After Phil had left, the two children re-emerged to continue untying their dad’s fetters. Ronald was just as outraged and disgusted as his dad was at Phil’s betrayal, but there was no time to stop and analyze it. At this point, Marcus’ best bet of survival was just going out somewhere into the mountains and surviving on his own.
“Kids...I love you both very much, and I thank you for trying to free me, but you really shouldn’t be here right now. They’ll certainly hurt you, or worse, if they see what you’re doing?”
“Are you saying we should just leave you and let them kill you?!”
“I’m not saying that at all...I think it would be safer for you to go back to the town and find help.”
“But that’ll take forever!”
“But it’s safer; I cannot have you get mixed up with these people.”
“But what if they try to kill you today, and we don’t make it back in time?”
“You have a chance; Phil mentioned that survivors from the forest would be getting here to watch me die, and if they’re still back in the forest, they won’t get here for a while. If you send for help, I could get out of this in time.”
Ronald didn’t want to leave his dad behind, but as he nor his sister were making progress on these tough cables, they had little choice but to do what their dad asked.
“We’ll go lightning fast!” Ronald assured him as he and Cecilia sped away.
“Be careful!” He called after them, seeing their little tails wave in the air as they ran. Some tears rolled down his face, thinking that this would be the last time he ever saw them.
- - - - - -
It was a miracle that Marcus got any sleep at all. It wasn’t until late morning when the bear came by with some moldy bread, spoiled fish, and rotten eggs for the prisoner.
“Someone told me that fish was your meat of choice, so I got you this.”
“What’s the point? I’m going to just throw that up, along with that bread, and those eggs.”
“Ah, I’m sure you’ll get some nourishment from these.” He dangled the fish in front of Marcus’ nose; the odor making him wince.
“You know, if you’re going to be feeding me like this, I may not even survive to the day you decide to kill me, whenever that is, and isn’t that what you guys wanted? If I die of starvation, you probably wouldn’t get as much satisfaction from that. I am not going to eat this food.”
“Darn...that’s not a bad point you bring up. As painful as it’d be for you to die of starvation, it would be much more satisfying to watch you scream and howl as you slowly burn to a crisp.”
“By the way, when will all my guests be arriving for my execution?”
“Eh, probably not for another week. Some of them are stragglers, but I know that they’re really looking forward to this, as am I.”
“Well, I guess we got a while then. We could always talk in the meantime; what’s your name?”
The bear shook his head. “No way, I’m not going down this road with you. I see what you’re doing; if you can establish some kind of “rapport” with me, then that might convince me to “soften up” and “feel bad for you.” You don’t need to know my name, or anything else about me.”
“That’s interesting you would come to that conclusion; all I did was ask for a name, and you quickly made that excuse, as though there was a chance you would feel bad about doing what you’re doing.”
“I wouldn’t feel bad giving you what you deserve.”
“Then why worry about making some kind of connection with me, even if it’s just your name? If you don’t feel bad about making me pay for my crimes, why even allude to the possibility you would feel bad?”
“I don’t know, man, I guess it just means we have a conscience. What’s with the philosophical mumbo-jumbo all of a sudden?”
“You would feel bad because you know you’re not doing the right thing. You know I didn’t cause that fire on purpose; Phil knows this too, and has even told me thus. He told me last night he’s killing me simply because he hates me for some reason he didn’t disclose at the time. You’re doing this to me, not because you think I deserve this, but because he put you up to it. You’re willing to destroy someone’s life just because you were told to do it, not for justice’s sake.”
“Marcus...you are an idiot, so I’m just going to leave now. I’ll get you better food like you asked, and then I’m out of here.”
The bear said nothing more on the matter. When he came back with the food, he made sure to feed it to Marcus at a fast enough rate to keep him from talking to him.
The bear left right as Marcus was given his last bite, not saying a word.
“Thank you.” Marcus said to him, though he knew he’d get no reply. The bear seemed angry, nearly slamming the door before racing away. It was as though Marcus’ words were a disease he didn’t want to catch.
”Come on, Mister bear, you know I’m right. Your silent anger speaks volumes.”
