Jack James and the Tribe of the Teddy Bear (34 page)

FORTY-FIVE

AMELIA HELD HER BREATH and pushed with her legs, trying to squeeze a little further behind some rolls of coaxial cable. She’d seen where Ayita had jammed her little body on top of a metal equipment rack. She just hoped no one else spotted her protector hiding up there.

The van was the one and only place for them to run after they’d emerged from the alley with the police hot on their tails. Ayita had noticed it first, the double doors wide open like a welcome sign. Neither of them saw the large
KWTV
on the side, or the reporter and her camera operator standing twenty feet away until it was too late.

“This is Kristy Blades, live on Columbia Street in Willow where a police standoff has just ended. Reports are coming in that Ben James, a local inventor arrested for allegedly attempting to bomb a nearby supermarket, has escaped from jail in a stolen police cruiser with the help of his family.”

A row of screens and monitors dominated one wall of the van. On several of them, Amelia saw the reporter, Kristy, standing in front of a large, black SUV. She couldn’t see the woman’s spirit clothes over the TVs, yet she had a feeling they sparkled the same as her personality.

“Witnesses say Ben James wasn’t in the police car, but his wife, Liz James, was, along with the couple’s six-year-old daughter. Authorities have Mrs. James in custody and are questioning her at this time…”

Amelia’s mood sank. She knew they weren’t in police custody, but in Savage’s hands. Partially, she was aware of it by listening to and trusting her feelings. Mostly, though, she recognized the vehicle behind the TV reporter. It belonged to Savage. She didn’t need ESP to figure that one out.

The reporter continued: “In yet another bizarre twist in what has already proven to be a stranger than fiction story, eye witnesses report seeing a girl and a tiny, furry creature running from the scene. The truly remarkable part? The creature resembles…a teddy bear. That’s right, folks, the police have a tiny teddy bear fugitive loose somewhere on the streets of Willow, Oregon,” the reporter touched her ear and listened. Then she looked into the camera again, puzzled. “Ladies and gentlemen, KWTV Three has yet another exclusive. We have more reports of creature sightings in the area. Let’s go now to Lloyd Lincoln, standing by in the studio.”

The reporter put her hand to her ear again. On another screen in the wall of electronics, a sharp dressed man sitting at an anchor desk lifted his chin to the camera.

“Thank you, Kristy. Yes, the phone lines here at KWTV Three have been lighting up with calls from concerned citizens. Let’s go to one of them, shall we? How about Tom from, where are you, Tom?”

“Uh, am I on?”

“Yes, Tom. You’re live on the air. We understand you and your family saw the creature. Where were you?”

“Uh, in the Cedar Maple neighborhood. Over by Willow Park.”

“Okay, Tom. Can you tell us what you saw?”

“Gosh, Lloyd,” Tom’s heavy breath crackled over the phone. “It was so strange. I mean, it was right there. Right in front of us. I couldn’t hardly believe it.”

Lloyd nodded to the TV audience. “Tom, I know it’s exciting, but can you start from the beginning? Tell us what you were doing. What did you see?”

“Well, we was in the park, me an’ muh grandkids and muh dawg, Dennis. The kids, they was aswingin’ on the swings when ole’ Dennis, he starts goin’ crazy, abarkin’ at some oak tree. That’s when we seen it. Actually, little Wesley, he seen it first. He points up ‘ere in the tree’n shouts, ‘Hey Grandpa!’ Well, I tell you what, I never seen anything like it. This weird little critter sittin’ up ‘ere, eyeballin’ the dog somethin’ fierce. Next thing I knew, the tiny thing just skedaddled. No idea where it went.”

“Tom? Do your best to describe the creature, would you?”

“Sure, but it all went s’fast. It was almost the color of a raccoon crossed with a skunk, kinda black ‘n white ‘n grey, with these weird green spots under its eyes.”

Amelia looked up and found Ayita hidden amid the equipment. She mouthed the word, ‘Cheyton.’ Ayita nodded.

“So you got a good look at it?”

“Yeah, well, you know, the darndest thing. That little guy, he sure was fast. Almost like he plum vanished into thin air. But the kids, they say they got a real good look at it before it scampered off. Said it looked like a, well, they said it was a…”

“A teddy bear?”

“Yeah, right. A teddy bear.” Tom chuckled. “Never woulda’ thought I’d be sayin’ it, but yeah.”

“All right, Tom. Thanks for…”

“I just wanna say it’s out there. The critter people have been talkin’ about. It’s out there. I seen it!”

“Okay, okay,” Lloyd smiled, his straight, white teeth glistening. “Thanks, Tom. Yeah, we know it’s out there. The phone lines are jammed with callers who want to report their sightings. So let’s go now to…who is this?”

