can.”                       

“That is so sweet, Kit, for you to teach your brother magic.” Rebecca said, giving both her boys a hug. Compare to Chris, Kit acts a little more mature, she thought, observing the two bear cubs. Chris seems a little more childish than his brother. Maybe it’s because Chris wasn’t forced to grow up so fast and toughen up for street survival, Kit acts like an adult sometimes and Chris is acting a little younger than his actual age. He gets so excited over little things. But he does seem happy.  

As they left the town in the Sea Duck, Rebecca held Chris in her arms the whole way back home, just to be sure he didn’t feel unsafe flying back home. She sat in Kit’s usual seat, with two of the children on her laps - Chris and Molly

Baloo flew low as he said he would, though Chris and Molly talked about the show more than anything else.

Kit was thinking to himself the whole way home, wondering: Do I really have a talent for magic to teach Chris? I don’t want to let my brother down

As Chris reached out from his new Mom to hug his brother, he said: “Kit, you're the greatest brother ever!’

“Aww…” cooed Rebecca and Baloo as Chris took Kit’s cap off and pretended to pull a rabbit out of it.

Back at home, Kit was thinking of some simple tricks to show Chris, he thought: I can show him a few tricks… but which ones?

When they entered the upstairs’ bedroom of Higher for Hire, Chris took over Baloo’s bed while Baloo set up a hammock downstairs in the corner of the office, like Kit did on his first night there when the place was still called Baloo’s Air Service.

Kit spent the rest of the night trying to think of what to teach Chris as his brother slept in Baloo’s bed, sleeping with a peaceful smile on his face.

                                         Chapter Two

                     Meeting Aunt Melissa and Cousin Jeffery

As the following day was Sunday, the crews of Higher for Hire were relaxing, enjoying a nice day off, but none more so than Baloo, who was currently asleep in his hammock under the wing of the Sea Duck with his cap over his eyes.

The Cloudkicker brothers were inside, up in their room, spending some time together by wrestling around on the floor, both laughing playfully. Kit had Chris pinned down upon his back on the floor, sitting on Chris’ stomach.

“Okay, okay, I give up!” laughed Chris as Kit was tickling his ribs. Kit grinned as he got up from his sitting position on Chris’ stomach and held out a hand, offering to help him up, which Chris accepted and was pulled to his feet. He took a moment to catch his breath, sitting down on his bed.

“Hey, Chris, what was it like in the orphanage?” asked Kit, sitting down on the bed beside his brother. “I mean, I’ve never been to one, except for yours. Did they treat you alright?”

“Not really,” said Chris, shrugging, suddenly looking a bit depressed. “Well, Miss Applebarn and Simba cared for me but nobody else did. Miss Applebarn was sort of like a Mom to me, I’ve loved her like a Mom.”

“Sounds like you two were really close.” Kit said sympathetically, placing a comforting arm around Chris’ shoulders and pulling him close, giving him a one-arm hug. Chris snuggles up against Kit’s side, feeling comforted in the presence of his brother, his head resting on Kit’s shoulder.

“We were,” Chris affirmed. “She wouldn’t stand for the other workers being mean to me, neither would Simba. There was this woman, Mrs. Cole, she was very mean to me. When she would punish me, she’d locked me in a closet.”

Kit gasped. “What?!” he couldn’t believe anyone would be so cruel to Chris, a cute and lovable bear cub. He wrapped both arms around Chris and hugged him tightly.

Chris sniffed as he continued: “It was dark and scary in there, I yelled to be let out, but all I heard were the other kids laughing at me and taunting me through the door. I got down on the floor and cried until Miss Applebarn let me out and held me. She rescued me, and I’ve been under her loving care ever since, until I was adopted. She made sure I was happy.”

Kit felt a rush of fury toward Mrs. Cole as he held his brother in his arms. If I ever meet that horrible woman, I’ll make her pay for what she did to Chris, by the sound of it, she traumatized him! 

“What happened to Mrs. Cole?” asked Kit.

