The Long Weekend in the Woods - Chapter 5

Pollock

Waking up after being beaten into unconsciousness was a new experience, one I could have done without. My head felt like it was made of lead as I struggled to sit up from the floor of a. . . tent? As my vision cleared I saw that sullen girl sitting near the entrance, watching me silently.

She's not hitting me, so perhaps it's out of her system. The diplomatic approach might produce better results this time. I politely asked for water.

"No." Let's hear it for the diplomatic approach.

We regarded each other silently. I didn't want to be the first to speak again. It would make me appear desperate. However, without answers, I'd never get out of here, and I imagined she went days without talking. But she surprised me.

"Where are they?" It was always hard to read her voice, but it sounded quieter, more constrained than normal.

"The panda and the fool?" Slight nod. "I don't know. We got separated after we were attacked by some raccoons."

She regarded me skeptically, then gestured at a small pile of items. "You packed lightly for a mission of goodwill." The sarcasm was easy to read.

"I was only there to get them to pay a cleaning bill at first. I showed up just as they were getting ready to leave."

"Convenient. And you decided to tag along?"

"More or less."

"To help them look for me."

"Yes."

"You hate me."

"Well, now, hate is a strong word. . ."

"It's more likely all this is your doing, and you came to stop them from wrecking your plans."

"But I don't have any plans involving you or this place! I didn't even know half of what they got up to here!" Whether I wanted to appear desperate or not, I was starting to feel like she might intend to kill me. "We were headed for your home before all this happened. The two of them might be there now!"

"The creatures are around there, too. You could walk me into a trap."

"Creatures? You mean whatever is using ceramic armor? Then isn't it all the more important to go? The panda will probably be OK, but you and I both know the fool's odds won't be nearly as good." Her face may have softened, microscopically, so I pressed my advantage. "It sounds as though you need help, and you know they will if they can. Can you afford to throw them away?"

"Would you care if I did?"

"Seeing as they're the only ones who can convince you not to kill me and line you boots with my skin, yes. Besides, my life would be, boring without them."

I hadn't ever admitted that out loud. I wasn't proud of it, but it was true. She wasn't impressed.

"It's a game to you. None of it, their lives or our homes, really matters."

She was wavering, trying to convince herself I couldn't be trusted. I could make a final push now, if I handled it correctly. She wouldn't accept sincerity from me, but arrogance?

"It may be a game, but I'll play it to win if you'll deal me in."

Not my best pitch, but it seemed to work. Played into her worst expectations of me. She silently shoveled the pile of my gear into a satchel, then slung it over her shoulder. She hauled me up by my collar, then turned and tossed me through the front flap. It reminds me that she's stronger than she appears. A rock jabbed me in the ribs as I landed and I reminded myself I hate the outdoors. Every eye turned in my direction as I pulled myself up. The sullen girl stepped out and spoke to them.

"We're going back home." She turned to me. "Let's go."

Clever Adolescent Panda

Jonathan didn't listen to Claire's suggestions, so she decided to come with me. She said she'd smooth things over for me with Jerry, but I think she wanted to bargain for the jetpack. She wasn't happy to learn it blew up.

"You used it to blow up a war machine?"

"Or a mobility assist device. Pollock multi-tasks with her inventions."

"All over an April Fool's Day prank?!" She grumbled the whole way across the river, which she spent riding on my back. I thought about doing a roll and dumping her, but she was planning to help, and she was keeping the wrench dry.

And it would have been rude.

The trip through the woods was peaceful. We saw signs that large groups had been moving through, carrying that dank smell. But the ground was only torn up in small areas, not nearly as deep as the ones I'd seen earlier, like they gave up. We reached the cave and saw a dozen or so bears and raccoons snoozing on couches and beat up lawn chairs. A couple of the raccoons were on a raft floating in a kiddie pool, but the water didn't look fresh.

Claire patted my back and I crouched so she could slide off. She handed the wrench to me as she approached a raccoon clutching a pile of Twinkies in its sleep.

"Jerrrrreee," she called softly. He grumbled and gripped the snack cakes tighter, smooshing some of them. She grinned as she grabbed one of them and slowly smushed it on his forehead. Jerry still didn't wake up. I heard an annoyed "huff" from her as she grabbed him and pulled him to the pool. Then she dunked his head under the water. It took a few seconds, but he started thrashing until she let go as he sputtered and rubbed his eyes as he surfaced.