He then turned his thoughts to Ronald and Cecilia, and let out a stressful sigh. Not knowing whether they were still okay or not was unfathomable; he couldn’t be out there with them, protecting and leading them along the way. What if they had gotten lost? What if some feral predator found and killed them? What if they never got to reunite? As their dad, these thoughts were breaking his heart; he wanted their safety more than his own. He started having reservations about sending them out to get help, but also remembered that there was really nothing safe they could’ve done. Staying here with him would surely have gotten them found and treated harshly by his captors. His blood ran cold as he thought about what might have happened had the bear found Ronald and Cecilia trying to free him. He would’ve liked for them to have stayed back home, but it was too late to change that. He was touched that his own children were willing to put themselves in danger for him, but he’d rather it be the other way around.
- - - - - -
Ronald and Cecilia had traveled the rest of the night; adrenaline overpowering their fatigue. Ronald was the more motivated of the two, having lost his parents, the orphanage, and now perhaps Marcus. It was unthinkable to him to lose basically three sets of parents, and he was resolved to make sure his dad lived on.
Throughout the night, the two simply followed a road, hoping it would take them to a city. Neither of them really knew who’d they try to ask for help, but Ronald knew he’d have to overcome his distrust of strangers and ask for the help of one of them.
“How far do we have to go?” Cecilia asked with a whiny tone.
“I don’t know!” He snapped at her. “You keep asking that! Why would you think I’d know this time?”
Cecilia didn’t respond; her brother rarely ever yelled at her like that, but when he did, it shut her down from saying anything. He felt bad about it right after the words left his mouth; he was angry and stressed about what was happening, and he took it out on her.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled at you.” He confessed. “Forgive me?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “I know you’re not mad at me. I’m sorry I kept bugging you.”
“Not a problem...let’s just focus on getting to a city. I hope we’re close to one.”
The morning sky was bright and blue, and yet the siblings felt like they were in a choking darkness of evil. Close to noon, the two of them were exhausted and starving, and yet Ronald felt like if he went to sleep, he would lose precious hours and not find help in time.
“Cecilia...I can’t...go on. We need to sleep.”
She seemed relieved to hear that. There was a tree conveniently placed for them not far away, and the two clambered up its trunk and went to sleep.
- - - - - -
Ronald woke up first, and despite the fact that the sun hadn’t moved terribly far from when he took his slumber, it had felt like a long time. He felt better and more energized. He was tempted to wake Cecilia so they could get going, but decided against it. If she was still tired and sluggish, they wouldn’t get too far anyways. He looked out from his vantage point, and saw the city they were once living in. He felt accomplished for having gotten this far with just Cecilia, but he also felt a pang of sadness. This was the city where they had just started their lives over, and it was up to him to see if they could ever get it back.
”God...please save my dad...and please make everyone see that he’s not a bad guy. He means a lot to me, and I-I don’t want him to die...” Ronald blurted out this prayer, his heart heavy with worry. Cecilia woke up a half-hour later, and he wanted to get her in a rush so they could just go.
“I’m so hungry...” She groaned, causing her brother to sigh.
“This tree has some nuts on its. Eat some real quick and let’s go.” He said, his foot tapping impatiently. He had already eaten, and was just waiting for his sister to finish.
By the time they got moving again, it was about four in the afternoon. The city was about two miles away, but that still seemed too far.
“I hope we make it before it gets dark.” Ronald said. “It was hard to see anything last night.”
“Do you think there’s animals out here that might eat us?” Cecilia asked. “What if a hungry bear finds us?”
“We’ll outrun him, but let’s not worry about that right now. I think they always live in forests, but we’re in an open field.”
“But what if he’s looking for food out here?”
“I don’t know, I’m sure we’ll be able to escape him, but can we stop worrying about that right now? I’m more worried about dad than anything. Bears aren’t on my mind right now.”
When they were about a mile away from the city, the squirrels noticed another animal walking in their direction. Ronald froze, trying to discern what it was.
”It has four legs, but it’s taller than a wolf...Is that a deer?”
Cecilia hid behind him, but he told her to not do that. “It’s just a deer, you don’t need to fear.”
The squirrels tried avoiding the deer just because they didn’t want to draw attention at the moment, but as it turned out, the deer was purposefully approaching them.
“Hello? Children?” She asked.
“What now?” Ronald grumbled, not in the mood for meaningless conversation.
“I’m sorry to bother you, but I am looking for someone. I was told he was out here somewhere.”
“What is he?”
“A wolf. His name is Marcus.”
