Secrets of Bearhaven (6 page)

Spencer stepped into a room that was
identical
to his bedroom at home. The same blue-and-silver comforters were on the bunk bed, and a Cougars baseball pennant hung above the top bunk, just like his had for years. The pictures of race cars that Spencer had taped to his wall at home were arranged in the very same order on the wall above the same white desk, and his favorite books and games filled the bookshelves.

Mom had done all of this for him. He imagined her taping up the pictures herself, adding books to the bookshelf here whenever he got new books at home. He examined the short length of rope that was looped around one post of the bunk bed. It looked identical to the one at home, but Spencer could tell it wasn't the one Dad had used to teach him knot tying. He'd practiced on that rope until it was soft and frayed. Still, it seemed like Mom had tried to break in this length of rope herself, matching it as well as she could to the one that Spencer knotted and untied whenever he couldn't fall asleep. He should never have said that Mom cared more about bears than about him. Even when she was here, surrounded by bears, she'd been thinking about him.

He went to the window, where the same blue curtains hung, the shade drawn behind them.
Aren't we underground?
he thought as he pushed one of the curtains aside and peeked behind the shade.
Yup. Belowground.
Behind the curtain there was a solid white wall, but it didn't matter. With the curtains closed, the room looked exactly like home.

“There are clothes in the dresser for you,” Bunny said after giving Spencer a moment. He walked over to the familiar white dresser and opened the top drawer. On top of the stack of clothes sat a letter. “Is there anything else you need, dear?”

“No,” he answered quickly. “Thank you,” he added, turning back to Bunny.

“All right, then,” Bunny said, and dropped her head to Spencer's shoulder for just a moment, her soft fur grazing his neck. “Sweet dreams.” Her voice was melodic, like she was singing a lullaby. “Sweet dreams.”

After Bunny left and shut the large door behind her, Spencer picked the letter out of the drawer. He opened the envelope and unfolded the single sheet of paper, realizing at once that he'd seen it before. It was an exact copy of the letter Mom had given him on his eighth birthday, explaining why she and Dad were giving him the black jade bear. He put the letter back in its envelope before crossing the room and stuffing it under the pillow on the top bunk. He would read it later, before he fell asleep. Uncle Mark would be coming in any minute, and he needed to change into clothes that didn't look and feel like they'd been chewed up and spit out by a . . . well, by a bear.

Spencer pulled on a pair of gray sweatpants and a
Car and Driver
T-shirt just like the one he had at home. As soon
as he'd transferred his jade bear from the dirty heap of his school uniform and into the pocket of his sweatpants, there was a knock on the door, and Uncle Mark poked his head in.

“Not too shabby, huh?” he said as he pushed open the door and came in. “Your mom did a great job. You like it?”

“Yeah, it's cool,” Spencer said.

Putting Spencer's backpack down beside the desk, Uncle Mark tossed his own duffel bag onto the bottom bunk. “How are you holding up, Spence?” he asked, shrugging out of his leather jacket.

“Uncle Mark!” Spencer exclaimed.
Holding up? Is Uncle Mark serious?

“Right.” Uncle Mark hung his jacket on the back of Spencer's desk chair, and then pulled it out to sit. “Might as well get comfortable.” He nodded to the bunk bed. Spencer pushed the duffel bag aside and sat down. As soon as he had, the questions started tumbling out.

“How'd you get away from that car? Do you think Dad's okay? Wherever they're keeping him . . . He'll be all right, right? Until—”

“One thing at a time, Spence. I managed to outpace the Corvette long enough to make it into a hidden railway tunnel. It's another entry point for Bearhaven, and it's big enough to pull the Porsche into, but I had to lose the Corvette first. As for your dad, he'll be all right until we can get him out of there. Your mom is going to do everything she can to make sure of that.” Uncle Mark sat back in his chair, looking at Spencer solemnly. “Why don't I start at the beginning.”

“Okay,” Spencer answered, not sure he even knew what the beginning was.

