This was one of those days in which Marcus just wanted to sleep in and not do any walking. The bed was far too comfortable and inviting to just abandon right away.

”This is what my body needed...I’ve been sore all over lately.”

He was awake, but didn’t budge; just soaking in the soothing caress of the thick, wooly blanket. Ronald and Cecilia slept near him; the bed being wide enough to accommodate them all.

”Maybe...one more hour...or two...” He desired, seeing the sky lightening up outside.

Just then, he heard a sound that made his ears perk up in wariness. There were two voices outside, but they weren’t any two voices...it was those of the two wolves that passed by them three days ago. They weren’t too loud to wake anyone up, but loud enough for Marcus to listen.

“You think he’s in one of these cabins?”

“That’s what I was told. I say we just break down every door till we see that cowardly monster.”

“Wait, shouldn’t we just try to sniff him out first before doing that? The less attention, the better.”

“Right...we don’t want to lose him yet again...”

It was then that Marcus promptly got out of bed.

- - - - - -

Ronald woke up an hour later, and was soon puzzled when he saw the new rug before the doorway. Where’d that come from? He climbed and hopped out of the bed, and went to find Marcus, who was making breakfast for everyone. Marcus heard the pitter-patter of his little feet as he entered the kitchen.

“Good morning!” He greeted happily as he mixed the batter for the waffles.

“Good morning...do I smell pancakes?” He asked, somewhat in disbelief. He hadn’t eaten anything like that for what seemed like weeks.

“Close; I’m making waffles. I know, I couldn’t believe this place had a waffle iron either. We’ll have some breakfast and then we’ll continue on our way. How was your sleep by the way?”

“The bed was really soft and cozy I thought I was going to sleep for days.”

“Me too.” He chuckled.

Ronald then changed the subject. “How come there’s a rug in front of the door? I don’t remember it being there.”

“Oh, I just put it out this morning. Do you like it?”

“It’s nice, but where did it come from?”

“It was in the small closet in the hallway. I felt that the space needed a little more something, so I looked around for some decoration, and found that rug.”

“But aren’t we leaving today anyways?”

“Yes...but maybe the guests after us would like it. Besides, I don’t think it’s been washed in a good while; and I was thinking the cleaning people should find that first thing when they come to clean and spray this cabin.”

“The rug looked fine to me.”

“It does, but I smelled the scent of at least three other animals on it.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot that wolves had strong noses.”

At this point, Marcus hoped Ronald would stop asking about the rug.

Cecilia woke up, and as soon as the sumptuous scent of waffle batter found her nose, she made a break for the kitchen.

“You’re just in time!” Marcus said as he finished making the last of the waffles. “we were about to eat all these delicious waffles ourselves.”

“Yeah right!”

So the three of them partook of their delicious food; Ronald not bringing up the rug again. Marcus was just glad that his plan apparently worked.

- - - - - -

After Marcus had relinquished the cabin back to the Site Manager, the traveling trio was on their way once more.

But they didn’t get very far before Marcus heard his name called.

“Marcus!”

He jumped at this, as though he had just seen a spooky ghost. Ronald and Cecilia instinctively hid behind him. He turned to see that it was actually nobody hostile or threatening. In fact, when he saw who called his name, he felt safer.

“Phil? Is that you?” Oh my goodness, how long has it been?”

“Ten years, at least!”

Ronald and Cecilia were no longer scared, though they didn’t know who this other wolf was. He seemed about the same age as Marcus.

“Wow, I can’t believe we would meet here again of all places. How have you been?” Marcus asked; Ronald and Cecilia still confused.

“I’ve been good, still trying to make ends meet. Who are these little critters?”

“This is Ronald, and this is Cecilia; we’re all going to Paradise Valley to find a new home. These two lost everything they had.”

“Oh, in the fire, I’m sure?”

“Yeah. What about you?”

“I’m moving there too, actually, and so are a lot of the other animals and humans.”

