Spark and the League of Ursus by Robert Repino

Author:Robert Repino
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quirk Books
Published: 2020-04-13T16:00:00+00:00

The morning after Jakmal attacked, the family prepared their things for another search. It was Monday, and this break in their usual routine felt alien to Spark. This time, they would gather with their neighbors and patrol the wooded area between the town and the highway, just like they did when looking for Sofia a few days before.

While the two bears remained hidden under the bed, Loretta checked the camera again and found nothing. She put on her hiking boots, a raggedy pair of jeans, and a raincoat. She looked like a robot. No expression on her face, just a blank stare and a clenched jaw.

Downstairs, Spark could hear the parents talking at the table. At one point, Dad went outside and shouted something to Mom. Judging from the tone of his voice, he must have seen the damage to the car. Mom gasped when she saw it. “Oh my God!”

“Now they see it,” Spark said. “Now they know something’s wrong in this house.”

“Maybe,” Sir Reginald said. It meant no.

Loretta joined her parents outside, right in the middle of Dad’s speech about how his insurance company might raise his rates. It was the kind of adult gibberish he was good at. Mom told him that there was nothing they could do. “Let’s just take the SUV.”

“He’s not in the woods,” Loretta said.

“Who’s not in the woods, sweetie?”

“Matthew.”

“Where is he, then?” Dad asked.

“He’s…”

Oh no, Spark thought. If they start poking around the house, it’ll only make things worse.

“Look,” Loretta said, “something weird is going on around here, okay? Like, maybe we should search around here some more.”

“Yesterday you told us he went looking for Sofia,” Dad said.

“He did! Er, he was going to. But, I don’t know, I think there’s something here at the house that we need to look at.”

“Honey,” Mom said, “let’s rule out the woods first, okay? You remember that boy last year, what was his name?”

“Zimmerman,” Dad said.

“That’s right, Joey Zimmerman. He crashed his bike into a tree, knocked himself out, and they found him wandering around the woods a few hours later.”

Loretta said nothing. She had been trained her entire life to stop believing in fairy tales, and now she had to ignore all the evidence that was right in front of her.

“When we come back later, we’ll go through everything, okay?” Mom said.

“It’s not up for debate, Loretta,” Dad said.

Mom glared at him. “Derek.”

“It’s not.”

“Fine,” Loretta said, cutting off the conversation before things got worse. What choice did she have?

The family grabbed their things, piled into the SUV, and drove off.

With her belly and feet swollen with rainwater, Spark could hardly move. Sir Reginald led her to the basement, holding her arm as she doddered with each step. On the way, Spark sniffed for the scratcher.

“He’s gone for now,” Sir Reginald said.

In the basement, Sir Reginald found a bucket with a plastic strainer that could wring out a mop. He helped Spark get inside and then pulled the lever as hard as he could. The device flattened her against the grille, forcing the water to dribble out.

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