"Who, who the hell?! Claire? What are you-" He noticed me sitting off to one side, and his eyes bulged. Maybe I shouldn't have been holding the wrench. "Holy, holy crap! Rafe, Rafe wake up! That panda's here!"

The bear that had been on the couch next to Jerry woke up with a low rumble, "Who disturbs nap time?" His eyes fell on me and I could tell he was sizing me up. I could have cleaned his clock five times by now, but that would be impolite. I waved awkwardly instead.

Claire rolled her eyes. "Yeah Jerry, there's a panda. Can you hurry up and tell everyone else so we can get down to business?"

Jerry's mouth opened, then closed. He sat silent while the bear - Rafe I guess - stretched for a moment, then rolled onto his back legs. They shared a look, then Jerry replied, "OK, Claire, I get it. You and the panda aren't here to cause trouble. So what are you here for? More of the metal off that trailer? Because we already used that to build a sweet slide down by the river." He gave her a thumbs up.

"A slide? Come on, Jerry, just find a nice patch of ground to wear smooth like the otters do. I could use that metal as a conductor."

"The otters claimed all those, and they won't share. But this way we can have all sorts of twists and loops." He mimicked them with his paws. Besides, we don't need peanut butter or oats, so I don't see what you'd have to trade."

"Malcolm and I have almost convinced Jonathan -"

Rafe snorted as Jerry replied, "You've been telling me that for months. The old man ain't budgin'. Considering how much peanut butter he eats, I'm surprised he can move at all." A couple of the bears chuckled.

"Jerry, that's not nice. He's your family."

"Sure, that's why I can say it, we're family. Anyone else said it, I'd cut them and wash my hands with their insides." He looked at me when he said it. Rafe and Claire both rolled their eyes, while I tried to look like I was impressed. Really, I was getting impatient, so I spoke up.

"Excuse me, I'm just looking for my two friends-"

"Yeah, yeah, the one with the ball cap, and the one with the cape. We don't know where the cape lady is. Calvin was here awhile, but headed in the direction of the village. Said that's where all of you were headed. Left right as we started lunch, so if he walked straight through, he's probably there by now."

Claire was not happy. "Jerry, you let him go alone? You told me those strange guys are all over the place there."

"It was lunch time. We offered to send someone if he'd wait. He didn't seem too worried."

"Calvin doesn't really wait when there's something to do." He would also have definitely walked straight through, and probably faster than Jerry thought he could. He was definitely there already.

Rafe nodded. "I got that impression. He was very antsy."

"Yeah, yeah, and a real cold fish, too!"

"Maybe he just thought you were annoying, Jerry. Anyway, you're awake now, so you can come with us."

Jerry scoffed. "You got a bodyguard right there. My boys got enough bruises to know the panda can fight. Fred's gonna be limping the next couple weeks."

Claire whirled on me. "What did you do to Fred?!" I raised my paws defensively and shook my head. I didn't know who Fred was.

"I may have thrown him at one of the others? Sorry, but they were shooting at me."

Claire watched me, then sighed and turned around. "OK, fine. There's blame on both sides. Jerry, you aren't gonna let your favorite cousin go off in the woods alone with this strange, violent panda, are you?"

I didn't like being called "violent". Or "strange". She hadn't had any problems so far traveling with me.

"Who said you were my favorite cousin?" Rafe put a paw on Jerry's head and squished him, gently.

"You don't let any of your other relatives come to visit. Let's go with them."

Jerry grumbled, but grabbed a couple of those stake guns, while Rafe gave orders to some of the other bears, who had all been sitting around watching us argue. While he did that, he picked up a piece of rebar with a chunk of concrete on the end and slid it into a in a strap slung around his side. It looked awkward until he dropped to all fours. Then the club shifted and rested on a pad over one shoulder while the handle ran alongside his body. It would still be slow to get out, but you could carry it a long way like that.

Still grumbling, Jerry hopped on Rafe's back as Claire climbed onto mine as we headed for Cassanee's home, and hopefully Calvin. Maybe I could figure out how to find Pollock during the trip.