There was a party in progress when they arrived. Maple was dancing, or trying to, with Eagle. He kept tripping over her and looking at his talons, but she didn’t seem to mind. Bear and Mr. Rabbit sat at Miss Organ, playing “Happy Days are Here Again.” Betty and Miss Organ sang along as Mr. Rabbit guided Bear’s paws along the piano. Hilary had never seen Bear so happy. His apple-cheeked grin as his claws picked out the tune was infectious.
“Hi, guys!” Maple grinned and looked up as the song ended. “Oooh, what did you bring us?” She and Eagle hurried over to the vase of orange-red roses Troll carried. “They smell so good! I thought most’a the roses were gone by now.”
“They’re not for you. They’re for the music room. And they came from the Hot House.” Troll settled the vase on a small table by the window, then took one and handed it to Mr. Rabbit with a flourish. “This is for you and Miss Organ, for all both of you do for us.”
“Awww!” Miss Organ trilled as Mr. Rabbit slid the rose on her music stand. “That’s so sweet of you, Master. I didn’t think you really noticed us that much.”
“I regret that now.” He turned to Bear. “How are you feeling? Better? You look better.”
“Bear feel good.” He ran his claws over the keys with a smile that was even brighter than the fall sunshine streaming through the window. “He feel really good. Bear like to play. He like to sing song. Bear like,” he looked over his shoulder at Betty, “when Betty sings song. Betty sing nice.”
Betty blushed, rubbing his furry shoulder in its red-checked flannel shirt. “Awww. Thank you, Bear. You don’t play too badly, for someone with claws. Mr. Rabbit, you’re honestly pretty good.” The little rabbit valet nodded, patting Miss Organ so gently, she actually moaned under his paw.
Maple smirked. “Someone had a good time there.” Eagle coughed and turned red under his wing, Mr. Rabbit’s fur turned red, and even Betty blushed a bit.
“Yes, well,” Troll let out his own cough, “we need to focus on other things.” He gathered a stack of records from the table. “Bear, I want you to listen to these and see if you hear anything familiar.”
Maple squealed with glee. “Oooh, are those the ones with Jeff n’ Victor on them? I love listenin’ to them, even if Eagle don’t like it.” She took the one on top and dropped it on the player. “That Victor has a beautiful voice, doesn’t he?” She sighed as she moved the needle over the grooves. “Too bad Victor couldn’t have talked to me. I tried to get him to see me a few times, but all he ever did was look at those papers he always had, or talked to Jeff. I don’t think he even knew I was there.”
Troll turned to Eagle, who let out a deflated, unhappy squawk. “Maybe he had more important things on his mind than romance at the time.” Eagle turned away, his beak unreadable as he perched on the back of the chair near the window. His monstrous friend gave him a gentle pat on his feathered back as he squawked softly.
Hilary settled on the chair closest to the player as the record began. “They’re just talking about all the trouble in Europe and how people here and there are starving.” Betty made a face. “I don’t hear anything out of the ordinary.”
“I do.”
Everyone turned to Bear, who was still seated at Miss Organ’s bench. “Hear patterns.” He closed his eyes tightly, trying to focus. His snout scrunched up; sweat beaded on his silky fur. “Know voices. Voices…fr…friends. Good friends. They send patterns. Bear…someone…write patterns.” Mr. Rabbit rubbed his back. “Someone…patterns…someone smart…very smart. Bear…”
“Bear?” Betty jumped up as Victor and Jeff’s voices continued in the back. “Do you know them? Do you recognize their voices?”
Bear clutched the organ’s keys so hard, Miss Organ let out a surprised high note. “Bear,” Hilary said softly, “could you decode those? Could you decode the papers?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed hard. “Bear try. It hurt. It hurt so much. But Bear try.”
Betty patted Bear’s paw. “It’s of the utmost importance! Think of those starving people, here and elsewhere. Think of bad people starting to cause trouble in Europe.”
Hilary was too busy listening to the record to pay the others much mind. Maple sprawled at her feet, one ear on the record, one eye on the brooding Eagle. Jeff sounded strong, concerned, and absolutely gorgeous. Just hearing her voice made her heart pound and the blood rush to her head. This must have been one of the recordings they made in Europe and brought over here. She could hear British accents in the background. It was almost like he was in the room with her, and she could touch him…hold him…run her fingers through that curly black-brown hair…
“Penny for your thoughts?” Troll scooted next to her. “You really seem to be enjoying these recordings.”