Ronald had to stop himself from lifting an eyebrow. “Huh, a wolf named Marcus...Who is he?”
“Oh, well, he’s someone I would like to, uh, give a piece of my mind to...”
“What does that mean?”
“Long story short, he had hurt and killed some of my friends and family in a forest fire a week ago. I want to see him pay for what he did.”
As bad as Ronald felt for her, having lost family himself, he did not want her to find out where he was. What if she planned to hurt or maim him? He was tied helplessly to that tree, so he was at the mercy of whoever wanted to do him harm.
“Oh, you know what? I did hear about him, now that you mention it.” Ronald said to her. “He’s actually, uh, that way!”
He pointed in the opposite direction of where Marcus was.
“Really? I heard that he was somewhere over there.” She gestured in the right direction.
“No, I don’t know where you heard that, but it’s definitely that way. I saw some other animals going that way a few hours ago.”
“Huh, guess I don’t know my way around after all! Well, thanks for helping out.”
“Of course, glad I could do that.”
Cecilia was always there to tattle on him whenever he fibbed, but she knew she would’ve done the same thing.
After they had long disappeared, Ronald brought this up with his sister.
“You better not tell dad what I did if we ever get back together again. I know you like being a little tattle-tale whenever I do something wrong.”
“I’m not.” She replied. “I would’ve fibbed too to her.”
It was then Ronald had a crazy idea about making a large sign somehow that advertised Marcus’ location in a totally wrong location, but only was that not feasible, it wouldn’t even be plausible. His sloppy, kiddy handwriting would be the first giveaway.
By the time it was dark, Ronald and Cecilia found their apartment. When they made it up to their own room, they were shocked to see that the door was still wide open. Whoever managed this complex never shut the door for some reason, though that may have been good for the two children.
They walked inside and Ronald turned on the lights. To his further amazement, it didn’t look like anything had been touched since last night. The blankets on their beds were still in a disheveled mess, there were still some toys left on the ground, and their footwear was still where they had last left it.
The scene was surreal.
“Ronald? What do we do now?”
“I’m...thinking...”
His mind was elsewhere. Seeing how things were just laid here and there, as if nothing had changed, was depressing. He hopped up onto his dad’s bed and looked at some of his things.
“He was using these things just yesterday...you know...when things were better...”
His voice was somber and heavy. This was like the days following the loss of his parents. One day, both of them were out on a tree branch, talking and minding their own business. Without warning, a strong windstorm swooped in and began rattling the trees; the tops of them being the worst hit. Mom and dad had tried to traverse the branch to get back to the house, but the erratic gusts were not to allow that. It just took one ill-timed blast of wind to knock them off balance and send them falling to their demise. Ronald did not see this happen, but after the short, but violent storm, he went out to look for them, and all he had to do was look down.
Two lifeless bodies that once housed their souls.
He was sent cascading into an irreversible state of panic and horror when he tried to wake them up, only to realize that was not going to happen. He cried and cried, begging for them to get up; he was eventually compelled to stop when the authorities had to collect their bodies and lay them to rest in a cemetery. Back up at their home, Cecilia was looking for mommy and daddy in their room.
“Mama? Dada? Where are you?”
Her brother made it back up to their house, and despite nothing inside having changed, nothing was really the same either. In the family room were two chairs; by one of them was a book his dad was in the middle of reading. By the other one was a half-written letter his mother was working on to send to a friend. In the kitchen were the vegetables mom was going to chop up and add to a big family salad, and on the counter were dad’s glasses.
“Ronald? Where mama and dada?”
He knew the truth would’ve been the right thing to say, but he wasn’t sure she’d understand, and nor did he have the heart to do it.
“They...they went to the store...but they said they’re getting lots and lots of things...”
He felt awful the moment he uttered that lie, but even he didn’t want ot believe they were really gone. He hoped Cecilia would not ask about them anymore; she was barely two, and not likely to remember her parents. It was tragic, but at least she wouldn’t be carrying that pain with her, like Ronald would.
It was the same in the apartment. He didn’t know if Marcus was still alive, but seeing his things just left around the place summoned those painful memories again.
”Dad, I don’t want to lose you...not again...”
As he was standing on Marcus’ bed, he began to sob.
“Ronald? Why are you crying?” She hopped onto the bed with him.
“Oh, it’s...nothing.” He sniffled. “I was just having some sad thoughts about dad.”