“I don’t blame them, especially if it’s as wonderful as everyone says it is. Heck, even the name is beautiful, so it must be great. Hey, um, you want to travel with us? The more, the merrier.”

“I would love to, but I actually just got here, and planned to rest up for the day. I’ve actually been walking all night.”

“Oh, wow. I guess you were really committed on getting here!”

“Heh, you could say that.”

“Well, don’t let me stop you from getting your sleep. I’ll see you later.”

“Of course; can’t wait to catch up more when we get there.”

The two acquaintances parted; Marcus happy that he got to see another familiar face.

“Who was that?” Cecilia inquired.

“Phil, we went to high school together. We weren’t, like, super great friends, but we got along okay. He’s a year younger than me, so we weren’t in the same classes, except for robotics.”

So Marcus led them around the lake’s edge, as the path forward was on the opposite side. There were a few fishing boats out in the middle of the water, as well as fishermen (and animals) waiting for their catch on the lake’s edge. The water seemed very clean and inviting, as though beckoning all passersby to jump n and enjy a swim.

”Maybe another time; we can come down here again and enjoy the lake. We have to get settled first.”

At the opposite side of the lake was a wooded area, denser than the forest Ronald and Cecilia grew up in. It looked darker as a result, and Cecilia was scared about entering.

“Is anything going to eat us in there?”

“As long as we stay on the path, we shouldn’t run into any trouble. I’m sure there are ferals in there, but the path won’t go anywhere near them.

“I wanna hide in the sack.” She insisted, still scared.

“Alright. Hop in.”

Marcus wore the bag about his neck. He was thankful Cecilia was so light, otherwise his neck would be sore. She was just heavy enough to be noticed, but not a burden. On the other hand, Ronald wasn’t scared; even if a hungry beast tried to get him, Marcus would surely show it who’s boss.

When they entered this forest, the sunlight was reduced by a lot. It wasn’t pitch black, but it reminded Ronald of what early dusk was like at the other forest.

“At least we have plenty of shade.”Marcus commented. “And we can still see the path.”

“This is so different from our old home; there’s so many more trees, and not as many animals.”

“Maybe we’ll see more when we go deeper.”

As they waked, Marcus related more about his school life, and some of the things he and Diane did together, mostly silly and innocent things. Ronald also talked about the orphanage, and what he remembered about his parents, which wasn’t much to begin with.

Up ahead, the path suddenly split into two, as if it suddenly became indecisive and wanted to go both ways.

“Hm, two paths? This seems odd...I was told there was just one path forward.” Marcus said.

“Maybe they both meet again somewhere ahead?” Ronald suggested, and then he saw a sign.

“What is that?”

Marcus noticed it, and his confusion was allayed. The sign was inconspicuously and inconveniently hidden behind some foliage. He walked over to it and brushed the leaves away.

“Ah, this is pointing to where we should keep walking if we want to get to Paradise Valley. The other path leads to the feral area, which I guess you’d be interested in if you were hunting. I’m glad you aught that.” He said to Ronald.

“So which way do we go?”

“Left.”

So with that, Marcus continued leading the way through the dark forest, confident that they were going in the right direction. Just then, a squirrel darted across the path in front of them, seeming oblivious to them.

“Whoa, were you hiding in there the whole time?” Marcus asked, but instead of a reply, it darted away, as though fleeing from a predator.

“What was weird; are we actually going the right way?” Ronald asked.

“We should be; the sign was pointing this way after all. Maybe that squirrel escaped somehow from the enclosure.” Marcus answered, and then trembled as he considered the implications.

If that squirrel escaped...why not a bear? Or a wolverine?

”Maybe it got through a tiny opening that those things can’t exit out from anyways.”

Speaking of enclosures, the two had walked right up against a giant fence; much like a boundary intended to keep certain things inside, and certain things out.

“Uh, what? This surely can’t be the feral enclosure, unless someone messed with that sign.”

