Jack James and the Tribe of the Teddy Bear (14 page)

SEVENTEEN

THE MAY STORM clouds had cleared, allowing a tiny fissure of sunlight to peak through the atmosphere and warm Savage’s pale cheeks. He enjoyed getting out into the field. It had been so long, he’d almost forgotten how fresh the air could be. Then he thought about his cashmere jacket getting dirty and slid into the van again, opting for the artificial environment over the natural one.

“Status?” he said into the microphone, straightening his woven silk tie.

“Red Team in place.”

“Blue Team, check.”

“Green Team here. We’re a ‘go.’”

“Outstanding,” he studied the screens, each showing him video of what his teams were doing in real-time. “Okay, stick to the game plan, people.”

He felt sending squads of covert agents into Winmart dressed as civilians to scour the store for the Tanakee was a waste of time. If it was up to him, he would have overturned everything not nailed down to find that creature. And the things that were nailed down, he would have ripped from the floorboards. This was how his client wanted it, though, so this was the way it had to go. Nobody said he had to like it.

“Red Team, whatcha got?”

“We’re in transit, currently between the deli and produce. All’s quiet.”

“Blue Team, talk to me.”

“We’re in the garden department. There’s an area here that closely resembles the creature’s native habitat. Lots of places for it to hide, too. So far, nothing, though.”

“All right. What about you, Green Team?”

“In the stockroom. The good news is our disguises are working great.”

“And the bad news?”

“There’s no sign of the target.”

“Okay, then. Keep looking. I want you people to search every inch of that place twice. The target’s got to be in there somewhere.”

He’d assembled his best field operatives, the cream of the crop, and teamed them into three groups of two. Red Team comprised of a man and woman, married, late 30s. He wanted them to fit in with the rural shopping crowd, so they each wore blue jeans, mountain boots and t-shirts imprinted with slogans which captured the local attitude. The man’s shirt read,
‘Fish Fear Me,’
and on the woman’s was the phrase,
‘This is what I wear when I just don’t care.’

For Green Team, he went with a different approach. Since Willow was near Portland, he had the man wear a splotchy beard and the woman a nose ring. They also had thrift store clothes on and, of course, the obligatory cheek pins and neck tattoos.

The men in Blue Team were disguised as potato chip guys to infiltrate the store from its heart, and search behind the scenes in the employee lounge, the warehouse area, restrooms, heating and air conditioning ducts—anywhere and everywhere the other two teams weren’t able to reach.

“Red Team entering Electronics, we haven’t seen any signs of...oh my God! Wait, everybody!”

“What! What is it? Do you see something?”

“Yes! It’s amazing!”

Finally! He felt the weight of the world slide off his shoulders. Davos would be happy, thankfully, and Savage would, once and for all, be able to return to his real work instead of chasing that little primate.

“Go Red Team.”

“Blu-ray’s are three ninety-nine apiece. It’s incredible, I’m getting some!”

“Three ninety-nine, huh?”
responded the woman from Green Team.
“That’s pretty good, but usually the selection on those is pretty poor.”

“Focus, people! Focus!” Savage palmed his face and rubbed until he saw stars. “Remember why we’re here.”

“We’ll come back. What time do we get off?”

“RED TEAM!”

“Y-yes sir, sorry sir.”

He scanned the video screens in disgust, praying for a miracle.

“Green Team, hold on. Stop right there,” his heart raced at what he thought he saw. “Back up to where you just were.”

“Yes, sir. We were just, uh, down here in the restrooms.”

“No, not that far,” he directed. “Go back. Along the wall.”

“The wall? How’s it gonna hide on the wall?”

“Just do it!”

“Uh, okay, uh. Here’s the wall. There’s a bulletin board.”

“The bulletin board, that’s it!”

He leaned close to the monitor, squinting at the images of handwritten notes announcing seasoned firewood for sale by the cord, free kittens to a good home, and a 4H bake sale with a raffle for a used car. Somewhere he’d seen an image that stirred up a sense of recognition.

“Slower,” he held his breath. The operative panned the camera.