“My husband…ex-husband is one of the voices on this record.” She spoke softly, so she wouldn’t miss anything. “He’s the one I mentioned earlier. I never understood what I did to him to make him want to go with Pavla, or why he jumped into her arms. I mean, we’ve always argued, but it was just how we were. We never meant anything by it. Not really, anyway.”
Troll squeezed her hand as gently as he could. “Believe me, Hilary. He loved you. He loved you more than anything. You and his career were his whole world. He would not have left you willingly.”
She sighed, leaning into him without thinking. He wasn’t very comfortable. His chest was bony, hard, and squishing with smelly slime…but his heart was beating just as quickly as hers. “If that’s true,” she whispered, “why did he leave? She said he loved her!”
“Believe me,” Troll’s growl erupted deep within his shallow throat, “she lied. That woman would do anything to stay in the US and destroy everything around her. She cares about her, not love.”
Hilary was only half-listening to him. “I take it she’s hurt you, too.”
“More than you know.” Troll looked over his shoulder. Hilary could see poor Bear trembling out of the corner of her eye. “Bear, are you all right?”
“Yes…no.” Betty still rubbed his shoulder, but he was shaking like a leaf. “I know. I know this. Piece of cake!” She tried to help him hold the pencil and move it along the paper. He closed his eyes again, his black fur shedding on Miss Organ’s bench. “Numbers…Europe…letters…patterns…friends…my friends…” He gasped. “It hurts. Patterns…know patterns. They…Europe…her…she hurt them. I solved patterns, and she hurt them. The darkness…her fingers…my head…” He looked up at the clock, gasping. “Oh, would you look at the time?”
“Bear.” Troll’s voice rose to a near-growl as the record ended. “What does it say?”
“She…” Betty rubbed Bear’s back. When he looked up at Troll, his eyes were clouded. “She belong to Central Powers groups. Bear knows…she knew…OWWWW!” His scream nearly ruptured Hilary’s eardrums. “She knew! Bear…someone else. They knew. He knew. She with Nazis…bad people.”
Eagle squawked. “Yeah, I heard of them, too, Eagle. They’re gettin’ to be a big deal in Germany. Lot of folks don’t agree with the people they exclude or how they say everyone oughta be the same an’ anyone else don’t belong in Germany.” Maple put her hand on his wing. “Is that what all this is about? What Pavla’s so worried about, she attacked you?”
“I can’t.” Bear finally opened his eyes again. When he did, they were swallowed in black. “Can’t anymore. It really hurts!”
“We’ll go work on our story. We’re almost done. We just need to do the part where the Bear Prince and princess flee the evil queen’s castle.” She turned to Troll. “I’m sorry we couldn’t have done more.”
Troll sighed. “It’s a start. We have to get these to the FBI by the end of the year. Otherwise she…we…well, we won’t be here. We’ll be with her.”
“With Pavla?” Maple growled, wrapping her arms around Eagle so hard, he let out a surprised squawk. “There’s no way in hell we’re gonna let her get her slimy hands on you guys! You’re too good for her, all of you!”
“I agree.” Hilary squeezed Troll’s clawed fingers. “I think we could discuss this over a nice tea. We need to talk about our recitation for Thanksgiving afternoon, too.”
Maple nodded, grinning at Mr. Rabbit. “That’s right! We’ve gotta talk about our song, an’ the dance I’m doin’.” Eagle squawked and waved a wing at a book on his desk. “Yeah, n’ we have to remind Betty n’ Bear that they’re gonna read their story for us.”
Hilary gave Troll a grin that was almost flirtatious. “Want to go work on our Romeo and Juliet? I love how you sound when you’re calling out to me on the balcony.”
He gave her that lipless grin that was starting to make her melt. “I couldn’t think of a better way to spend an evening.” He took her hand again as they headed out, ignoring the wide eyes from Mr. Rabbit, the knowing snickers from Maple, and the amused squawks from Eagle.
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