“Maybe someone’s pranking us?” Ronald offered. “Kind of like how you and Diane pranked the school one time by swapping the “cafeteria” and “gym” signs.”

“Ha, I guess it is, but this is worse. Someone who doesn’t know any better ould get seriously hurt by a wild animal in there. We should go back and flip the sign.”

It was a good plan, but there was a small problem in their way.

A big, brown bear...standing right on the path behind them.

Ronald immediately dove for cover under Marcus’ body, but Marcus did not move. It didn’t seem to notice them, and all they could do was hope and pray it would walk away or get distracted by some other animal.

”That thing could kill someone! Where’s the ranger?!” Marcus knew about how these enclosures were supposed to work; if the enclosure was breached, an alarm would go off in the ranger station. The ranger would look at the surveillance camera and see whether it was a hunter walking in or out, or if an animal had broken loose. If it was the latter, and if the animal was dangerous, he or she would immediately notify surrounding towns via radio, and those towns would enforce a prompt lock-down for all citizens. The ranger would also dispatch a team to quickly locate the creature and coax it back into its area.

The trio continued to avoid being seen; Marcus and Ronald just standing there and remaining quiet. However, Cecilia had just gotten up from a nap, and had no idea of the danger she was in.

“Mister Marcus, can I get out of the bag now?” She loudly asked, causing the bear to face their direction. He had no intention of fighting the wolf, but those two squirrels looked like the perfect lunch. Cecilia saw the bear and screamed. Out of instinct, she darted out of the bag and scurried up the nearest tree. The bear started walking in that direction, not wanting his lunch to get away.

“Stay here.” Marcus commanded Ronald and raced to the same tree. He faced the bear with claws extended and fangs exposed. Ronald had never seen him like that before; he actually looked scarier than the bear. His heart raced and teeth chattered; the lives of his sister and guardian were on the line. At the very least, the bear wasn’t focused on him any longer.

Marcus barked threateningly at the bear, and then took a few small steps toward him. He really did not want to fight this bear; he knew how strong his arms were; he had heard of people being killed with a single strike to the head. All Marcus had were his fangs and claws, and hopefully, greater agility than this beast.

Marcus continued his slow approach to the bear, and thankfully, it was backing off. The last thing he wanted to do was show fear and appear like prey. Despite being shorter than the bear, he had to appear like he was the bigger one of the two. He let out some more angry barks, not giving up any ground.

Eventually, help did arrive. A small dart fired from the darkness of the brush, striking the bear in the side. It didn’t cause him much pain, but it did make him lose enough energy to lose consciousness. The team that the ranger had sent out managed to coerce the bear into a sleep, and after he was down, others emerged to deal with taking him back in where he was supposed to be.

“Thank you, but why was that bear out?” Marcus was both relieved and angry. Cecilia was still up in the tree, scared and crying, and Ronald had run up the tree to assure her they were okay now.

“We don’t know yet. We think it was a hunter who left the gate open by mistake. We are very sorry about this.”

“And the sign back at the fork pointed us in this direction, even though we didn’t want to wind up in this spot.” He added, even though he knew there was nothing they could’ve done about that.

“We will look into that; a new sign was installed this morning, and perhaps whoever did it did a poor job. Are you and either of your children hurt?” The worker asked, genuinely trying to be helpful in any way.

Marcus wanted to correct him and say those weren’t his kids, but then decided not to. “Yes, we haven’t been hurt in any way, just terrified.”

The ranger had even shown up in person to apologize to Marcus and the children, though they still remained up in the tree. He also offered them some kind of compensation for what they went through. Marcus accepted, not so much because he felt like they owed him, but because he had brought with him no money or currency along, and thought it would be useful in their new home. He also asked if they knew who was responsible for leaving the gate open, and they said they did, and that they were going to find him, as well as take greater measures that this doesn’t happen again.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Marcus assured Cecilia that it was safe to come down now, and that the bear wasn’t going to hurt her. She was still hesitant, and it wasn’t until Ronald impatiently urged her that she darted down the tree and hopped right into the bag.