“But can’t someone still help us? Can we call the cops?”
“Yeah, of course...” Certainly they could help, but what if they found out about who Marcus was? Even if they knew the truth about him, he had still done wrong in the eyes of the law. A fire started on accident did the same amount of damage a fire started on purpose would. But then...who else could he get help from? Unless he sought the help of a random stranger, the cops would have to be his go-to solution.
“Here’s what we’ll do; we’ll get some sleep tonight, and then tomorrow, we’ll go around the place and ask if someone wants to help us.”
“Why can’t we call the cops?”
“Because...because the thing is, well, dad is not totally, a hundred-percent innocent.”
“Huh?”
“Dad told me that the fire was his fault, but it was an accident. He never wanted to hurt anyone.”
Somehow, Cecilia didn’t seem overly disturbed by that revelation. The image of her dad she had formed in her mind was so perfect and loving that even this didn’t knock her off her boat. It was a luxury to be so young that you don’t have any baggage.
“So? Everyone does accidents!”
“Yeah, but even if you break the law on accident, it’s still bad and you can go to jail.”
Cecilia still didn’t understand his line of reasoning, at least not yet. Ronald shut the door, locked it, and immediately hopped in his bed to get some good sleep. Tomorrow was going to be crucial; getting help right away would be huge, especially if he got the help of a much bigger animal or human...or multiple animals or humans. Of course, he remembered Phil, and was forced to consider that even the people you thought you could trust could be the biggest traitors.
”Maybe if I find someone who doesn’t know Marcus, they won’t have a reason to hurt him.”
“Good night, Ronald.”
“Good night, Cecilia...I love you.”
“I love you too.”
The two huddled beside each other right against the pillow and under the blankets. They stayed warm and comfy throughout the night.
- - - - - -
Ronald didn’t get much sleep, much like last time. He got a generous four hours before the stress of his situation caught up to him. It was still dark out, but maybe some people would be up right now. Maybe someone was up who would be willing to set aside their day just to help save his dad.
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”That is asking a lot...would anyone actually care enough to do that?”
He grabbed some food from the kitchen and ate until he felt satisfied and energized. He then woke up his sister so she could get ready to go.
“I’m so tired...” She tried to go back to sleep.
“But we gotta save dad! Why do you have to be frustrating?”
“Let me sleep...” She closed her eyes and dozed off again.
It was no use; Cecilia would just slow him down I nthis state, so he had to wait.
”No one’s probably out anyways, so why am I in a rush?”
This situation had brought out the heaping piles of impatience in him, causing him to be short with with Cecilia. He hated being like this, but couldn’t help it.
The sun was starting to come up two hours later, and Ronald tried to wake her up again.
“I’m tired.” She yawned.
“You said that two hours ago; you’re not tired, you just want to be lazy.”
That was partially true; Cecilia got up so she could give him a piece of her mind.
“I’m not lazy!”
“I said you want to be lazy; that’s different.”
“That’s not true! I don’t want to be lazy! I want to help dad too!”
“See? You’re not tired at all; all I had to do was start an argument with you. Go eat something, and we’ll go find help.”
- - - - - -
The past twenty-four hours for Marcus had felt like twenty-four centuries. Despite being able to eat and talk, he couldn’t lie down. He had been standing on his hind legs the entire time, and they were feeling very weak and sore. When the bear had returned to give him his food, he had requested that he be able to move around freely for just a little while.
“Let you free? Do you think I’m stupid?”
“My legs are completely giving out.” He grunted, clearly in a lot of pain.
“You should’ve thought of that before burning our forest down.”
“Not to mention that I’ve not been able to do anything, you know, bathroom-related since you tied me up. Unless you’d like me to just go right here-”
The bear untied him in a hurry and let him do what he had to do.
Marcus came back to the tree five minutes later; his back legs feeling stiff. Walking looked painful for him, and the bear let out a small sigh.
“You know what...you can walk around for a little bit longer, but don’t you dare leave my sight.”
“Thank you.”
Marcus meandered around casually, letting his leg muscles be put into use again. He walked around and sniffed the flowers and peeked inside the different bushes as though trying to find something. The bear noticed him stall at one particular bush for about a minute, with his back turned toward him. It was odd, but nothing was done that would’ve aroused suspicion.