“Honestly, Spence. I never agreed with your mom's decision to keep Bearhaven from you,” he started. Sometimes Uncle Mark and Mom didn't agree on things, but Spencer figured that was just typical brother/sister stuff. He didn't know it had anything to do with him. “She kept it secret for so long in order to protect you and to give you a normal life. But Bearhaven is in your blood. It was just a matter of time before—”

“But what
is
Bearhaven?” Spencer cut in. “And how did these bears become—”

“These bears? It's a long story.”

“Back when your mom, dad, and I were in college together, Gutler University kept three bears on campus as mascots,” Uncle Mark began. “They were treated badly, and that didn't sit well with us. Your dad and I were in the science department. We'd gotten close to one professor, a brilliant bear biologist and a really wonderful guy named Weaver. Aside from his work at the university, the professor had been working on his own secret project, and when we went to him with our concerns about the bears, he finally revealed the details of his work to us.”

Uncle Mark leaned forward in his chair, resting his forearms on his thighs. There was excitement in his tired eyes.

“With the help of a bear that he'd found as a cub and raised in his home, Weaver had developed the very first prototype of the BEAR-COM. When we went to see the technology, and when we met his bear, we all realized that there was no going back. Weaver and this bear were able to communicate!”

“Weaver?” Spencer broke in, the name finally clicking into place. “
Professor
Weaver?”

“Right. Our professor at Gutler passed his name on to his cub and secretly designed the BEAR-COM with the bear's help. That bear is the Professor Weaver you met tonight.”

“No way!” Spencer exclaimed. “And the mascots?”

“We were able to spring two of the mascot bears from Gutler, and with the help of the Professors Weaver and their BEAR-COM, we set up Bearhaven.”

“So you and Mom and Dad and a bear
made
this place?”

Uncle Mark nodded. “For the bears from Gutler, but also as a haven for other bears that have been rescued from dangerous situations. Over the years, hundreds of abused bears have been brought to Bearhaven to recover. If the bears want to be restored to their natural habitat, to live like other bears in the wild, they can get treated here first, then they move on. Some, like the Weavers, choose to stay in the hidden safety of Bearhaven and help other bears in trouble.”

Spencer couldn't believe it. Why wouldn't Mom and Dad want him to know that they were doing something so awesome to help bears? He tried to imagine his parents at Gutler, making their very first rescue—

“Wait, what happened to the third bear at the university?”

“There were two brothers and a sister. We got the two males out, but . . .” Uncle Mark paused. “We couldn't get the female out quickly enough. The Gutler bear handler recaptured her. It was awful. We heard the bear eventually escaped, but we don't know if that's true. She certainly never made it to Bearhaven, and we never saw her again.”

Uncle Mark stood up and started to pace around the room.

“Since then, our work has been rescuing bears and guiding them here. Unfortunately, there are a lot of bears out there that need rescuing, and a lot of bad people who don't want someone just swooping in and taking their bears. These bears can bring in a lot of money, Spence, and oftentimes the
people making that money don't consider the animals . . . Well, you understand.”

“Yeah, I understand,” Spencer said. He'd been hearing about animal rights his entire life. He knew how badly some zoos and circuses treated their bears—and all their other animals, too. He could see why Bearhaven needed to be so well hidden.

“So Mom and Dad have . . . enemies?”

“You could put it that way,” Uncle Mark answered carefully.

The giant in the football helmet suddenly popped into Spencer's head. If his parents had enemies, did that mean
he
had enemies? “Like the people in the Corvette?” he asked, afraid to hear the answer.

“Yes. That was Margo Lalicki behind the wheel, and her brother, Ivan. Margo was the bear handler at Gutler. She's a cold, uncaring woman without a good bone in her body. When we rescued the bear mascots, the abuse they'd suffered made the news. Margo was fired from Gutler because of it. She's never forgiven us.”

“So Ivan's the guy in the football helmet?”

“You saw him?”

“Just for a minute,” Spencer admitted.

“He's all brawn and very few brains, if you know what I mean.” Uncle Mark shook his head. “Don't worry about the Lalickis. We can handle them. You're safe here now.”

“Are they the ones who have Dad?”