Chris suddenly grinned. “Simba gave her the axe, but not before she got a black eye from Miss Applebarn. Since that day, she’d been protective of me. I nicknamed Mrs. Cole ‘Evil Woman’.”

“That’s good,” Kit smiled. “That nickname’s more fitting for her anyway.” 

  “Yeah, I thought so too.” Chris said with a sly grin. “So, Kit, can you do magic?” he asked eagerly, deliberately changing the subject, talking about his past was making him feel depressed and he didn’t want to feel that way.

Kit shook his head. “No, I can’t, and neither can Ping.”

“But, what about all those amazing things he did? He pulled a quarter out of my ear!”

Chris got up from the bed and went to the bedside table, pulled the drawer open and took out the quarter he got from Ping and held it up for Kit to see.

“Chris, that was just a trick, anyone can do it.” Kit said, slightly exasperated, stepping forward toward Chris and taking the quarter from him. “Watch.”

He closed his hand over the quarter and when he opened his hand, palm up, Chris gasped. The quarter was gone! Then Kit reached behind Chris’ ear and withdrew the quarter.

Chris stared at it for a moment before exclaiming: “WOW, how did you do that?”

“Like I said, it’s a trick, anyone can do it.” Kit said. “I’ll show you how to do it.” He held out his hand, palm up with the quarter sitting in the center. “When you closed your hand around it…” he made a fist over the quarter. “You simply hide the quarter between your fingers.” He opened his hand, the quarter was gone.

Chris looked closely at Kit’s palm; it was then that he noticed something silver between Kit’s middle and index fingers.

“Oh, now I get it!” he exclaimed in delight, which surprised Kit, he was expecting disappointment rather than delight.

“And then, I reach behind your ear, and it has to be behind your ear, otherwise you would see it and wouldn’t be impressed.” Kit explained. “I reach behind your ear, like this and flip the quarter over in my hand and then draw my hand back, making the illusion that I pulled a quarter out of your ear.”

“Wow,” Chris said in awe. “It’s amazing how a trick like that can look like real magic! What else can you do?”

“Well,” said Kit, walking over to the bedside table and taking an old fashion key out the drawer. “I can make this key disappear…”

“Oh, cool, let’s see it!” Chris said excitedly.

Kit put both hands behind his back for a second then he held them out in front of him, the key was gone.

Chris stared in awe at Kit’s key-free hands and then he clapped loudly.

“Wow, how did you do that?” he asked.

Kit smirked as he lifted his right foot. There, between his toes, was the key! Kit’s smirk vanished to be replaced with a depressed look, remembering the last time he did this trick, it brought back painful memories.

“Kit?” Chris said, noticing Kit’s expression. “What’s wrong?”

Kit hung his head, what should he tell him?

The truth, Kit thought. He was open with me about his past; it’s only fair that I do the same, no matter how painful the memory is. With a sad, defeated sigh, he sat down on his bed and motion for Chris to sit beside him, Chris obeyed and sat down, looking sideway at his brother with concern.

“Chris, the last time I did this trick, I was pretending to betray my friends.”  Kit said sadly. “I’m not happy with everything I did in the past,” he continued. “I never went to an orphanage like you did, I was out on the streets my whole life and I had to…do things to survive, like—like stealing…”  he turned his face the other way, unable to look at Chris or let Chris see his shame. “I learned those tricks from petty thieves and I… I used them to steal food undetected…”

“Oh, Kit, you didn’t have to steal, you’re better than that,” said Chris, sounding disappointed.

Kit still wouldn’t look at him as he continued his tale.

“When I was ten, life on the streets was becoming unbearable to me, until that time, I’ve been living with a bunch of Air Hobos. And then there was this man… I stole money from him and he threatened my life and had the cops on the lookout for me, I had to get away, I had to escape from Freeport.”

“But what about your Air Hobo buddies, didn’t they try to help you?” Chris asked.

Kit shook his head, looking ever so ashamed.

“They