Jack James and the Tribe of the Teddy Bear (26 page)

AFTER A FEW MOMENTS, the flying creatures poured out of the house, shattering glass and splintering holes in doors. Jack sensed they were agitated. They increased their speed, along with their fury, gathering once again in a dark mass, circling and colliding until each of the individual serpentine beings bonded into one form—Davos.

He stood before Teresa, his vacant glare visible plainly from Jack’s position yards away. The others saw it, too. A gasp rolled through the tiny cabin.

“Where are they!” he demanded.

He didn’t wait for a response. He whipped his arm and a long tentacle caught her cheek. It left a large, swollen scrape.

“She’s hurt!” Lily announced.

“That’s it!” Pud went for the door again. Again Cheyton stopped him.

Davos struck Teresa once more, tearing at her neck.

“I said where are they!”

“Cheyton!” Enola begged. “We’ve got to do something!”

Cheyton hesitated. It gave Pud the opening he needed. He pulled open the door and ran outside.

“You want me?” Pud taunted. “Here I am!”

Davos stopped in mid-swing, glaring. Then he divided into living arrows and sped toward Pud. Into the trees Pud dashed, a blur against the nightfall, the soaring creatures following fast.

“Pud!” Cheyton screamed. “Wait here!” he directed Enola, sprinting into the dark to get his friend.

“No! Wait!” Enola stood at the door. She seemed torn. Then she turned to watch the three witches once more surround Teresa.

“I’m going to help her,” Takota announced. “Jack, you stay here. Understand? Wait until I get back.”

Fighting for breath, Jack couldn’t answer.

“I’m coming,” Ayita announced.

“No, you…”

“This isn’t a debate. I’m coming.”

Takota hurried out the door with Ayita behind him. He timed his leap to catch Teresa’s leg and scrambled to her wrists where he began unraveling her restraints. The evil witches raised their right hands, each pointing her athamé at the stars. Ghostly flames formed above them, and in a flash, shot at Takota, throwing him off Teresa and to the ground hard.

“Takota!” Jack screamed. The witches turned, glared, and started toward the cabin. They made it only a few steps when Ayita, nothing more than a tiny, silver and black shadow, zipped past, tripping all three.

Enola knelt by Takota’s side. Ayita raced back around to help him up, allowing the witches time to get on their feet.

Seeing nothing now stood between the wicked women and the cabin, Jack ran to the door and slammed it closed.

“I need something to block this!”

Liz got behind the loveseat. “Here! Everybody push!”

They all heaved, and the small couch groaned across the wooden floorboards, ramming against the door.

“The window!” Amelia yelled. Too late.

Smash!

Hundreds of tiny glass splinters showered in on them. Lily screamed and clutched her mother. Jack and Amelia held each other. He brushed a shard from her hair.

“You!” Gert pointed at Jack through the shattered window. She used her midnight gown’s long sleeve to brush aside the remnants of glass from the frame. Before she leapt into the room, something jerked her by the hair, tugging violently. She screamed, clutching her head, falling backward onto the ground outside. After a
Thunk!
she stopped shouting. Then Takota jumped in the windowsill.

“You guys should come with me. It’s not safe in here anymore.”

“Look!” Lily pointed behind him. The creatures sailed past the shed in a wave, their screeches sending cold, icy fingers down Jack’s spine. They surrounded Teresa one more time.

“Great one! Over here! They’re over here!” the two remaining witches gestured toward the shack fervently.

The airborne beasts united into the shape of Davos. Jack felt the evil creature’s cold intent. He was coming. Fast.

“You guys get outta here!” Takota instructed Ayita and Enola.

“Forget it!” Ayita yelled. “I’m not going anywhere!”

“Me neither!” agreed Enola.

The witches followed behind Davos. In the darkness, his eyes were the color of the full moon. His pace slowed and he smiled at Takota.

“So, this is the great Power Protector?” he stopped. The witches huddled behind him, giggling, chanting.

“I know what you want to do,” Takota growled. “And I won’t let you.”