Twenty more minutes had passed before he was told to return.to the tree. He obliged with nary a complaint.
“All better?”
“Yes, that walk really helped. Thank you again.”
“Stop thanking me; so what if I felt a little bad for you? It’s nothing special.”
“It is, and I’m not going to shut up about it. You wouldn’t feel bad for me if you truly thought I was the monster other people think I am. Wouldn’t you want to make sure I was in as much pain as possible before my death?”
“No, I’m not like that.”
“Think about the worst possible crime someone could ever commit, something so bad that you would love to see them screaming and writhing in agony. How would you be treating me if I had done something you would consider most unthinkable?”
“I guess, I’d be a lot meaner, but what you did was also unthinkable.”
“You know what I did was an accident. You know that I don’t deserve to go through what you and the others are putting me through. I shouldn’t be put to death for this.”
The bear sighed, getting frustrated and cornered by Marcus’ calm demeanor and reasonable statements. He agreed that this wasn’t right; reparations or jail time would’ve made a lot more sense, but Phil really wanted him dead, and who was he to let his close friend down?
“Marcus...I am sorry.” He had confessed. “You don’t deserve this...but for reasons I don’t want to explain, I can’t let you go...I’m sorry.”
With that, he headed for his car.
“Hey, wait!”
The bear ignored him and just sped off.
- - - - - -
The first place Ronald and Cecilia headed down to was the place where their dad worked. Had they known he went missing the previous day? Did the boss, who was always running everywhere, notice the one absent employee?
Ronald, naturally skeptical of grown-ups he didn’t know too well, had to put his distrust aside for his dad’s sake. Harold looked intimidating; he was bigger than Marcus was, had a voluminous, flowing mane, was more muscular, older, and his position as a boss made him even more unapproachable.
“Are you going to ask him?” Cecilia asked, not scared whatsoever.
“Yes...it’s ust, that, he’s talking to someone else right now.” He replied, which was true, but wasn’t the reason.
Harold was done giving an employee instructions when he noticed the two squirrels. Ronald became frozen and dumbstruck, but Cecilia had no fear.
“Mister Boss? Can you help us?” She ran up to him.
“You’re Marcus’ kids, aren’t you? Where Is he? Is he okay?”
She shook her head. “He was tooken! We want help!”
“Kidnapped?”
Ronald finally spoke up. “Y-yes. A bear, a human, and two other wolves came to our apartment two nights ago and kidnapped him. They tied him to a tree and they’re gonna kill him!”
“Unbelievable...this is horrible. Hold on, I’m going to help you out. Wait here.”
They waited as he spoke to someone on the telephone. Was it the police? Perhaps, though Ronald didn’t want them to get involved. He was hoping someone would instead go down there him- or herself and help their dad. Harold returned to them.
“I called the police. They want to come down and ask you some questions. Are you okay with that?”
“Yeah. Thank you Mister Boss.” Cecilia answered.
“Thank you.” Ronald echoed.
“You’re welcome, and you two stay here until we close down for the day. I’ll let you stay with me until they find your dad. You two shouldn’t be by yourselves.”
He promptly returned to his job. Ronald wanted to mention how he and his sister managed a torturous, all-day journey by themselves, but thought better of it. Harold was being nice to them, and turning down his offer would’ve been foolish. He seemed trustworthy.
Later, a police officer, a red fox, arrived and asked the children about everything that happened. Ronald explained how it was the middle of the night, that the kidnappers pretended to be police, how they drove off far away from their home, and how they tied him to a tree. When asked if they knew where he was taken, they couldn’t reply with a specific answer.
“I don’t know...it was like the middle of nowhere.”
“Do you know what direction he is from here?”
Ronald pointed towards the south-west, which was fairly accurate.
When they drove your father, you, and your sister there, do you know about how long that drive took?
“Um...fifteen minutes? Twenty minutes? I don’t know.” Ronald admitted.
“That’s okay, you’re doing great.” She assured him. “We’ll do our best to find your dad, we promise.”
She gave the two children a reassuring hug, to which they accepted. Ronald was feeling a little better, but was still worried the worst would happen. He hoped that the police in this town were good at their job.
- - - - - -
It was only about fifteen minutes from closing time. Harold was finishing up some paperwork as fishers were busy catching their last batch of the day. Soon, the two would be going with Harold and staying at his home for the night. Ronald thanked Cecilia for speaking up when he was too scared to interact with the lion.