The bear was taken away from the road, and the three of them resumed their journey. Everyone’s hearts were still racing.

“Thank you for protecting us.” Ronald said, his voice still a little shaky.

“How are you feeling?” He asked Ronald.

“I was scared...even more than when we met the first time, and I thought you were going to eat us.”

“We can at least be thankful we all made it out of that unhurt; I’m really mad at whoever let that bear out; how could someone be that careless? That thing could’ve gotten to the cabin site and really hurt, or even killed someone. I’m glad that the ranger acted quickly, as did the animal team.”

“I hope the rest of the way isn’t like that; I’ve gotten scared too many times this week and I just want to know for once I’m perfectly safe.”

“You and me both...”

The walk for the next few hours wasn’t so dangerous; by late afternoon, Ronald was now sitting on Marcus’ back; his feet tired.

“There’s a rest area coming up in a mile.” Marcus read the sign on the side of the road. “It should be our last stop before we reach Paradise Valley; can you believe we’re almost there?”

“This journey went by pretty fast. I thought it would be really boring, but you made it fun...I wish you had been our guardian at the orphanage instead.”

Marcus was flattered to hear those words, but also had questions. “Thank you, that is kind of you to say, but why didn’t you like your guardians back home? Did they not treat you all right?”

“They did, but...I don’t know, I got this feeling that they didn’t care about us as much as they should’ve. How do I explain it...” Ronald paused, trying to find the right words. “They made sure we were safe, and always had food, water, and had a bed to sleep in, but they never spent that much time with us. I, um, never felt like I had a mom or dad over there. With our guardians, it was like, ‘here’s all the stuff you need to live, but just don’t bother us that much, okay?’ It was like...”

“Like they were there just because it was their job.” Marcus finished his sentence.

“Yeah, exactly. There was also another thing that happened that made me think they didn’t care about us or love us.”

“What was that?”

- - - - - -

Twenty Months Ago

It was two in the morning, but Ronald had been woken up by a nightmare. He looked around the room and saw he hadn’t woken up any of the other children. Cecilia was sleeping near him, still peaceful and undisturbed. The contents of his terrible dream, which involved falling down a bottomless pit, made him start crying. He got up and tried to find one of the adults so they could make him feel better.

“Mrs. Hill?” He called out as he walked toward her office. The light was on inside, so he took that as an invitation to walk right in. After all, she said that any of the children could come to her for help whenever the light was on at night. They could also find Mr, Hill, her husband, as they both owned this place.

There was no reply, so Ronald called her name again. When he got no reply the second time, he knocked on the door.

“A minute, please, thank you.”

Ronald paid closer attention and could hear she was in the middle of a conversation. Was it on the phone? Probably; her voice was the only one that was really audible to him. Who was she talking to?

“Yeah...thank you so much for sending those two squirrels our way. We have enough children here now to qualify for that funding you were telling us about.”

Two squirrels? She must have been referring to Ronald and Cecilia. He didn’t know what “qualify” and “funding” meant, but he thought they meant something good, by the way she used the word.

“So the money will behere by next week? Perfect...”

Money? Is everyone getting money? Ronald was now more interested and kept listening.

“...I don’t remember, I think their names were, like, Robert and Cynthia? Hold on...” Ronald heard the sound of papers being shuffled. “Ah, Ronald and Cecilia.”

”She forgot our names?”

“...Yeah, like it even matters.” She laughed. “As long as they’re registered here, that’s all I care about. As my husband says, more children, more money!”

”Huh? What does she mean? Is she letting us stay here so she can get money?” Suddenly, this place he thought would be a good home didn’t feel much like one anymore.

“I feel a little gross saying it, but it’s almost a blessing for us that these kids lost their parents. I wonder if that’s how doctors feel when they have sick patients. Anyways, I’m gonna hang up now; I have some last-minute business to take care of...see ya, bye.”