“This?”
the agent paused on a photo of a lost dog.

“Keep going. A little more—there!”

“Hey! It’s him! Mr. Savage, do you see this?”

“Yes. Yes I do,” he lowered his shoulders and allowed his respiration to return to normal. There was no doubt. With one hundred percent certainty, they’d found a picture of their Tanakee. Same thick, gray brown fur, same shaggy mane, same tiny, humanoid hands and feet, and, most prominent of all, same large, reddish-amber eyes with areas of vibrant green, like spring leaves, just below them. He hadn’t forgotten for one second how hypnotic the little guy’s stare was in an unguarded moment.

He read the announcement. “‘Child’s teddy bear. Found on May 18
^th
at Winmart. If this item belongs to you, please claim it in the Lost and Found at the end of aisle eight.’”

“Sir, this is Red Team. We’re close to aisle eight. Do you want us to make the grab now?”

“No, stand down for a second,” he reclined to collect his thoughts. “So it’s pretending to be a teddy bear. Ingenious little…”

“Sir, awaiting instructions.”

EIGHTEEN

TAKOTA LEANED BACK on the pile of dusty old coats, enjoying an exaggerated yawn and a series of lazy stretches. Not even the pair of smelly sneakers spoiled his relaxed mood, though he wondered why he still had to be sleeping in the Lost and Found. It was Pud’s idea. He said the humans would be expecting him to be there. Of course he was correct, so there Takota sat, with only some malodorous shoes and a worn out umbrella to give him company.

A part of him felt happy to be stuck in a supermarket, who knew how far from home, surrounded by humans, and on the run from a madman bent on enslaving his species. Strange, but even in the middle of such tragedy he had a sense of joy, even exhilaration, the same feeling he got whenever Jack was around. When he was with the boy something stirred inside, a drive to protect, a mandate from Eteea herself to keep him from harm at all costs.

That euphoric sensation seemed to become stronger whenever Jack was near, and he felt it now, a warm tingle inside. It was no surprise, then, when he heard the young human’s voice.

“He’s not here,” Jack sounded close.

“Are you sure? Maybe he’s buried beneath something,” answered a girl. It sounded like Jack’s friend Amelia.

Takota remained lifeless while human hands rummaged through the unorganized shelves of forgotten clothes. He expected Jack to discover him at any minute, and readied himself for the reunion. Instead of being unearthed, though, more things were piled on top of him. The searchers had missed him. Takota decided to help by scooting toward the edge of the shelf and letting a leg dangle over the side.

“Dad, what are we gonna do? We can’t let—wait! What’s that? It’s him!”

The boy yanked him from the shelf and hoisted him into the air. Takota’s stomach dropped.

Whoa! Careful there, kid
, he thought, though he didn’t dare say anything aloud. Talking to Jack when they were all alone was one thing. Now there were two other people with him, Amelia and a man Takota hadn’t seen before. He appeared harmless enough—tall and thin with a hint of a beard and the kindest gray-blue eyes. His rugged handsomeness reminded Takota of Savage, only pleasant instead of sinister. Amelia seemed nice, too. Still, he felt compelled to play the dead game.

“Hi, little fella,” Jack placed him on the counter. “I want to introduce you to my father, Ben James.”

“Uh, hi,” the man waved uneasily.

“And you’ve already met Amelia.”

“Hi-eeee,” Amelia took Takota’s left hand in hers and pumped it up and down.

“Listen,” Jack had the tone of an old friend. “I know you’re nervous about revealing yourself to people, but you’ve got to believe me. You can trust them, okay?”

He searched left to right, scanning for some unseen intruder.

“There’s nobody else around,” he assured Takota. “No one but me, my dad and my best friend. It’s perfectly safe. So please, please say something, anything.”

Takota didn’t budge.

“Uh, Jack?” mumbled Ben. “Maybe…maybe he’s sleeping. Why don’t we come back later?”

“You don’t believe me either, do you?”