While they waited for the clock to strike six, they noticed two wolves, females, approaching a nearby employee. They looked desperate, as though looking for someone.
“Hello?” One of them asked the badger.
“Yeah? Do I know you two?” He replied.
“No, we’re just looking for someone. We heard that he works here; his name is Marcus.”
The squirrels’ attention was grabbed.
“I didn’t seen him today, nor yesterday, but he was here last week.”
“Last week? Where is he now?”
“I wish I could tell you; I don’t really know. Sorry.”
Ronald was surprised that news of his dad’s kidnapping wasn’t known among the other employees. Harold must not have told them, which maybe was for he better. Perhaps he didn’t want people to worry.
The two wolves thanked him and went to the next employee, hoping for more info. The siblings didn’t know why they were asking about him, but assumed that they too wanted him dead.
”I should go up to them and tell them what I told that deer.”
After the wolves had finished talking to that second employee, Ronald marched up to them, trying not to look like he was going to lie to them soon.
“Oh, hey! Um, I heard you were looking for someone named Marcus?”
They nodded. “Yes, we were. Do you know the Marcus we’re looking for? He’s a gray wolf, and about our age.”
Ronald was not very surprised. “I know him, or, uh, I’ve heard about him.” He backtracked, not wanting to make it seem like he knew Marcus very well.
“A lot of people had.” One of them sighed. “Do you...do you know where he is?”
“Yeah, actually, I do. I’ve heard he was taken that way.” He pointed in the wrong direction. “Pretty far too; about a week’s walk away.”
“Really? Why so far?”
Ronald shrugged.
“Okay...” One of them let out a sigh. “I hope we can get there before they kill him.”
“Maybe we can find a train going in that direction. The main city’s no more than a day away; I think we can make it.”
”Do they want to get there quickly so they can hurt him while he’s tied to that tree? They’re sick.” Ronald was angered, but kept it to himself.
“And if possible,” one of them sniffled, as if stifling a cry, “we can stop this from happening.”
”What? They want to SAVE him?” Ronald froze, embarrassed and optimistic at the same time.
“Well, thank you for helping us.” One of them said to him, and she turned to the other. “Let’s go.”
“W-wait!” Ronald ran in front of them. “Y-you’re, uh...trying to help my d-, I mean, Marcus?”
“Of course! Why...do you think we shouldn’t help him?” One stared down at him.
“He’s innocent, you know.” The other said.
“Oh, I actually knew that; m-me and my sister did, actually!”
One of them cocked her head. “You knew? How would you know about his innocence?”
“Because,” Ronald lowered his voice slightly. “he told me and my sister he was. I was suspicious of him when we first met, but it turned out he’s a really good guy. In fact..”
The two wolves were very intrigued on how these two squirrels happened to know Marcus.
“He is, and do you know who Phil is?”
He nodded. “He lied to us, that jerk! He said he was going to help Marcus, but then lied and told him he wanted him to die because he hated him.”
“Wow, you’ve found out quite a lot! Are you two children with anyone right now?” She asked, not seeing any adult squirrels around that could be their parents. “You could come with us; we need more people who believe the truth about him. I also think he would be really happy to see you again; it sounded like you three all had a connection.”
“W-we do...” Ronald sounded sad. “He...he is our dad. My sister and I don’t have our real parents anymore, and when I asked Marcus if he could be our dad...he said yes. I couldn’t trust him at first, but now it’s horrible to go through each day, knowing that people want to kill him.”
“That’s so touching...and yet that sounds exactly like him...” One of them replied. “Has he mentioned any other people to you? He had to have done that.”
“Yeah...he said that he still had his parents, a big sister, and there was Diane. He told us how much he loved Diane, and that he wanted to marry her someday. However, he told us that she was killed in the fire he accidentally started, and he’s so sad about it.”
“Oh wow...um, well, I guess now would be the best time to introduce ourselves.” One of the wolves said. “My name is Angelica, and I am Marcus’ sister.”
“What?! Wow, I never thought...I would see anyone else in my dad’s family!” Ronald was pleasantly surprised; he and Cecilia had finally met their aunt.
“And I wouldn’t have guessed my brother would’ve just adopted two children like this. I guess this makes you two my nephew and niece! However, we should let my friend here introduce herself as well.”
