Heidegger saluted with one wingtip. “Consider it done!” He left the victory party and took flight almost the same moment he reached the outside. He lifted himself into the sky on silent wings, and was lost in the gloom a moment later.
“All right,” Orville said. “Meade, let’s get moving. Thomas is tricky, but he can’t deal with the both of us.”
“You…you want me along?” Meade asked.
Orville gave a grunt. “Just said that, didn’t I?”
“I’m coming too,” Vera said.
“And me.” Lenore raised her wing. “We’ll need all the help we can get. The woods get thick between here and Mirror Lake, and we don’t know what route Thomas took to get there.”
“If he’s going there at all,” Vera added, suddenly doubting her own guess. “Maybe he ran for the river, to steal a boat and get out of the area before dawn.”
“No way,” Lenore said. “He’s got revenge in his heart. Now that he’s lost his chance to pretend to be Edward, there’s no need to keep Dorothy alive. He’s going to kill her. Especially after everything he’s done to get to this point.”
“Less talk,” Orville growled. “More action.”
“That’s why you won,” Meade said.
And with that statement, the two bears charged out of the building, leaving bewildered partygoers behind.
Vera and Lenore did not stop to enlighten anyone, beyond offering Joe Jr. the briefest version of events. “Keep folks here if you can,” Vera added. “Thomas is a danger to anyone he encounters!”
“And what does that mean for you?” Joe asked, but his words were directed to empty air, because fox and raven had already left.
The cold night folded around Vera, a shock after the cozy warmth of the victory party. She dashed along the street, Lenore flying just overhead. “Direct route?” she called to her friend.
“You take the main path,” Lenore cawed back. “I’ll fly wider and let you know if I see anything funny. Be careful!”
Vera nodded, but how could a creature be careful in such a situation? Dorothy was in danger and didn’t even know it!
Vera raced through the dark woods, grateful for the marked path. Every so often a lantern was hung from a tree branch, not so much for illumination, but more for reassurance that a traveler was going the right way.
However, about halfway along, Vera came across a smashed lantern, the glass in pieces on the pathway. Ahead was only darkness.
“Lenore!” she called out to the sky.
A moment later, the raven landed in front of her, a patch of black against the already blackened scene. “All the lamps ahead are out,” she reported. “I could see when the pools of light ended. But any creature can find their way eventually. What’s his game?”
“Slow us down, maybe. Or he captured Dot this way, because she couldn’t see him in the darkness. Lenore, fly directly ahead to the house and see if any windows are uncovered. When I get there, I’ll signal. Let me know what you find.”
“Will do.” The raven took off again.
Vera moved more cautiously now, not certain what was going to happen. Thomas could easily be lurking behind one of these trees. Perhaps he allowed Orville and Meade to run by, only to lie in wait for Vera, the most persistent of the investigators.
She reached the Springfield house at last. It loomed dark and silent in the night, with the figures of the police bears in the front lawn, joined by the shape of an owl, and then the shape of a raven.
Vera hurried up to them. “No sign of Dorothy?”
“Nothing,” Orville said grimly. “But we saw tracks, one set of rat’s prints walking, and dragging something along. The tracks went right up to the house steps. I’m guessing Thomas waited in the woods for Dorothy to walk by, and…” He mimed hitting someone over the head.
“He dragged her all the way here,” Vera gasped. “They’re both inside!”
“All the doors are locked and all the windows are bolted,” Meade said. “Lenore thought she saw a light flickering inside, but then it went out.”
“If we break a window to get in, he’ll hurt Dorothy. She’s a hostage now.”
Vera nodded. “You two stay here. If Thomas is watching, he’ll see you dithering and think he’s safe. Lenore and Ambrosius, keep flying in circles. If he tries to escape, you’ve got to give a signal!”
“What about you?” Orville asked.
“I’m going to find some way in,” Vera vowed. “Dorothy isn’t going to face this creature alone.”
Vera left the group and edged around the house, looking for a route inside that Thomas might have missed. Knowing that Orville and Meade already checked the windows and doors, she skipped them, instead focusing on the lower part of the house, where the side gardens grew thickly. Perhaps there was a basement or a root cellar that connected to the main house.
What was that story Reverend Conkers told her at the funeral? Yes, she remembered! After a terrible storm, when a huge tree fell and blocked the front of the house, Adora simply used the storm cellar door.
Under the heavy branches of a yew, Vera saw a corner of wood that was not natural. Diving in below the yew, she found the side of a storm cellar door, now overgrown to such an extent that it was hidden entirely.
“Hello,” she murmured. The slanted planks of the door were still solid, and the door was held in place by a lock. But when Vera tugged at it, the lock dissolved into a puddle of rusted flakes.
She pried open the door and slipped into the dank space below.
Vera found herself in a dug-out basement with a dirt floor, several crates, and many shelves, some filled with preserved food in jars. She made her way to the staircase, and crept up slowly, praying that the steps wouldn’t creak and betray her.
After what seemed like an hour, she reached the top. Easing the door open, she emerged on the ground floor.