“We're not sure, but I don't think so. There's something going on that's a lot bigger than Margo. Like I said before, your parents have been working to crack a whole network of
bear abuse. It's more likely that whoever's at the top is who has your dad.” He paused, then said, “I know it's a lot to take in, Spence. And I can answer any questions you want, but I think it's time we got some rest. For tonight, we're safe, your parents are both okay, and we've got a really strong team working on getting them home ASAP.”

Spencer still had questions, but he was struggling to keep his eyes open. As long as he knew Mom and Dad were going to be okay, he could wait to hear the rest tomorrow.

“Where's your room?” he asked. He felt a little better, but he wasn't sure he wanted to sleep in here alone.

“My room's down the hall,” a new voice chimed in. Uncle Mark and Spencer both looked to the door in surprise. A chestnut-colored snout was poking into the room.

Kate pushed her head in farther and looked at Spencer. “Wanna see?”

“Oh . . . um . . .” He was way too tired for another tour.

“Spencer was just about to go to bed, Kate,” Uncle Mark jumped in. “Do you want me to stay in here with you, Spence?”

“Do you want
me
to stay in here with you?” Kate said, putting one paw in front of the other as slowly as possible, as though they might not notice, until she was completely in the room.

“Kate Dora Weaver!” Bunny's voice called from the hallway. The cub's ears twitched, but she didn't move to go.

“Kate, I think your—” Before Uncle Mark could finish his sentence, a large paw reached into the room and gently pulled Kate back out into the hallway. The door clicked shut behind her.

Spencer woke in his bunk bed and stretched. Evarita usually only made pancakes on weekends, but maybe he could convince her to make an exception. He was starving. He moved to sit up, ready to call to her, but every muscle in his body protested. Yesterday's events came rushing back. Evarita couldn't make him pancakes this morning, and no matter how much it looked like it, this wasn't really Spencer's bedroom. He was in Bearhaven. His aching legs confirmed it.

Poking his head over the side of the top bunk, Spencer looked down to see if his uncle was still in the bottom bunk. Uncle Mark had stayed last night, despite the fact that his feet stuck out over the end of the bed. It had taken every bit of energy Spencer had left to climb the ladder and get into bed himself. He'd practically been asleep before he made it to the top bunk. Now he felt like he had slept for days.

Uncle Mark wasn't in bed. He was probably having breakfast. The thought made Spencer's stomach growl. He'd never finished that peanut butter sandwich . . . Sitting up, he rolled himself out from under his blue-and-silver comforter. He clambered onto the ladder, made his bed, and jumped
down, landing unevenly on something much too soft to be the floor.

“GRAHH!” a roar filled the room.

“AHHHH!” Spencer screamed and leaped onto the bottom bunk. He peered over the edge to find the black, leathery pad of a chestnut-colored paw poking out from underneath the bed. It wiggled around and was soon joined by a second paw, and before long, Kate had squirmed out on her belly.

“You stepped on me!”

“I didn't know you were there!” Spencer answered, relieved that it was only Kate. How had she gotten here? He was sure that Bunny had taken her back to her own room last night. Kate sat brushing herself off.

“I slept here,” she answered. “It's really like three beds. One—” She pointed to the top bunk. “Two—” She pointed to the lower bunk. “Three—” She motioned to the floor. “Mom said you might be sad, so I came back to keep you company.” She shrugged.

“I can't believe you fit under there!” Spencer looked under the bed.

“I liked it. It's like a den. It was like being in the wild.”
If the wild was carpeted,
Spencer thought, and then wondered if Kate had ever actually been in the wild. But that didn't seem like the sort of thing you should ask a bear, like asking a new kid on the baseball team if they'd ever seen a bat before.

“Have you seen Uncle Mark?” he asked instead. His stomach growled again, and Kate's ears gave a small twitch.

“No. I've been
sleeping
.” She cocked her head toward the door and sniffed hard. “He's not here. I'd smell him. C'mon!
Mom always leaves breakfast.” Spencer looked down at the clothes he'd slept in.

“I need to change.”