And with that Ronald simply went back to bed. She didn’t seem like the type to be interested in caring for stricken children. From then on, he didn’t try associating very much with the owners, knowing that they only saw him and Cecilia as walking bags of money.

- - - - - -

“That’s pretty bad; even if they did provide you with shelter, and food, and all the stuff you need to live, it seemed like they didn’t do it from a caring or loving heart.”

“Yeah, and that is why I have a hard time trusting anyone, especially grown-ups. Is money the only thing they ever want?”

“Well...I won’t lie, it IS a good thing to have when you are a grown-up. For me, I don’t need much of it because I can live totally off nature, but if there’s anything I want that’s only in a store, then I need to have money to get it. We do want money, but of course, it shouldn’t be the main goal in life, as though you exist only to have money. We earn money to provide for ourselves and for others. It sounded like Mr. And Mrs. Hill were more interested in the money itself and not you, Cecilia, or any of the other children.”

That was an accurate summation of what Ronald thought, so he couldn’t add anything to that.

In the early evening hours, the three of them arrived at another cabin site. It wasn’t as big as the previous one, but seemed sufficient for housing them through the night. Like the previous cabins, these ones were free to stay in, at least for one night. Ronald was in the mood for playing with Cecilia again, but she was still shaken up over the terrifying encounter with the bear.

“Come on, it’ll take your mind off of it. It scared me too, but it doesn’t mean we can’t play and be happy.” He urged her.

“I wanna hide under the covers.” She stated, as though the bear had been following them and was specifically looking for her.

"The bear’s not gonna get you; they took care of it.”

“What if he escaped again?”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t come all this way just to get you.”

Marcus intervened. “We should just let her sit this one out; she’ll get over it eventually.” He picked her up. “Do you just want to go to bed then?”

She nodded.

“Let em tuck you in.”

Marcus laid her down on one side of the bed and maneuvered the blankets so that they would cover her up to her neck.

“Is that good?”

She nodded. “Thank you, Mister Marcus.”

Just then, they heard a soft and steady roll of thunder in the distance, and Cecilia went completely under the blankets. First a bear, and now a storm? This wasn’t her day.

“It’s okay, Cecilia, the thunder’s not going to hurt you.”

“I’m scared of lightning.” She answered, meaning thunder, but not knowing the difference.

“I promise you it’ll stay out there; our cabin is nice and safe.” He gently patted her, seeing that she was shaking under the blankets. Eventually, his calming touch made her fall asleep, and she was no longer shaking.

“Poor thing had a rough day; it’s safe to say we all did.” He left stroking Cecilia and went to prepare something for himself and Ronald to eat for dinner. The storm passed them overhead, bringing in lots of rain and intermittent lightning. The blankets provided enough of a sound barrier for Cecilia, allowing her to sleep through it.

The two who remained awake enjoyed their supper mostly in silence; the day’s events wearing them down and causing them to reflect. The only sounds were that of chewing, Cecilia’s slow breathing, and the downpour of rain drumming in a relentless cadence against the roof.

Ronald opted for just going to bed after finishing up. As scary as the bear was, his thoughts consisted mainly of what he imagined Paradise Valley to be. He imagined tall and sturdy trees everywhere, vibrant flower beds, sparkling rivers and lakes, bright blue skies above; it would surely be a place of perfect pulchritude. There would be no fires, there would be no trouble, there would be no bad people who only loved money.

It would be perfect.

A life without trouble...that’s the dream...”

- - - - - -

At about four the next morning, Ronald had woken up. He didn’t know why he woke up; maybe it was a bad dream he couldn’t remember. He looked about himself and suddenly realized that neither Marcus nor Cecilia were there. He was about to panic before he heard the wolf’s voice coming from the little kitchen. The light was on, and it sounded like he was talking to someone...softly. His voice was barely above a whisper, making it hard for Ronald to understand what he was saying.

