Jack James and the Tribe of the Teddy Bear (43 page)

FIFTY-SEVEN

JACK COULD ONLY watch as Cheyton looked at Takota with eyes bigger than harvest moons. They seemed to penetrate wherever he aimed them, radiating an unearthly glow.

“What have you done to him!” Takota demanded. “What have you done!”

Davos chortled. “I gave him a choice, to save his precious Enola.”

Takota waved his hands. “Wait a minute! Cheyton? What did you do?”

“I did what I had to do,” Cheyton growled. “If you were smart, you’d understand. Essinis is coming. When that happens, only the Nagas and those allied with them will survive,” he stepped down from the cart. “And I intend on being one of those survivors. Me and Enola.”

“What about the others? Your friends and family? The Lost Tribes? What about Ayita, your own sister?”

Jack noticed a crack in Cheyton’s hard exterior at the sound of Ayita’s name.

“Enough!” Davos spun his shining globe above his palm. It flared, and so did Cheyton’s eyes. “Your friend belongs to me! Now you DIE!”

Enola screamed, “No! My love, NO!”

Wearing a cruel smile, Cheyton crouched, then rose faster than a lightning bolt. A thunderous crackle echoed across the river and he vanished. In a flash, he reappeared next to Takota, his glare seething with calculated rage.

Takota snarled, retreating fast. Cheyton returned the sneer. In a fraction of a second, he was on top of Takota, thrashing with closed fists.

Pud seemed to come out of nowhere, hurling his body at Takota’s attacker. Cheyton disappeared again. He rematerialized on top of Pud and they both tumbled to the ground. Pud tried maneuvering away. Cheyton popped magically into place, hindering his retreat.

Seeing he had no escape, Pud faced his aggressor, breathing fast and hard. “Why, Cheyton? Why are you doing this?”

Cheyton answered by lunging toward Pud, vaporizing across dimension, becoming the air, then becoming physical once more. Hands high, he came crashing down with unyielding force. The blow would have caused major injury to Pud had it landed. Before it did, Takota sprang feet first into Cheyton’s side.

Cheyton let out an earsplitting yowl, flickered out of sight and removed himself from the wrestling match. He reappeared on Takota’s left, then flashed to his right, changing positions and dodging punches. Takota threw himself off balance with each missed swing. Cheyton, on the other hand, was able to strike with ease. A nip to an ear. A blow to the gut. A kick to the rear. He seemed to be toying with Takota.

Pud got up and shook off the dust. Again, he hurried to help Takota. Cheyton must have seen him coming. With his back turned, he vanished the instant before Pud tackled him. Pud’s momentum took him headfirst into a fence post. He wobbled and fell—out like a light.

“NO!” Enola’s scream bounced from beyond the battered wall. Jack saw her inside Savage’s compound, close to his mom and his sister. Enola had her jade halo surrounding the three of them, yet didn’t seem to have the strength to break out of her cage.

“Here, Dad,” Jack handed the O/A to Ben. “Keep the forcefield activated. I’ll be right back.”

Enclosed by the purple light, Ben reached to hold back his son. Jack had his mind made up. He took a chance, and bolted into the giant building, negotiating the twisted rebar and concrete wreckage. Close behind, he heard Amelia’s rapid footsteps and labored breathing.

“Mom!” he felt a surge of delight. Even in her frayed, filthy Winmart uniform, and with her hair a mess, his mother had never been more beautiful. “You’re okay!”

“Thank goodness!” she said. He began to undo her fetters while Amelia feverishly worked to free Lily. “Thank goodness for you guys,” she leaned to peer through the hole in the wall. “How’s your father? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. For now,” Jack answered. He knelt and got face-to-face with his sister. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” Lily answered slowly, her flowery sundress ripped and smudged. “I think so.”

“Jack! Help!” Amelia stood next to the steel cage containing Ayita’s lifeless body. He rushed to help her open the heavily-secured box.

“It’s no use,” Savage strode into the vast room. He was disheveled and bruised, yet still gleamed with desire. “That cage is on a timed lock. Even I can’t get it open.”

“Help us!” Enola shouted at him. “Help us NOW!”

He frowned. “You can’t order me around! I’m not under your control anymore. Thank God that horrible spell of yours is temporary.”

