Two More for the Road
part 1

TaleSpin and its characters are property of Disney. All other characters are mine and cannot be used without permission.

Dimitri’s Place
Thembria
April 1925

In a dingy and dreary nightclub on the western edge of Thembria, two Uslandians were in big trouble.

Baloo and Louie stood side-by-side, their backs against the bar, hands in the air. They were shivering, but it was from fear, not from cold. On their left were fifty scowling Thembrians armed to the tusks. On their right were fifty scowling Shropshearians also toting guns. Even Ivan, the bartender, had his pair of Great War pistols stuck in their backs.

Baloo clamped a protective hand over the roll of parchment protruding from his shirt pocket and bit his lip to suppress his nervous smile. “What are we gonna do?”

Sweat beaded on Louie’s brow as his eyes darted around at the unfriendlies. “Dunno, cuz. I’m up for suggestions. Hey, watch where you’re pokin’ that thing, buddy!” He roughly shoved a rifle barrel away. “This haberdashery is real imitation silk.”

The warthogs and border collies moved in closer, all cocking their guns.

Louie gulped. “Sounds like we’re gonna be on the receivin’ end of a one hundred twenty-one gun salute.”

“Swell,” Baloo said sarcastically. Out of the corner of his mouth, he muttered, “How’d we get ourselves into this mess anyhoo?”

Baloo’s Air Service
Cape Suzette
The Previous Day

Baloo, a slim and trim grey bear in his mid-twenties, stood before the icebox. A few minutes ago, upon awaking from his between-nap snooze, he had decided to get a snack. There was only one problem - there was no food to be found.

“Aw, just like my tummy. Empty.”

He closed the icebox door and started scrounging around in the cupboards. Like the refrigerator, they were empty, if you didn’t count the dead cockroach lying on its back, its shriveled legs in the air.

“Nuthin’.”

In desperation, Baloo made his way through the cluttered kitchen to the even more cluttered room that served as an office, a living room, and a bedroom. Kicking aside piles of junk, he made a beeline for an old patched armchair and started digging underneath the cushion for loose change. The only things he found were a paperclip, a gum wrapper, and a button.

Discouraged, Baloo plopped down in the chair. When his stomach growled, he said, “Yeah, yeah, I hear ya.”

He was busted, tapped out, flat broke. The money that he had received for his last delivery had already been spent.

For the past three months, Baloo had literally existed from hand to mouth. He flew a delivery whenever and only whenever he ran out of money.

But that was the way he wanted it. The young cargo pilot had promised himself that when he had scraped together enough money to put a down payment on Baloo’s Air Service along with a Conwing L-16 he called the Sea Duck, he wouldn’t bust his rudder slaving his life away. Flying - that’s what life was all about.

For five grueling years, he had done freelance work, flying other men’s planes, under other men’s thumbs. Flying dangerous, yet high-paying, missions that other pilots wouldn’t even consider. Missions like flying two tons of dynamite through a hurricane. His successful completion of these risky deliveries as well as his natural flair for flying was fast earning him the reputation of the world’s best pilot.

As of this moment, the world’s best pilot was broke. On top of that, he was bored out of his gourd. Entertainment took money, which was what he lacked in the first place.

Baloo patted his empty stomach with a sigh. “No eats. No buckaroos. Guess a hungry pilot’s gotta do what a hungry pilot’s gotta do.”

Reluctantly, he rose from the chair. He grabbed his red pilot’s cap from the top of the dresser, pulled a set of keys from his shirt pocket, and hurried outside. Instead of making his way around the building to the job board, he ran down the dock to where the Sea Duck was moored.

The sight of the yellow and orange seaplane, glistening in the bright sunlight, filled him with joy. The Sea Duck was more than just a cargo plane to Baloo. He could not only travel around the world in it, it meant the world to him.

He greeted his best friend by kissing the cockpit door. “Miss me, baby?”

Baloo climbed into the cockpit. Seconds later, the seaplane’s powerful Superflight 100 engines started up, took off, and disappeared through the opening in the massive cliffs surrounding Cape Suzette.

Moola-Boola

An hour later, the Sea Duck soared over a grass-hut village, which resembled a cluster of mushrooms growing up the side of the lush mountain. Despite its unassuming appearance, the little outpost of Moola-Boola was the trading center of the uncivilized world, the home of thrills, adventure, and easy money.

The seaplane splashed down for a landing in the lagoon and taxied past a set of waterfalls, up to the dock. Baloo, wishing that he had one clamshell to cash in, hopped out and strolled down the dock towards Bobo.