Ronald rubbed his eyes and hopped out of the bed, curious as to what was happening. He stepped into the kitchen and saw Marcus standing by the window; his back toward Ronald. He didn’t acknowledge the boy’s presence; his attention on the younger sibling.

“It’s just a dream...you’re safe and sound, Cecilia...”

He appeared to be cradling her. Ronald could hear his sister sniffling and crying Ronald remained reticent, letting the two alone.

“Do you promise you’ll keep the bad scary bears away?”

“Of course; I won’t let them anywhere near you. You want to go back to sleep now?”

She nodded, and when Marcus turned around to put her to bed, he noticed Ronald standing there. The little squirrel suddenly felt embarrassed.

“Ronald, I didn’t know you were up. Do you want anything?”

“I, um, I was just getting some water.” He lied and went to go fetch some water.

“Alright, but it’l be morning in a few hours, so don’t stay up too much longer.”

“I won’t.”

After taking his drink of water, Ronald went back to bed, and just as he had started to climb in, Marcus had finished tucking Cecilia in, and then, very lightly on her forehead, gave her a kiss good night.

“Sweet dreams, okay?”

“Good night Mister Marcus.” She replied, yawned, and then went to sleep. Marcus then gave Ronald a light hug with his paw, not leaving him out.

“You too, Ronald.”

“Good night...”

Marcus had drifted to sleep, but Ronald was wide awake. He knew Marcus was a nice person, but what he saw this night took a very surreal and heart-wrenching turn.

”Is he trying to be our dad?

Ronald’s eyes began to mist over...he began to recall his memories of his parents, and there was a lot of connections he was making between them and how Marcus was treating them, especially Cecilia in the past five minutes. Out of fear for starting a potentially awkward conversation, Ronald never mentioned how he wanted to live with Marcus as his adopted son, now that he trusted him a lot more. Despite keeping this to himself, it seemed as if Marcus knew what he was thinking, and was playing the part. Ronald never brought it up because he thought that Marcus had other family plans. He was a completely different species after all, and even if Marcus loved them enough to take them in as his own, what if he married a wife in the future who didn’t want them?

The mist in Ronald’s eyes had started to become tears. He missed so much having a real mom and dad. Mr. and Mrs. Hill were flimsy excuses, being people who put in minimal work as caretakers. He wanted something that resembled a normal life again, with adults that actually cared about him and his sister. He felt lost without parents, and though Marcus wasn’t one, he seemed to know what he was doing. He didn’t want to get his hopes up though, if Marcus had other plans, then there was nothing else to do but once again live in an orphanage.

- - - - - -

When morning came, Ronald was surprised to wake up yet again to a storm. There wasn’t one a few hours ago, when he was up, so this one must have come swiftly and suddenly.

It was also worst than the previous one.

Marcus was standing at the window, looking out at the road which had now become a shallow river. Cecilia was still sleeping.

“It’s raining again? Do you think we’ll be able to get anywhere today?”

“I don’t know,” Marcus answered frankly. “It’s safer to ride this out before taking off again. That river out there could easily wash you two away.

Ronald sighed. “So, I guess we have to stay in for now.”

“Yep. It’s fine though; it’s not like we’re in a rush.”

“True, I guess.” Ronald sounded bored.

“I’m sure we’ll be able to find something to do while we’re here. The important thing is that we’re all together, and at the least, we can enjoy each other’s company.”

Ronald let out a smile. That sounded like family talk. “I’m okay with that.”

So maybe today was going to be a slow one, but if it meant enjoying having a family again, then Ronald had nothing to complain about.

Meanwhile...the WANTED poster that Ronald first saw days ago was all but forgotten. Even if that was Marcus, he had no reason to believe anymore he was a bad guy. Oh, and speaking of that poster...

It was forging its way up this mountain path.

Towards Paradise Valley.