“Ha! Such confidence! But you are forgetting one very important detail. You see, I know you haven’t yet learned your powers. Eteea is most formidable, for those who know how to use it. And you do NOT!”

Takota dove at him. With a twitch of his hand, Davos’ fiery sphere appeared and shot a vivid burst, surrounding Jack’s protector and freezing him in his midair attack.

The witches boiled over in amusement.

“That was too easy,” Davos chuckled. “I’m beginning to think maybe you’re not such a powerful being, after all. Maybe this is a waste of my time, just as the others said. Maybe I should have destroyed you from the very beginning,” he directed his piercing frown at Jack. “Along with the True Soul.”

“Don’t touch my boy!” Liz hurried in front of him. “You’ll have to kill me first!”

“Not a problem,” Davos flung his hand. More rubicund lightning shot from the powerful globe, striking Liz in the chest. She jerked back and collapsed, her body motionless on the ground.

“Mommy!” Lily screamed. Jack couldn’t speak. He and his sister both rushed to their mother’s side.

Then, overpowering all other sound, Teresa’s voice resounded through the woods.

“In this very forest lives an ancient being,” she stood erect, holding a weathered volume in front of her wide, glistening gaze. “Taller than the timbers and mightier than a raging sea, this gentle soul lazily sleeps away his days, waiting for the time when his home is invaded by evil. That time is now!”

“Stop her!” Davos commanded. “She must
not
be able to read from that book!”

The wicked women hastened toward Teresa. She continued her story.

“Whenever evil tries to set foot on his land, the giant soldier of peace makes his mammoth presence felt. ‘Gedegwsets,’ the forest whispers his name. ‘Gedegwsets,’ and the ground quakes!”

Actually, the earth did move. Jack leaned over his mom, trying to protect her from whatever was coming.

Davos stumbled. The surprise made him lose concentration on Takota. The energy field enveloping the little creature disappeared and he dropped to the grass.

While the two witches gave chase, Teresa evaded capture and read further.

“The very presence of evil turns the ordinarily docile giant into a ferocious predator. His wrath can be felt for miles and miles as he hunts down each and every unclean spirit.”

The ground trembled again, then again. Tremendous footsteps in the distance getting closer. Davos raised his hands high and breathed hard. The burning sphere spun between his palms. He directed his fingers forward and jolted. A blistering swirl streaked at Takota.

BOOM!

It seemed a tree had fallen in front of Davos. But it wasn’t a tree. It was a leg, the biggest leg Jack had ever seen, attached to the biggest man he’d ever seen. He wore no clothes, except for a scrap of frayed animal pelt covering his waist. A thick layer of hair matted on his upper body like armor, spreading all over except for his bald pate. His broad shoulders burst with muscle, along with his barrel chest and bulging thighs, giving him the appearance of an immovable object.

He took the full force of Davos’ energy surge. It hit him in the knee and ricocheted harmlessly. At the same time, the witches cornered Teresa, yet before they subdued her, she read a sentence that frightened them.

“A good witch fears no evil, succumbs to no evil. It is evil that fears the good witch and all she manifests. It is evil that fears Gedegwsets!”

Gedegwsets let out a howl so loud Jack had to cover his ears. The witches abandoned Teresa, hurried to Gert, and dragged her, lifeless, to their station wagon. Gedegwsets paid no attention. Davos was his lone target.

Takota hurried to Jack, catching the giant’s eye. With a great groan, it bent to study him and Takota up and down. Jack couldn’t tell who was in more awe. A smile spread across the giant’s face. It erased when Davos hit him in the back with another scorching eruption. The giant stood tall and uprooted a fifty foot pine. He stepped toward Davos and hurled the tree at him. With speed that rivaled the Tanakee, Davos jumped out of the way, landing near the witches’ retreating station wagon.

The witches made it halfway down the drive when a black Chevrolet Suburban, its headlights off, barreled up the hill.

Crunch!