“Can’t you see what’s going on out there?” Liz pointed through the smashed wall. “Davos is out of control. You need to put an end to this and stop him!”

“Ha! Davos has been in command of my company ever since we signed the contract. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t do anything to stop him. Besides, why should I? We stand to make a lot of money off this.”

The floor shook. Something solid slammed against the outside wall. Jack hoped it wasn’t Takota.

“Is that all you care about? Money?” Liz started toward him. Jack and Amelia had to pull her away. “These are intelligent creatures! They don’t deserve to be used and thrown away!”

“Lady, you don’t know what you’re talking about!” Savage returned the vitriol. “You have no idea what the human race is facing. None of you do! You have no clue what goes into the defense of this country, and the planet!”

“The planet?” Jack intervened. “What do you mean?”

A sharp jolt rocked the structure once more. Jack ducked to avoid a falling ceiling tile.

“You wouldn’t understand if I told you,” Savage raised his hand, brandishing a black pistol. This one was deadly. “Get moving, all of you! Out, NOW!”

Jack pulled his sister close, then reached for his mom and Amelia. Hand in hand, they backed off.

“You got close, but you’re not going to stop us,” Savage was alight with malevolent glee. “Now that we have your friend under our control, it’s only a matter of time until we get the rest of them. And we
will
get the rest of them!”

“No you
WON’T!
” Enola’s green halo blasted, filling the deep, hollow room. A flush of heat ran through Jack’s body. It felt euphoric. Enola’s charmed aura embraced each of them, but seemed particularly intense with Savage.

“Not again!” he cried, then his shoulders slouched. He went through a complete turnaround from just seconds earlier.

“You know something?” even his voice changed. Softer, kinder. “You have a great point. Life’s not about money. It’s about love, am I right?”

Puzzled, Jack looked at his mom. She smiled. “It’s Enola. She can cast some sort of love spell over people.”

Savage stepped toward Ayita’s cage. “What’s she doing cooped up in there? I’ll have to do something about this.”

He toyed with the lock.

Amelia spoke up. “I thought you said that was on a timer and you couldn’t get in.”

He smiled at her. “Then I guess I lied.”

He managed to release the mechanism, allowing the metal cage to swing open. Inside Ayita lay motionless.

“Ayita!” Amelia slid her out, cradling her, bawling. “Please wake up! Please be okay!”

“She’ll be fine,” Savage assured her. “It was only a tranquillizer. In a few minutes, she’ll be back on her feet, good as new.”

Amelia looked at him and blanched. Obviously she didn’t appreciate standing next to the guy, even if he’d been transformed by Enola’s mystic charm. She inched away, taking Ayita with her.

FIFTY-EIGHT

TAKOTA STAGGERED TO HIS FEET, a blast of pain surging from his shinbone to his shoulder blade. He kept his focus on Cheyton while shaking bits of dirt and debris from his shaggy mane. He exhaled. A dust cloud puffed from his lungs.

Thoughts beginning to clear, he stood taller, allowing even more grime to crumble off his back. Grit and silt grinded between his sharp teeth, reminding him of better times back in Wind Whisper Woods when he used to dive for butter clams. He longed for those days. That life would be gone now, he feared, for both humans and Tanakee.

He decided to keep fighting, even though by all appearances it seemed Cheyton had the advantage. Davos scowled. With the control device implanted, Cheyton was infused with full Eteea power. Takota wondered why the mysterious energy would allow itself to be used in such a way.

He scanned the human faces. They waited for him to make the next move. Cheyton leered with an arrogance Takota had never seen from him. With Davos behind urging him on, he stepped closer. Takota felt the ground shake and Cheyton disappeared.

Before Takota took a step, Cheyton stood in front of him. He took hold of Takota’s fur and slammed him down, cracking the cement sidewalk. Now both shoulders burned. That wouldn’t stop him, though. He bounced up, showing Cheyton he’d have to do better.

Cheyton clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyelids. “You’re worthless. Ever since you showed up at the store, you’ve been nothing but trouble. But you know what?”

He vanished, reemerging on the building’s roof. “I’ve got to thank you!” he disappeared again, this time returning on top of the wrecked hearse. “If it wasn’t for you, I’d never be able to do this!”

