Panda Panic (11 page)

“I don't think it was a palace,” said Ping.

“But it must have been,” said Little Bear. “A place that fancy could only belong to royalty. It had a square box, chairs, a bed with a mattress, everything!”

“It looked fancy,” admitted Ping, “but when those bandits came back, I realized it was just an ordinary house with ordinary people who were scared of bears.”

Little Bear paused.

“What else have you told me that's not true?” he asked.

“Well, you know my crown…” said Ping.

The memory of it brought a smile to Little Bear's lips.

“What about it?”

“It wasn't a crown at all,” Ping said seriously. “It was a pair of underpants!” Which made both of them fall on the floor with laughter.

It turned out that Little Bear was so in awe of Ping's storytelling skills that he asked his friend to teach him his secret.

Ping beamed with pride.

“You mean you still want to be my friend?”

“Of course I do,” said Little Bear. “Why wouldn't I? This has been the best day of my life!” He flung open his arms and hugged Ping's waist. “In fact, all I want to do is take you home and show you off to my mom and dad.”

Ping paused to consider what he'd just heard.

“I thought you said your parents were captured by bandits and sold to the circus,” he said.

Now it was Little Bear's turn to look ashamed.

“Oh, yes... I forgot I'd said that,” he said guiltily. “I don't normally tell fibs, but when you sent me home to bed I didn't have a choice. I mean, I only said all that sad stuff about being an orphan to make you take me with you. I made it all up. Are you very angry with me?”

Ping smiled.

“How could I be angry with my best friend?” he said. “Come on. It's late. Let's get you home before your mom has a fit.”

Then they raced each other through the forest and reached Little Bear's home just before their shadows disappeared into the darkening night.

CHAPTER TEN

W
hen Little Bear walked out from between the trees, his family went bananas. His brothers and sisters were the first to reach him, followed closely by his mother and father, and less closely by his aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, and a ring-tailed lemur named Arthur who had lived with the black bears for the past three years.

“Where have you been?” his mother screeched as she gathered her baby into her arms.

“Having an adventure!” Little Bear replied, his voice muffled by his mother's armpit. “And this is the bear who saved my life.”

The family now noticed Ping for the first time.

“You're a panda,” said Little Bear's father.

“Yes,” said Little Bear. “And not just any old panda, either. Meet Ping the Unpetrified! He saved me from a snow leopard.”

The family was very interested in the details of how Ping rescued their precious son—so much so that Ping was tempted to spin them a big lie to make himself sound even more heroic. But, catching himself just in time, he stopped making up the story and told it like it was instead. He told them about using his long shadow and his loudest roar to trick the terrified snow leopard into believing that he was a giant. And everyone agreed that Ping was incredibly brave.

“A real hero,” said Little Bear's mother. Then she turned to Little Bear and picked him up in her arms, squeezing him until he squeaked. “And you too,” she said with pride in her eyes. “My brave little soldier!”

Watching Little Bear cuddle his family suddenly made Ping feel rather sad. Not for Little Bear, but for himself. He missed his own family and wanted to be with them.

Little Bear's mother noticed that Ping had suddenly gone quiet.

“Are you feeling homesick?” she asked. “Where did you say your home was, Ping?”

“I don't know,” he said with tears in his eyes. “I mean, I know it's upriver, but I don't know how far. I was traveling so fast on my surfboard that I forgot to count the trees.”

Just then he looked up to see the shape of a big bird silhouetted against the moonlit sky. “Panda-bird!” it squawked from on high. “Is that you? I thought I'd never see you again after you shot over that waterfall.”

Ping's heart skipped a beat. It was the golden eagle that had raced him earlier.

“Yes, it's me!” he cried, jumping up and down and waving his arms with joy.

“Don't move,” the eagle yelled. “I've got someone up here who wants to see you.”

As the eagle spoke, a second bird flew alongside, only this bird was much smaller with feathers that glistened in the moonlight.

“Ping!” it yelled. “Where have you been!”

The weary panda cub recognized the voice instantly.

“Hui!” It was his friend, the grandala bird, who had come to take him home.

After Ping had given Little Bear a hug and promised to come back to see him soon, and then given him another hug, and then waved to the whole family, and then gone back to Little Bear for a third hug, Hui called time on the goodbye.

“Come on, Ping. It's not as if you're never going to see each other again.”

“He's right,” said Little Bear's mother. “Your mother will be worrying, Ping. Now, GO!”

Which was just the motivation Ping needed to send him on his way.

It was a long walk home. For Ping, that is. Hui simply sat on the panda cub's shoulder and went along for the ride.

“Are we almost there?” Ping asked, after ten minutes on the trail.

“No,” said the grandala bird. “It's going to take all night.”

“Isn't it a bit dangerous walking in the dark?” said Ping.

“I thought your middle name was danger,” chuckled Hui.

“I don't think I've got a middle name,” Ping observed after a moment's reflection. “If I did have one I'd like it to be Brad. Sounds like the sort of person an Emperor would take on as a bodyguard, doesn't it?”

“You don't give up, do you?” said Hui, as Ping stumbled on a rock.

“I told you it was dangerous walking in the dark,” he complained.

“Wait here,” said Hui, taking off from Ping's shoulder and flying into the trees.

“Where are you going?” shouted Ping. “Don't leave me here on my own in the middle of a dark forest!”

“Back in a sec!” hollered Hui. “Besides, now that you've scared a snow leopard I thought you were brave.”

Hui had a point. Ping decided to test himself to see if he
was
brave. He cupped his ears and listened for spooky forest sounds. And even though he heard the wind whistling, the leaves rustling, and the occasional twig snapping, he discovered that they didn't scare him quite as much any more. Besides, he wasn't alone for long. Hui returned ten seconds later with a swarm of fireflies.

“To light our passage,” he explained. “Shall we continue on home?”