“No, no, no,” Ben placed his hand on his son’s shoulder. “It’s not that at all, really. I want to believe you, I do. If there’s anyone in this world who should believe you, it’s me. But last night your mother said some things that got to me. She made me realize maybe I’ve been doing more harm than good to this family. I’ve been selfishly pursuing my dream and it might be hurting you the most.”

“Dad, I’m fine, honestly. Yeah, I can’t stand you being away, and losing our house sucks. But that doesn’t mean
I’m
losing it.”

“Now, Jack,” Ben lowered his voice. “Nobody says you’re losing it.”

“Mr. James, if you mean that, then show your son you can give him the benefit of the doubt. Look at this,” Amelia pointed at Takota.

Ben glanced down, giving him a brief onceover. “Well, okay. That’s it, then. It’s a teddy bear. Realistic, but fake for sure.”

“Dad, you didn’t even look at him,” Jack protested.

“Of course I did.”

Amelia insisted with a glare. “Just look at him.”

Ben breathed deep, put on a pair of narrow glasses he acquired from his shirt pocket, and performed a head-to-toe examination. When finished, he focused into infinity. Takota was positive he hadn’t given Ben the eyecatcher, yet it sure seemed he’d been hypnotized by something.

“Dad,” Jack shook his father’s arm. “Dad, what’s wrong?”

“Mr. James, are you all right?” Amelia rushed to his side.

“This is incredible,” Ben muttered. “This is…”

“This is
it
,” interrupted a young clerk, his wiry red hair fighting to break out from under a green Winmart visor. Behind him were two people, a man and a woman, both in short sleeve shirts and faded blue jeans.

“Tim, what are you doing?” Jack cried. The redhead snatched Takota away from Ben and placed him in the woman’s waiting arms.

“My job, that’s what,” Tim stuck up his nose. He had so many freckles they’d merged into one large splotch. “We finally found the actual owners of this teddy bear,” he asked the woman. “That’s the one, right?”

Takota felt a sense of revulsion as she rotated him over and over, casting a scrutinizing eye on his every feature.

“Sure looks the same,” she said. “Little Charlie’s gonna just freak when he sees we found his precious comfy wumfy. That’s what he calls it, you know, his comfy wumfy.”

“Yes, yes,” her alleged husband hinted toward the exit. “That’s nice, dear. Now let’s go. We don’t want to make Charlie wait any longer, do we?”

“I don’t understand,” Jack moaned. “Where did these people come from? How did they find out about the Tanak—I mean the teddy bear in the first place?”

“This,” Tim handed him a sheet of paper. Takota didn’t know what it was, but he saw it displayed a prominent image of, of
him!

“What! Who did this!” Jack demanded.

“I did,” Dillon stepped to the Lost and Found counter. “That thing isn’t yours, Jack. It belongs to someone else.”

Jack scowled. “Dillon! You have no idea what you’ve done!”

“Calm down, son. It’s okay,” Ben tried to hold Jack’s shoulders.

“No, it’s not okay,” the boy writhed free. “Tim, you can’t just let these people take it without at least asking them some questions first!”

“Watch me,” Tim seemed unmoved. “Now, ma’am. Would you like a bag for the bear?”

“That would be great, thank you,” the woman smiled.

“Here you go,” he gave her a large, brown paper sack with the word,
Winmart
, printed in black on the side.

“Wait,” Jack begged. “This Charlie of yours. How old is he?”

“Five,” blurted the woman.

“Six,” stated the man at the same time.

The two turned to each other, smiling nervously.

“He’s five and a half,” the man clarified with a chuckle. “Almost six.”

“Okay,” Jack sounded unimpressed. “When did Charlie get the teddy bear?”

“Christmas,” the woman said.

“His birthday,” the man once again contradicted his ‘wife.’ She glared at him.

He laughed. “His birthday is so close to Christmas I get them mixed up sometimes.”

“Yeah? Well, what’s his birthday, then?” Amelia asked.

“All right, all right,” Tim broke it up. “That’s enough, you guys.”

Dillon jeered. “Give it up, Jack. And what’s your loser dad doin’ here, anyway? Isn’t he, like, banned from town or something? If not he should be. So should you. Just grow up and give it up.”