As a cargo pilot, Baloo had been over most of the world. In his travels, he had run into some interesting characters. One of the most interesting was Bobo, a mechanic who made his fortune by chiseling the fortune hunters who drifted through Moola-Boola. The sly rabbit knew all the hot scoops on every cool deal that went down in the trading post.

“Bobo, my main man!” Baloo greeted with a jaunty smile.

“Hey, Baloo,” Bobo said in a gravelly voice, grinning as he looked up from the engine he was tinkering with. “Long time, no see.”

“What’s the scoop? Like, where’s the big-time action?”

Bobo held out an eager hand. “Where’s the money?”

“Uh,” Baloo nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “Ya see, it’s like this...”

The rabbit stared at him expectantly, palm still outstretched.

“I’m a little short this time,” Baloo said with what he hoped was a charming smile. “Will ya take a rain check?”

“Nope.” No longer interested, Bobo returned to the engine. “You know the rules. No dough, no info.”

“How about...?”

“Nope.”

Baloo stuck his face in Bobo’s. “What if...?”

“Nope.” The mechanic turned his back on him.

“But!”

“No ifs and or buts about it,” Bobo said coolly. “Wish I could help you, Baloo, but I’ve got myself to think about.”

“Thanks a lot, pal,” Baloo said sardonically. Trudging down the dock towards the Sea Duck, he muttered under his breath, “Wasted all that gas for nuthin’. Doggone it!” As he kicked at the dirt, his stomach growled loudly.

“Psst!”

Baloo looked at the Sea Duck in confusion. “You springin’ a leak, baby?”

“Psst!”

Baloo turned around. There, hurrying towards him was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She was a slim canine clad in a simple maroon sarong; a long slit in the skirt revealed a shapely leg. A fringe of black hair fell over her large brown eyes, accentuating her dusky complexion and full ruby red lips. Thick black hair tumbled over her shoulders in smooth waves.

Whoo-hoo! Get a load of the local architecture! Guess this trip wasn’t a total washout after all. He was at her side in a flash. “Well, helloooo,” he crooned.

“Are you the pilot of that plane?” Her velvety voice had a hint of an accent that Baloo couldn’t quite place.

“Yes, ma’am, I am.”

Uncertainly, she said, “Did I hear that man say that your name was Baloo?”

“The one and only.” Grinning, he drew himself up to his full height and puffed out his chest.

She studied his countenance. “You have a nice face. A trustworthy face.”

Baloo, who was somewhat confused, said, “Uh, ditto.”

“I’m Natalia.” She held out a hand, which he eagerly grasped.

“Nice ta make your acquaintance, Natalia.” Seeing a tear trickle down her cheek, he said softly, “Hey...hey, now. What’s makin’ them brown eyes blue?”

“I’m in terrible trouble!” she whispered. Taking a lace-edged handkerchief from her small black purse, she blew her little nose.

He patted her hand comfortingly. “Why doncha tell ol’ Baloo all about it?”

Natalia flashed a quick glance at Bobo. “Can we go inside?” She gestured to the Sea Duck.

“Why, sure thing, little lady.” He draped an arm around her shoulders and led her inside.

Once they were in the seaplane’s cockpit, she said, “Yesterday, I received an urgent message from my two aunties. They were robbed!” Putting her handkerchief to her face, she sobbed again.

“Who would do a mean thing like that?”

“I don’t know.” Shaking her head, she sniffled and daintily dabbed at her nose. Her disjointed words came in a rush. “You see, I’m the only family they have, and they’re the only family Ihave. Now the dear old things are waiting for me for me to help them, and I want to help them. Really, I do. They’re too old to handle this themselves. My money’s gone, and this is all the farther the last pilot would take me. I...I don’t know who to turn to. You must help me!” She clutched Baloo’s arm and gazed up at him imploringly through her large, tear-filled eyes, causing his chivalrous heart to melt. “I must go to Mustgo!”

Baloo shook her off as if she had the plague. “Whoa! Time out! Mustgo? As in the capital city of Thembria? Nuthin’ is gonna get me to go to Thembria. They shoot people there!” He hastily shook her hand, opened the cargo hold door, and prodded her out of the seaplane. “Well, it’s been nice meetin’ ya, but I really gotta be goin’. Good luck and goodbye.”

Just as the engines started up, she pounded on the cockpit window and shouted, “Wait! I didn’t tell you the rest!”

Baloo reluctantly rolled down the window. “What?”

“My aunties will reward you handsomely.”

The young pilot stared at her for a moment as she stood on the dock, her long dark hair whipping around her small, sweet face in the wake of the propellers. If there was

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