“This is Abigail, Abigail Beauregard, and I saw one of those little devils. Came running right through my property with that Ben James character. But it wasn’t the one that last man described. It had green marks below its eyes, all right, but this was all one color, kind of dark orange and dirty, like a muddy sock.”

Amelia and Ayita once again exchanged shrugs, both of them whispering, ‘Pud.’

Lloyd sat straighter. “What? This is news. We’ve got at least two of these things out there. And one was with Ben James? What is going on?”

“I can’t tell you, but I can speculate,” Mrs. Beauregard said. “I think it has something to do with that infernal contraption Ben James built. I’ve heard the man. He keeps prattling on and on about different dimensions. Well, I think he actually did it, broke through right there in Winmart and caused a split between this reality and some other place where teddy bears come to life. That’s my take.”

“Okay,” Lloyd snickered. “Now we’re getting a little out there, don’t you think? I mean creatures from other dimensions? All right, let’s go to the next caller. Hello? What’s your name and where are you?”

“My name’s Donna. I live in North Point,” a woman said over the sounds of excited children in the background.

“Hello, Donna. I hear you saw the creature on your own back porch?”

“That’s right,” she cleared her throat, then it sounded as if she cupped the telephone and yelled at the kids to quiet down. They didn’t. “We’re having a birthday party today, and boy did we just get the scare of a lifetime.”

“Scare? What do you mean?”

“Yeah,” she paused, her breathing stifled. “I’m sorry. We’re just a little freaked out right now.”

“That’s okay, Donna. Tell us what—wait, I’m being told you shot some video and sent us a link.”

“Yeah, I did. I got it on video, yeah.”

“My, the wonders of modern technology. Well, Marty, roll the footage.”

Amelia heard the sound of fast approaching footsteps. The news reporter and cameraman hurried into the van to watch the monitors. The screens showed the blurry, misaligned image of a sliding glass door. A small hand, presumably a child, pulled it open, allowing the wind to catch the yellowish curtain, and exposing a large tree in the backyard.

A girl screamed. The camera zoomed in too far, blackening the screen. Then a flash of something dark, moving fast. More screaming. The camera zoomed out to catch Cheyton darting from behind a recycling bin toward the fence. It seemed he’d heard the children’s cries, and for a brief moment glanced over his shoulder at the camera. His expression didn’t change. Cold. Emotionless. Determined.

The woman holding the camera squealed and squirmed, losing Cheyton in the frame. When she regained the shot, he’d gone. The children continued to wail in hysterics.

The TV screen switched to Lloyd. He sat, glasses in hand, jaw wide. Someone off camera yelled at him. He straightened and cleared his throat.

“Well,” he cleared his throat again. “I-I don’t know what to say…”

“I do,” Kristy’s voice overrode Lloyd’s. “I say we get to North Point right this second.”

The cameraman disagreed. “You heard the boss. We have to get back to the studio, pronto.”

“Hank,” she pointed to the screen. “You saw what I saw. This could be our big chance! This story’s gonna go national, worldwide probably. And we’ll be the ones to break it. Think of it, your footage, seen all over the globe. Every TV station, every cable and satellite news agency, not to mention the internet. Imagine your video going viral. Millions and millions of people seeing your work! This’ll open all kinds of doors for you.”

“And you?”

“Of course. This is the kind of story that makes a career. I say we go for it.”

Hank eyed her up and down. Then he smiled. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

“You won’t regret this, Hank. I mean, what’s the worst they can do?”

“They can fire us.”

She paused, staring at him. “It’s worth it.”

Hank hopped out the back of the van and began stowing away gear, starting with his camera, which he placed on a shelf with several others. Then he busied himself with hanging cable spools while Kristy got into the passenger seat and studied her notes—writing, scribbling, writing some more.

Amelia felt something hit her foot.

“What the..?”

“Huh?” Kristy didn’t pay much attention.

“Who are
you
!”

“What? Who?” Kristy looked up.

Amelia’s stomach shrank. Afraid to move, her eyes drifted to Hank’s. He stood over her, pointing down.

“Her!” he announced.

FORTY-SIX

WHEN THE OFFICER FIRED the stun gun, Ben figured he’d be zapped by fifty-thousand volts of electro-muscular disruption. He saw the barbs fly at him. Too fast for him to dodge out of the way. Too powerful to be stopped.

Yet they did stop. The Taser’s wire tethers froze in midair—crackling, glowing sparklers suspended in time. The officer who’d shot at him seemed stuck in a catatonic state. The other cops stood motionless, too, scowling, pointing their guns.

“What did you do?” Pud hadn’t been affected by the time freeze.

“I-I don’t know. I just asked it to stop the police.”

“Well it stopped them, all right!”

“Yeah,” he turned his machine over, then upright again. “I guess it did. It actually worked.”

“How’d you do it? How’d you get it to work this time?”