The vehicles collided. A cloud of steam and debris hurled to the sky. The unmarked SUV slammed into reverse, kicking up gravel, separating the two vehicles, and allowing the witches to flee.

Davos surged toward the Suburban. Gedegwsets followed, each stride rumbling the forest. Savage stepped out of the vehicle. His jaw dropped, gawking at the giant.

“The Tanakee are over there! Get them!” Davos gestured.

Savage motioned. Four men hustled from the SUV, dressed in dark camouflage, wielding large rifles, hooting and hollering. Their bravado ceased when they saw Gedegwsets towering over them. They stopped and waited for Savage.

“Don’t just stand there!” he barked, pointing toward the cabin. “Get the animals! Go! Go! Go!”

The men peered again at Gedegwsets. They shrugged at each other and sprinted past the SUV, avoiding the giant by circling Teresa’s house. The giant roared and stepped to the backyard, cutting them off.

“It’s gonna kill my men!” Savage shrieked.

“Just get those creatures, Savage!” bellowed Davos. “I’ll take care of that abomination!”

His body once again rippled into a multitude of thin black shreds, rising into the air and circling the giant. Gedegwsets swatted at them like bothersome gnats. Savage’s men took advantage of the distraction, bolting toward the cowering group as Takota and Ayita stood out front.

“NO!” Enola separated from them and ran into the woods, compelling the men to follow.

“Enola! Wait!” Ayita sprinted to catch her friend, then she stopped and looked at Amelia. She sighed and returned to the girl’s side, gritting her teeth as the dark, winged snakes circled faster, striking at the giant with increased ferocity.

Teresa limped to the backyard, glancing at Jack and the others. Then she motioned to the woods.

“She wants us to run!” cried Amelia.

“I’m not leaving Mom!” Jack knelt beside Liz. “Mom, can you hear me?”

Her chest rose and fell but she didn’t respond.

“We don’t have time for this,” Takota lifted Liz’s shoulders onto his back and dragged her toward a trailhead into the forest. “Help me!”

Ayita took her legs. The two tiny creatures carried her to the path.

“Mommy!” Lily chased them. “Where are you taking Mommy!”

“Jack, let’s get out of here!” Amelia shouted above the giant’s groans and the rushing whirlwind created by the spiraling creatures. Gedegwsets picked up the tree again and smashed into the swarm, jettisoning several of them, wiping aside a large group of the things, only to have an even larger collection take their place.

The airborne serpents began to surround Teresa, snapping and biting her ankles and wrists. Turbulence blew the hood from her face, more exposed meat for their fangs. Teresa kept her sights on the book, one hand pointed rigidly toward the giant. Quickly, the mass of beings grew so dense Jack no longer saw her.

“Come on!” shouted Takota.

“Wait!” he stood steady. “How can we just leave her?”

Amelia answered, “She’s doing it so we can escape! Don’t you understand? Let’s GO!”

She took his hand and led him into the forest. He turned one more time. Both the giant and Teresa were encircled by dark serpents. The giant continued to fight. He snatched handfuls of the things, scooping them into his mouth and swallowing them whole. Teresa threw off her robe. It was covered with them. It gave her a slight reprieve but they closed in on her again, forcing her to her knees.

Jack held back from screaming. Teresa was sacrificing herself. He felt responsible, and needed to do something. He reached into his pocket. The O/A hummed and glimmered in his hand. He hoped the repairs Pud had made were enough. All he wanted was to scare off the Nagas. Or maybe it could have some other devastating result, like sending him to some faraway place, or even destroying him.

The grotesque things made Teresa collapse under their weight. They pinned her down, writhing and kicking, and tore her storybook to shreds, pages scattering in the wind. The giant became still, a puppet with no strings. Jack stepped out of the shadows, cradling the O/A in one hand.

“Jack! No!” Amelia shouted.

The individual serpents combined, becoming Davos’ human facade again. His skin lost all pigmentation and he glared at Jack.

“So, the True Soul and his Eteea machine. Well, child. Let’s see if you know how to use it!”