Kate followed him to the dresser, poking her head into the drawer when he opened it. “What do you need all these clothes for?” She nuzzled and pushed things around. “They all look the same.” Spencer reached around the bear to pull out a pair of jeans and a green T-shirt.

“I don't know.” He shrugged. “People wear a lot of clothes.” He and Kate stared at each other for a moment.
Was she going to leave so that he could change?
Didn't look like it. “Uh . . . do you mind . . . ?” Kate blinked at him. “Could you wait for me outside?”

“Oh! Sure! But hurry, I'm as hungry as a bear!” She burst out in the series of airy chuffing sounds that Spencer was beginning to recognize as her laugh, and then bounded from the room.

When Spencer stepped into the hallway, he found Kate staring so intently at him that he wondered if she'd taken her eyes off the door for one second since settling outside his room to wait. “Last night, Mom said I could show you around before school. I know
everything
about Bearhaven.” She started down the hallway. “I
especially
know all the buildings,” she added matter-of-factly. “Mom designs them, you know. And she designs all the homes, too!”

“Really?” Spencer looked around the hallway in surprise. The cub puffed with pride.

With Kate walking on all fours beside him, Spencer could see that her BEAR-COM was fastened around her neck by a wide, stretchy-looking band. Like a necklace, but more secure.

“Can you take that off yourself? Your BEAR-COM?” he asked as they reached the stairs.

“Yeah, but it's not
that
easy, so I can just turn it off, too.” That explained why Spencer couldn't understand some of the bears last night. They must have had their BEAR-COMs turned off.

The oversized stairs that had seemed nearly impossible to Spencer last night didn't seem so bad now.

“Why would you want to?”

“I didn't say I did!” Kate answered quickly, before going on. “We're not
really
supposed to . . . Dad says it's a sign of respect—for Bearhaven—to keep your BEAR-COM on. Even without humans around. He says it's an
honor
to have BEAR-COMs at all. He had the first one, you know. He helped
invent
it. Anyway, other bears turn them off, sometimes. If they just want to use Ragayo. But Mom says you have to have a good reason—”

“Ragayo?” They stepped into the Weavers' cavernous living room and kitchen. Nobody was there. Spencer had hoped for more information about his parents. He wanted to get to work on finding them, but with nobody here—

“Ragayo is our language,” Kate answered. “All bears speak Ragayo. I could teach you some, maybe. If you promise not to tell Mom that I turned off my BEAR-COM.” She stopped walking and stared at Spencer, her head cocked to one side, until he nodded solemnly back at her.

“I promise,” he said, questions beginning to pile up.

“Okay, good. Now watch this!” She faced Spencer on her hind legs. Her BEAR-COM glittered pink in the sunlit room, and its green light radiated from the base of her neck.
With one claw, she pressed a red button on the side of the device. When she did, a green button popped out on the other side, and the green light blinked off.

“Graflaui!”
No translation followed Kate's grumble and grunt. She huffed out a giggle, then moved her claw to the other side of the BEAR-COM and pushed the green button back in. The red button popped out and the device shone green once more. “See? I said, Let's eat!”

Spencer smiled as the cub trotted over to the kitchen counter. He didn't know if he'd ever get used to bears talking to him, but their technology was awesome, and after seeing Jo-Jo and Winston playing
Salmon King
last night, he was pretty sure that the BEAR-COM wasn't the only cool invention these bears had come up with.

Kate retrieved two bowls, one by one, with her mouth, and set them on the table. “This one's for you,” she said, scooting one of the bear-sized bowls toward Spencer. He stepped closer, but didn't bother sitting down. If he sat, there was no way he'd be able to see his breakfast, let alone eat out of the huge basin it came in.

“Uh . . .” he started, looking around for a spoon.

“Don't tell me you don't like berries and honey!” Kate practically shouted as she happily plunged her snout into her breakfast.

Spencer laughed. “No, I love berries and honey.” He looked down into his own sticky bowl. How important could table manners be when you were eating with a bear cub? He scooped up a handful of berries, his fingers immediately coated in honey, and scarfed it down.