and studied Cheyton, then Ayita, then Pud. Wordlessly, they each gave her permission to continue.

“They chased us so far from the Lost Tribes. So far. But we had to run. We didn’t want to lead them to the others. We felt it was the most important thing to do. If we were going to be caught, at least we wouldn’t show them where to find any more of our kind. So we ran. They starved us. They made us split up several times. Once, we truly thought we’d lost Pud.”

Enola gave Pud an endearing gaze. He blushed and covered his face.

“But we didn’t give up. We found him, well Ayita and Cheyton found him. Then we found this place. It was perfect, especially after being on the run for so long, eating rotten scraps out of garbage cans, sleeping in a different cold, wet place each night, not knowing when we’d finally be caught.”

“But you can’t stay forever,” Takota stated. “Don’t you think you’ll eventually get caught in here, too?”

“Humans tend to maintain their illusions,” answered Enola. “They see what they want to see, and block out what doesn’t fit into their reality. It’s particularly true here, in this store. All we have to do is play the dead game and pretend to be teddy bears. Even if somebody did spot one of us in action, it wouldn’t be discussed. You witnessed it the other morning. We do have our moments. But they always seem to have a good ending. This, indeed, is the safest place to be right now. You’ll love it here with us. You’ll see.”

If only it was that simple, he thought. To live out their days in that supermarket, playfully enjoying the menu by night and pretending to be toys by day. What a splendid, carefree time that would be. He could get lost in the idea.

His focus drifted to Ayita. She wore a wide-eyed glare as if she knew what he was thinking.

“Movie time! Movie time!” Pud alerted them suddenly. “Tonight’s my pick, too! Come on!”

Pud prodded them to follow. Takota’s heart began to beat faster when he noticed where they were going. Carelessly, he’d let Pud lead them to the place called,
Electronics
, where those scary, flat boxes were waiting. Most of them were dark, all except for that one—the haunted one.

“What’s the matter?” Pud leaned to one side.

“Don’t go over there!” he warned. “Those things, it’s some kind of evil magic or something!”

“What’re you talkin’ about?” Pud continued walking. Takota ran to stop him.

“Didn’t you hear me? Those things are evil!”

Ayita scoffed. “Are you really that dense? They’re just TVs.”

“Ayita, be nice,” Enola waved her finger.

“But I saw something inside that one,” Takota cried. “It was another Tanakee, like me. Only it wasn’t me.”

“It was too you,” Pud laughed. “It’s not evil magic, see?” he jumped onto the counter and snatched a small device, pointing it at Takota.

“Don’t!” Takota held up his hands, turning away.

Pud laughed louder. “It’s not gonna hurt you, silly! It’s a camera!”

Takota peeked through his fingers. “A camera? Like those things on the ceiling?”

“The same as looking into a still pond,” Enola said. “It’s truly quite ingenious. Don’t be afraid, Takota. See?” she stood in front of Pud and waved her hands, then pointed at the glowing box. He let his eyes meander to her ghostly twin. He shuddered and leapt behind a cardboard display, peering out slowly.

“Who is that?” he examined the image. “It looks like you, Enola.”

“It
is
me,” she smiled, then turned to the camera. The image in the TV stared at him. “See? I’m coming for you!” she laughed when Takota hid again. Then she stopped. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Come on. Come over here.”

He shook his head.

She shifted her weight. “Don’t you trust me?”

He nodded.

“Then get over here.”

Staring at his feet, he sulked to her side. She put her arm around him and pointed to the TV. “See? It’s me and you. It’s not magic. Just technology we can’t explain. That’s all magic really is.”

He blinked, staring at his own face. “You’re right. It’s like looking into a still pond. That
is
me,” he waved, this time not so scared about seeing himself wave back.