December 31st, 1930
Hilary was worried. She and Maple had called the mansion all morning. She got Mrs. Fox once, but all she’d say was that she was busy and they couldn’t talk long. She told her Dad was better and they’d be home by that evening.
Their house was thrown into chaos. Hilary held court for most of the evening around the coffee table, making plans. There would be no packing this time. They weren’t sure what they’d find when they arrived, but they made sure they’d be prepared for anything.
Mackie handled Pavla’s attack and disappearance the night before about as well as can be expected. “She WHAT?!” His horrified roar rattled every plate and piece of cutlery on the table. They’d opted to eat dinner in the living room in order to plan better. “Ginger Snap, I told you she wasn’t to be messed with! She almost turned my oldest daughter into some reject from a pound! And you say she’s got Jeff and the guys and turned them into monsters? Who knows what else she’s capable of?”
“Dad, we do know what she's capable of now.” C.J joined them in the living room, holding a record under his arm. “I just got off the phone with Doug Thompson. He and those FBI agents have called in four more guys from Washington, and he says he’s going to call the cops.” He grinned and held up the disc. “And I went to KDKA and managed to talk my friend out of one more record. You said there’s a recorder upstairs in the mansion?”
“Yeah.” Maple nodded as she sat down with a plate of oatmeal cookies from Christmas. “I told Mrs. Fox to bring it downstairs before midnight. I never understood why they had a recorder, until I did some thinkin’. That last record…we never did get around to listenin’ to it. It was an acetate. What if it didn’t have codes or one of Victor’s speeches on it? What if it had somethin’ else?”
“Like…Pavla?” Hilary closed her eyes, trying to remember that final record. “What if it wasn’t codes? What if it was solid proof that she had intentions to harm Jeff, or at least never had feelings for him other than using anything that got in her path?” She smirked. “As some of you may have noticed last night, she does tend to talk quite a bit when she’s gloating about her evil schemes.”
“She’s a villain, Hilary.” Maple swallowed and gave her a wide, oat-smeared grin. “That’s what all the great bad guys do in the serials and comic strips.”
Hilary sighed. “Maple, please. And could someone get Betty? She’s been missing all day. I haven’t heard her typewriter at all, so it’s not that.”
“I’ll do it. She listens to me.” Maple hastily swallowed her cookie and hurried upstairs.
She emerged with Betty, who only had eyes for the book Bear gave her. “Why was I so blind?” she murmured in horror. “He was trying to tell me. He’s still in there.”
“Tell you what, Princess?” Mackie patted her hand as she sat on the arm of her chair. “Who’s still in there?”
Betty held out the book, a crude sheath of typewriter paper stitched together with yarn. “The Bear Prince” was badly typed on the front page. “All those stories we’ve been writing, Bear and me. It was his way of telling me, even when he couldn’t tell me.”
Her brother raised an eyebrow. “Could you enlighten those of us who weren’t there for most of this?”
She nodded, her eyes bright. “We’ve known for a while that Bear was one of the big question marks about all this. Why did Pavla attack his mind like that?” Her eyes went to Maple. “Why did she target Eagle’s voice and hands? He can’t hold anything with wings…like, say, a microphone. And remember what Troll said back in January? Birds can’t talk, and they certainly can’t make speeches about the situation in Europe on the radio.” Her voice became low and dead serious. “And if Bear’s mind is sealed away in darkness, he can’t think to make plans…or decode secret messages about Pavla’s activities in Europe.”
Maple’s eyes nearly tripled in size. “Damn it to hell, Bett, you’re right. No wonder Bear keeps screamin’. She don’t want him thinkin’ well enough to see through her. He always saw through everythin’.”
“Could someone explain to me what’s going on here?” Mackie sneezed miserably before Hilary could reply. “Eagle? Bear? Bears can write?”
“Bear can. Or he can now. I’ll explain it on the way there.” Betty’s eyes brimmed with tears. “Why didn’t I listen to him? He kept telling me, in his own way. It must have hurt him so much. He blamed himself for what happened…they all did. Why didn’t I hear it?”
Hilary patted her sister’s shoulder and handed her a tissue. “Bad enough the Lost Boys all blamed themselves. It’ll do us no good for us to play the same game. The only thing that will help Bear and all of them now is taking care of Pavla. Midnight is in three hours.”
“I’m going to call the mansion an’ tell at least Mrs. Fox that we’re comin’.” Maple went to the kitchen. “I mean, we called ‘em earlier, but Mrs. Fox barely talked to us.”
Betty gulped. “I’m worried. What if Pavla’s already gotten there?”
“She’s an actress.” Hilary rolled her eyes. “Trust me, I know how I operate. If it were me, I’d make the most dramatic arrival possible. On New Year’s Eve, that would be midnight, when the calendar flips pages and the whole world is lost in kisses and champagne.”
C.J chuckled and nudged his older sister. “And you’d know better than any of us! You’re the drama queen extraordinaire.”
Hilary huffed as Betty giggled and Mackie outright guffawed. “Well, someone is going to have to keep Pavla from escaping! I’m the one she knows. She doesn’t really know the rest of you, other than C.J, and he’ll be dealing with the lights.”
“I’m staying with you, Ginger Snap.” Hilary started to protest, but Mackie raised a hand. “You know I got a clean bill of health from Dr. Drake this morning.” He coughed a little bit. “It’ll linger for a day or two, but the worst is over.”
“Are you sure you want to do this, Dad?” Hilary raised an eyebrow. “You couldn’t even handle Troll the first time you saw him.”
“Ginger Snap, you’ll be with me the whole time. And I have a lot more experience acting than even you.” He patted her hand. “This will be my finest performance.”
“Guys!” Everyone’s heads shot up as Maple dashed into the living room, her brown eyes glittering with horror. “Mrs. Fox called me before I could call her. They’re already bein’ invaded…and she says we’re in danger, too. She sent someone to help, but they may not get here in time…”
“What?!” Hilary got to her first. “Maple, calm down.” She rushed to the kitchen and emerged with a glass of water to calm the upset young woman. “Now, here. What do you mean? What do you mean, invaded?”
“She…” Maple gulped the water. “Mrs. Fox said Pavla’s already there. She wasn’t payin’ attention to Mrs. Fox, mostly just Troll.” She ignored Hilary’s indignant yelp. “Apparently, Pavla said somethin’ about sendin’ jerks after us too, and she was sending help…”
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