Ben blinked rapidly. “It’s funny. I tried what Jack said. I asked it for what I wanted, imagined it, essentially.”

“An imagination machine,” Pud got close and stared at the O/A. “Far out!”

Ben shared his reverence. “Yes. It is, isn’t it? And to think. I invented it.”

Pud patted his belly. “Yeah, well if you can imagine anything and it becomes real, how about some pizza? Pepperoni and Italian salami, please.”

Ben laughed. “I don’t think it works like that.”

“What! Why not?”

“It just doesn’t. I don’t know why it works the way it does. All I can tell you is that it can only be used for good, for helping and protecting.”

“Uh, Ben?”

“And it’s a good thing, too. Because a machine like this shouldn’t be used for selfish reasons.”

“Ben?”

“Just imagine if it could be used for evil. What a nightmare.”

“Ben!”

“It’s a great thing that this can only be used for good. It’s way too powerful to be…”

“BEN!” Pud had to resort to socking him in the thigh.

“Ow! What’s wrong?” he rubbed his leg.

“That!” Pud pointed at the stun gun probes. Still in suspended animation, they lurched forward. First a few millimeters, then a half inch, an inch, then two.

“Oh shoot! Oh shoot!” Ben fumbled with his invention. “I need to use more power, but I’m afraid of going above the lowest setting!”

“Ben! We have to go!”

“But the effects are wearing off!” he yelled as they hurried to the front door.

Behind them he heard crackling. He turned in time to see the Taser’s sparkling probes snap into motion, becoming an instant streak in the air. They stuck to his mother’s favorite wall painting—an ocean scene with a pair of dolphins and an orca. At the same time, each cop came back to life, blinking and stumbling for balance.

“Where’d he go!” the officer examined his stun gun, wrinkling in confusion. Then he saw Ben and pointed. “There he is! He’s getting away!”

“Hold on! I can do this,” Ben eased his hand above the O/A. It lit up with violet luminescence. He pressed the interface once, then once more.

“There!” he announced. Pud took his hand and led him down the steps to the driveway, the O/A pulsing rhythmically. He felt the fluctuation level increasing, going beyond his own limitations. The assault on his awareness was already beginning, the chain reaction leading to the inevitable catastrophe.

He heard the police screaming to stop. He did, but not on their account. The O/A forced him to. His thoughts raced. Too much, too fast. Innumerable alternate realities branched in all directions, a vast, cosmic blueprint laid out before him in an omnidimensional hyperscape. No way would he be able to wrap his mind around the complexity. He stumbled and landed behind a squad car, sitting with his back to the rear tire. Pud scurried next to him.

The ground became an ocean swell. Dogs barked. Down the street, a car alarm went off. Shrill electronic beeping and whistling. Even that was drowned out by the screams of the police.

“Drop the weapon! Drop it, now!”

Ben felt another quake, this time stronger. Pud gave him a worried frown. Ben put his hand on the O/A, tapping once then pressing and holding. The power-down command didn’t work. The machine continued to hum and chirp, its substructure whirring with intricate patterns and shapes, showing no signs of stopping.

“Hold it right there!” an officer stood above them, his Glock pointed, a smirk of gratification on his lips. “Don’t move!”

Pud growled and leapt on the cop’s hands.

CRACK!

The gun fired. The bullet ricocheted off the concrete driveway. Ben flinched, afraid Pud had been hit. He hadn’t. The little creature straddled the officer’s wrists and snatched the pistol away with his teeth, spitting it into Ben’s mom’s prize azaleas.

He felt the O/A fluctuate even higher, the sensation becoming far too much to bear. He wouldn’t let the machine go, though. Somehow it had to be shut down.

“Turn…that…thing…off!” Pud crawled toward him.

“I’m trying!”

Pud clung to him. The terrain warped harder than ever. The squad car jolted and slid. A terrible gaping sound percolated deep under them, erupting into a giant, yawning hole. Lawn gnomes and grass and dirt tumbled into the great chasm as it opened wide enough to swallow the cruiser, which it did.

The vehicle dipped left, tilting on its side. It slipped to the edge, creaking and groaning. Another tremor and the wheels jarred loose, sending it toppling into the expanding abyss.

Sliding, Ben realized he’d be the next victim of the bottomless pit if he didn’t act now.

“Here!” Pud reached for him. Ben took hold of the miniature hand and the furry little fellow tugged him away from the hole. He was stunned at Pud’s strength. Jack was telling the truth. The Tanakee
did
have amazing abilities.

“Oh, please!” Ben cupped the O/A in his hands. “Please, turn off! Please stop!”

The O/A responded. The earth stopped rolling. The gigantic hole in the driveway quit growing. The hurricane force winds died down. The police clinging to the cliff were able to pull themselves to safety. Pud seemed all right. Dust saturated his fur, he fought to regain his breath, but he was fine.