Secrets of Bearhaven (7 page)

Spencer and Kate stepped out into the bright sunshine, and Bearhaven came into focus.

Last night, everything had felt like a dream, unbelievable and covered in darkness. He'd been afraid, exhausted, and confused, but now, with Kate as his guide, Spencer could see Bearhaven for what it was: a very real town full of way more bears than he'd expected.

“We'll start in the center!” Kate called as she bounded down the path, Spencer following at a jog.

Bustling around them, the bears were as varied in color and age as they were in size. As they passed, Spencer could see that a number of the bears were scarred, some were missing eyes or ears or paws, and others looked as though they were in perfect condition, as healthy and energetic as Kate beside him. In the light of day, any fear that Spencer had about being surrounded by bears melted away. Instead, he was fascinated and determined to learn everything he could.

Kate turned onto one of the larger paths that cut through to the square. Following, Spencer tried to memorize where the Weavers' home was, so that he could get back there later on his own if he had to. He noted that only one other
small path intersected this larger one before they came to Raymond's Café. At least he'd be able to find which path they lived on, and then Kate would probably just smell him and fling open the door.

“Hey, Kate,” Spencer started, reminded of the design carved into the Weavers' door. “The design on the door of your home—”

“My mom did that! With her claws!” Kate answered before Spencer could finish his question.

“Did she do all of them?” He scanned a row of doorways. Each was crosshatched with claw marks but none of them looked the same.

“Oh, no! She designs the
homes
, and she did our door, but every family does their own door. Ours is the best, though. Ask anyone.” Kate turned her attention to the stone building that she'd paused beside. “This is Raymond's. We passed it last night, remember?” Smoke wafted from a chimney, and bears sat around the wooden table in front. “It's our restaurant.”

Spencer was still surprised that Bearhaven had a restaurant. After their breakfast of berries, he'd figured that all of the food in Bearhaven was simple and foraged. “What do you get there?” he asked, trying to make out what the bears at the table were eating.

“Salmon nuggets are my favorite! You can try them sometime.” Kate dashed off down the path. “Come on!”

Spencer followed. They were circling the square, and between the large stone buildings that stood on its perimeter, there were smaller, brightly colored shops. Kate stopped in the middle of a row of them.

“Food,” she said, pointing to a shop with a sign that read
Forage Fresh.
“Lab stuff.” She pointed to another shop that seemed to be filled with high-tech gadgets.
Lab stuff?
Before he could ask, Kate dropped to all fours and took off again.

“Kate!” Spencer shouted, running to catch up. This wasn't the tour he'd expected. A race around Bearhaven on sore legs was more than he'd bargained for, even after a long night's sleep, and it wasn't getting him any closer to finding Mom and Dad.

“We haven't even gotten to the good parts, and I have to go to school soon!” She stopped to wait for him. “You want to waste time on the boring stuff?”

“Well, I want to see
every
thing,” he said. How was he supposed to know what the boring stuff was?

“Fine. This is Pinky's Rehab Center and Salon,” Kate said flatly. Spencer looked at the stone building she was pointing at. It was about the same size as Raymond's, but it had tons of windows with flower boxes hanging from each one. “That's where they help bears when they first get to Bearhaven. Those are the flags. They're
always
up there.” Spencer looked up at the flags he'd only barely made out last night, waving over Bearhaven in the darkness. One of the flags was tattered, a dirty green and gold, and looked old. The other flag was black, with the image of a crown resting on an upraised bear claw in shining silver. Kate motioned to another stone building on the square. “That building's called the meetinghouse, but I don't know why. It's not like there are that many meetings. The important ones happen in the Lab anyway. And
those
are secret.”

Finally! Something that sounded promising! “What do you mean
secret
?” Spencer tried to sound casual.

“What I mean is that the Bear Council meets in the Lab, and only members are allowed. And nobody is supposed to know when they meet, but
I
do.”

“What's the Bear Council?” If anyone was working on getting his parents back, it must be them.

“They're the decision makers in Bearhaven. They oversee everything here, and the rescue missions, too. My mom and dad are on it. Nobody else has
two
parents on the Bear Council. Just me and Jo-Jo and Winston and Aldo and Lisle. Well . . . and you. But you're not a bear, so that's not the same.”

“My parents are on the council?” Spencer asked.

“Of
course
your parents are on the council! And your uncle is, too! You're really lucky.”

“Do you think they're meeting now?” Spencer asked eagerly. That
had
to be where Uncle Mark and the Weavers were. “Do you think they're making a plan to rescue my parents?”

“Probably,” Kate said.

“Where's the Lab?” If they were talking about his parents, Spencer needed to be there. He could help.

Kate huffed. “Well, I've been
trying
to show you that.”

“Oh, okay. Let's go, then.” Over Kate's shoulder, Spencer could see a group of cubs playing in the square. A cinnamon-colored one broke off and ran toward them.

“Kate!” it called, right before tripping over its own paws and stumbling into Spencer, taking them both down into a heap. “Sorry!”

Spencer tumbled around, trying to extract himself from the tangle of furry limbs. The bear didn't seem to be trying quite as hard to right itself. Instead, Spencer had a feeling that the cub was sniffing him, brushing a clumsy paw across
Spencer's head on purpose. Then the cub's tongue darted out and slurped up Spencer's forearm.