He hopped down and one Cheyton became two. Takota blinked, shuddered, tried to come to grips with what he was seeing. Cheyton split off one duplicate, then another, and then one more. Four of them surrounded Takota, leering and kicking the dirt, readying for a blitz.

“Look what I can do!” they all yelled, each voice an echo of the other’s. “Can you do this?” the four sprinted toward Takota at the same time. He braced for impact.

The quartet came close to trampling him, but stopped. Suddenly the extra Cheytons melded again into the original. He breathed heavily, visibly pulsating with energy. Then he took Takota by the neck and, with one hand, lifted him.

“Can you do
this?
”

He flung Takota against a solid wall. The entire Archer Savage compound quaked. Takota fell to the ground. Cheyton flashed over and caught him, dangling him by an ankle so their faces met.

“Can you do THIS!” Cheyton jettisoned him into the air, higher and higher until it felt he’d never stop. He reached the apex of his flight and the people were like ants. The clouds were within grasp. A seagull squawked and twirled, nearly colliding with him.

Gravity tugged him earthward. Takota’s entire insides wanted to come out of his throat. No way could he survive such a fall. Then something took over, something outside of normal perception. Suddenly he wasn’t tumbling toward certain death. He landed safely, yet he didn’t actually land. It was as if he’d left his old self falling in midair, and arrived in his new self on the ground, standing behind a wide-eyed Cheyton.

Takota wasted no time. He struck his opponent’s knees. Cheyton fell hard and rolled to the side. He paused, struggling for breath.

Davos lifted his chin. “What are you waiting for?”

“His Eteea,” he trembled. “It’s becoming stronger.”

“Then you’d better hurry and destroy him!”

He nodded and closed in. Takota stepped back. He saw Jack emerge from one of the buildings, running toward his father. Ben rose to his feet and welcomed his son. Then Amelia dashed to meet them, closely followed by Liz and Lily. Next was Enola, supporting a shaky Ayita on her shoulder. They peered at Davos cautiously. Seeing he had his back turned, they raced toward the others.

Davos glanced over and noticed them. With his powerful sphere, he sent a quick blast in their direction.

“Watch out!” Takota cried.

Ben held his invention up with both hands, encircling them all with a luminous shield, protecting them from the malicious lightning. The force field rippled and fizzled. It was weakened, and Takota knew it wouldn’t take many more shots that strong.

Cheyton advanced one more step. Takota withdrew against a concrete wall. Inside he pleaded, cried out for Eteea.

Thump!

A lone figure dropped from the sky next to him. He was ready to swing at the sudden assailant, thinking it was one of Cheyton’s duplicates. Then he saw the attacker had orangish fur, not black and silver.

“Pud! Haven’t you had enough?”

“I’ve had to fight all my life to survive!” Pud raised his fists. “And I won’t stop now!”

Takota patted his back and allowed himself to smile. Cheyton stopped, his chest heaving, his wide stare alternating between Takota and Pud.

“Destroy them!” Davos ordered. “We don’t need them anymore!”

Cheyton crouched, flung his fists up and jumped. He landed and one became two, making it an even match. Then Cheyton’s double performed the same trick, and Takota and Pud were outnumbered two to three. The Cheyton duplicates kept dividing until ten of them surrounded the two frightened friends, huddling back-to-back.

Three Cheytons seized Pud and lifted him high. Arms and legs flailing, he screamed when they hurled him at the chain-link fence. He bounced off the metal mesh, startling the people nearby.

“Pud!” Takota slipped under a roundhouse punch by one Cheyton, hopped over the sweeping leg of another, and threw a sideways kick which landed on the jaw of a third. He curled into a ball, rolled, twisted, and knelt beside his friend.

Bruised and battered, Pud tried to speak. Takota placed a hand over his mouth.

“Be still. And don’t get up. I’ll handle this.”

Takota knew what he wanted to say. He didn’t need to say it. They both recognized the battle against Cheyton was a losing one, though Takota refused to consider defeat an option. The ten Cheytons bearing down on him had other ideas.

They stood in a circle, scowls like embers, burning into his soul, trying to tear at his will. A dizzy confusion threatened to plunge him into unconsciousness.

It was Cheyton’s eyecatcher, its power magnified tenfold with each duplicate steering his energy into one insurmountable beam, drawing Takota in. He resisted, turning away, covering his face, not letting the hypnotic force snatch him with its greedy fingers.