Who was the other wolf, more family? An old friend? Ronald and Cecilia waited for her to say something.
“Well, kids, before I say who I am, what else did Marcus say about Diane?”
“He talked about how smart she was, and what a good friend she was, and how he always worked together with her on robotic stuff. He also said how that on the day she was killed, he wanted to tell her he wanted to marry her. I feel sad myself that I didn’t get to meet her...So, I guess you’re close to Diane? Sister? Friend?”
“Yes...I guess you could say I know her...maybe not in a way you’re expecting...”
“What do you mean?”
“You see,” she couldn’t help but smile, and a tear rolled slowly from her eye, “I know her because...I am Diane.”
- - - - - -
Back at the tree, Marcus was once again, not alone...except it wasn’t the bear who was there.
“Thank you again for this...” Marcus said to the rabbit who was busy gnawing away at the cords entangling his limbs. He heard, but obviously couldn’t respond.
During the short stroll Marcus was allowed to take, a rabbit had caught his attention through one of the bushes. The bunny whispered to him that he noticed what was going on, and would try to free him when that bear wasn’t around. Marcus had asked him how he could pay him back, but he said it was okay, and was happy just to help.
The rabbit had finished gnawing through the cords binding his hind legs, and then chopped up to start unloosing the cords about his forelegs, which were positioned above his head. At this rate, he would be free within five minutes.
But just as his hopes were up, he noticed that familiar car. The bear was coming!
“What?! He’s coming!” He warned the rabbit.
The rabbit picked up his pace, but all that did was stress the wolf out. If the bear caught him, it’d be over for his little helper.
“Really, you should go; I don’t want him to hurt you.”
“I’m almost there!”
Of course, it was already too late. If Marcus broke away now, the bear would clearly see him fleeing, and catch up to him. However, if he were free, he’d at least be able to fight the bear and possibly win. He didn’t fear the bear using his car because he knew he was supposed to be kept alive.
The car pulled up by the tree, and the bear quickly stepped out. The rabbit did not flee; he stood upon Marcus’ head and faced the intruder, not afraid to fight him.
“You...you shouldn’t have done this...”
The bear extended his claws and walked closer.
“Enough! You’ve brutalized this wolf over an accident, and I’m not going to let you do any more harm!”
The scene was rather gutsy and absurd; a rabbit in their right mind would never take on a bear.
“You don’t have to worry about that, calm down.” He then faced Marcus. “I’m going to let you go.”
“You......what?”
“I can’t keep you here any longer. It’s not right; you know it, I know it, God knows it.”
He proceeded to finish off what the rabbit started, and Marcus once again dropped to all fours.
“Phil roped me into this because he was my close friend, all the way back from high school. However, I can’t go with him on this; even if he offers me more favors and crap.”
“Why does Phil hate me so much?”
“He’s always had a crush on Diane, or so he tells me, and he hated you ever since he knew you were with her. It got worse for him when he found out that Diane was killed. The truth is that he doesn’t care for anyone else in that forest...this whole scheme is all about himself...and I can’t go with it any longer. I can’t imagine what my maker would say to me about this after I finally croak.”
“Hey,” Marcus replied, “it’s alright...the last couple days were terrible, and while I am mad about how you treated me, I still forgive you. You are clearly sorry about what’s happened. Your maker, God, is also willing to forgive you, right now, even.”
“What I did was pretty crappy, but thanks for trying anyways.”
Marcus told him about what Christ did for him, not letting him get away without hearing about it first. Marcus was grateful enough for the washing away of his own sins that he couldn’t let this bear get away without letting him know he could have the same blessing.
“I’ll...I’ll dwell on that when I get the chance; I really gotta leave before Phil gets here and sees what I did.”
“Of course; I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again...but thank you...”
“Ethan, that’s my name.”
“Ethan, well, you finally told me your name!” Marcus laughed, as did the bear. Marcus thanked him for saving his life, and Ethan drove off towards the mountain, as though leaving Paradise Valley.
Marcus thanked the rabbit as well, and then he had to think about where to go next.
”I need to avoid Phil...but I REALLY need to find Ronald and Cecilia again...I should go back home; with stealth, of course.”
And with that, Marcus started running home...not following the road, of course. Meanwhile, Phil was driving down the road to see how much Marcus was suffering at the moment.
He was in for a surprise.