“Hey!” Spencer shouted, half laughing and half grossed out.

“Reggie, you're such a chipmunk!” Kate cried, and leaped into the fray, tackling Reggie and dragging him away from Spencer. “You have to be gentle. Spencer Plain is a
human.
”

“Sorry,” Reggie said sheepishly. He sat up and fixed his brown eyes on Spencer. “What're you guys doing?”

Spencer brushed himself off. “Taking a tour.” He didn't mind being bowled over by the cub; it's not like it hurt. He didn't even mind being
tasted
by the cub, but he definitely didn't want the cub to delay their getting to the Lab.

“Can I come?” Reggie asked.

“If you can keep up!” Kate hollered, and took off at a gallop.

Spencer recognized the path as they raced along it. He'd seen it last night. It was the one that connected the center of Bearhaven to the dock at the river's edge.

They passed three intersecting pathways, three rings of bear homes, before the path took them out into the open valley. Trees and bushes extended in either direction, growing thicker as they approached the river. Kate slowed to a walk as they neared the riverside.

The river widened by the dock, creating calmer pools near the shore. Brown and orange fish darted beneath the surface of the crystal-clear water, and toward the middle, twigs and leaves swept by on the steady current.

On the dock, facing away from them, stood a huge, very muscular bear. Kate motioned for them to be quiet as they stepped closer.

“Reach for the vines!” the bear boomed through the massive headset propped between his big, furry ears.

“Fred Crossburger,” Reggie whispered to Spencer. “My mom says he gives ‘bulking up for winter' a whole new meaning.” Kate hushed them again, and then mimed stretching for imaginary vines above her, stifling a giggle.

Taking a step closer, Spencer could see that beyond Fred, standing chest-high in the water, was a group of bears, their paws above their heads. They stretched toward the sky, alternating paws.

“What's wrong, Maisie?” Fred chided one of the bears who'd dropped her paws back into the water. “You don't want those delicious blueberries at the top of the tree?”

Examining the microphone that extended out of Fred's headset, Spencer noticed a fat diamond stud in one of his furry ears, glimmering in the sunshine.

“Blueberries don't grow on trees, Fred,” Maisie grumbled. “They grow on bushes.”

“Class, you can thank Maisie later,” Fred shouted cheerfully into his microphone. “Ten more for being literal!” The bears groaned.

Kate rolled her eyes and ducked through the row of trees beside them. Reggie hopped through behind her, and Spencer followed, stepping onto a small path that he hadn't noticed before. It was different than the others in Bearhaven: unmarked and made of dirt.

Reggie sniffed the air around them. “Hey! This is the way to the—”

“The Lab,” Kate finished, grinning.

“But we're not allowed!” Reggie sat back on his haunches. He looked, wide-eyed, from Kate to Spencer.

Not allowed?
Spencer was even more sure that he needed to get to the Lab now. “What's this lab all about, anyway?” he said, still walking. Maybe if he could get Reggie talking, the cub would forget they were headed somewhere they weren't supposed to go. Kate kept going, too, falling in
beside Spencer as Reggie started to chatter, following behind.

“It's the most high-tech place in Bearhaven! All of the power comes from the Lab, and things are made there. Like the BEAR-COMs and security stuff and everything. Only the Bear Guard and the Bear Council are supposed to go there. Even the bears
training
for the guard aren't allowed near the Lab until they pass the test and get their official cuffs. I'm going to be on the Bear Guard, you know.”

“The Bear Guard?” Spencer asked.

“Our security?”

“He doesn't know, Reggie. He just got here,” Kate said. “The guard protects Bearhaven,” she explained to Spencer, “and keeps Bearhaven hidden. Their headquarters are in the Lab. My brother Aldo just made it through training, so now he gets to go to the Lab and wear the silver cuffs and everything.”

So Bearhaven had its own police force. Professor Weaver really must have meant it when he said that they were well equipped to help Mom and Dad.

Kate stopped abruptly, and Reggie, who'd been examining Spencer from head to toe, bumped into her back.

“Hey!” she shouted, then clapped a paw over her BEAR-COM. Their path ended at the edge of a clearing a few feet ahead, and in the clearing sat—

“The Lab . . .” whispered Reggie.

Spencer took a step forward, but Kate gently butted him back.

The Lab didn't look like anything else in Bearhaven. A perfectly round dome, it sat in the center of the clearing and seemed to be constructed out of some sort of pitted metal.
Smooth circular scoops evenly covered the shiny surface of the dome, making it look as if some huge silver golf ball had been nestled into the ground.

“How do you get in?” Spencer asked. He couldn't see any doors or windows.

“It's impossible,” Kate said. “Unless you're
supposed
to get in, you can't.”

Impossible?
But Spencer had to get in there. “Have you ever tried?”

“No way!” Reggie yelped.

Kate jumped. “Did you hear that?”

Spencer hadn't heard anything, but Kate spun around.

“The bell!”

“What bell?” Spencer was sure he hadn't heard a bell.

“The school bell!”

“We're going to be late!” Kate and Reggie gasped at the same time, tripping over each other as they scrambled back down the path.

“Come on, Spencer!” Kate called before disappearing around a bend. “Last one there's a hibernator!”

But Spencer didn't follow. He turned back to the Lab.