cheeseburger an’ fries. That oughtta tide me over ‘til we get ta Cape Suzette.”

“Make that two, please,” Kit chimed in.

“Double order of burgers an’ fries comin’ right up.”

Just then, Wiley Pole burst into the nightclub. Everyone turned to stare at the husky lion, who was in his mid-forties. He was truly an amazing sight, especially in the warm tropics. Icicles dangled from his tan mustaches. His auburn jacket was covered with snow as was his tan fur. He removed his frosty flight goggles from his face, leaving two rings where snow hadn’t penetrated. He shivered from head to toe.

“Wiley, ol’ man, what happened to you? Fly through one of them Thembrian blizzards?” Louie inquired as he assisted Wiley to a table. The pilot shed a trail of snow on the floor.

“Naw,” shivered Wiley. “Was more like ah...ah...ah-choo! A monster!”

“Monster?” Baloo, Louie, and Kit echoed in disbelief. They crowded around the same table as Wiley.

“A monster that breathed snow!”

“Whoa! Time out, Wiley.” Louie made a shape of a ‘T’ with his hands. “Why doncha start from the get-go?”

Wiley’s speech was punctuated by sneezes and sniffles. “Well, I was on my way out of Aridia. I had just been deliverin’ some parchments for an archeologist lady by the name of Myra.”

Baloo interrupted with, “Nice gal.”.

“Aridia? But that’s a desert country,” Kit reminded. “It can’t snow in the desert.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too, Kit, but after today, I’m willing to believe anything. Just outside of the capital city of Kairo it was real foggy for some reason. Never seen fog so thick in my life. Couldn’t see two inches in front of my plane. There wasn’t any place to land in that canyon. It’s too narrow. An’ it’s the only way out of Kairo. So I had no choice but to keep going, keep my flaps down, and keep my eyes peeled.”

Baloo, rocking back in the hardbacked chair, remarked, “Aridia’s usually dry as a bone from a million-year-old dinosaur fossil. Shouldn’t have enough moisture in the air for fog ta form.”

Louie brought Wiley a cup of steaming hot chocolate. One of the waiters - Waldo - draped a blanket around Wiley’s shoulders.

Wiley nodded his head, warming his hands on the mug. “I know, but today it was foggy for some reason. Anyway, I was being careful navigatin’ through the canyon when all of a sudden the wind picked up. Thought a sandstorm was comin’. Got real cold, real fast, too. Then out of nowhere swooped this gigantic...thing!”

“What did it look like?” Kit asked avidly, his eyes wide.

Wiley took a sip of his hot chocolate. “Couldn’t tell. Couldn’t see if for all the blowing snow, you see, and I wasn’t going to stick around to find out what it was. When I got outta the canyon, the weather cleared up. Got warm again.” Wiley trembled from cold and fright. “You couldn’t pay me to go back there to that spot!”

Baloo laughed. With a dismissive wave of his paw, he scoffed, “Aw, you just ran into a freak snowstorm. There’s no such thing as monsters that breathe snow.”

Across the room, Khan’s pilots heard Baloo’s statement. One panther pilot whispered in derogatory tones, “Freelancers and their fairytales!” prompting smirks of superiority from his cronies. They knew that Shere Khan hired only the best pilots.

“I’ve flown through blizzards before. That was definitely no everyday blizzard,” Wiley said with a fierce shake of his head, causing snow to fly from his mane. “My instruments indicated that it was 110° F outside the cockpit right before that blizzard hit. Then it dropped to below freezing just like,” he snapped his fingers, “that. Temperatures don’t change that quickly. At least, not normally. This was some kind of creature.”

“I’ve heard of fire-breathing dragons, but a snow-spittin’ monster?” Louie commented, placing plates of cheeseburgers and fries before Baloo and Kit. “Craaazy what they come up with nowadays. What’ll it be next? Gigantic Easter bunnies?”

Baloo had just taken the first bite out of his cheeseburger when Kit tugged on his sleeve. He pointed to his wristwatch. “We’ve got to go, Papa Bear, or we’ll be late, and Miz Cunningham will be mad.”

Around a mouthful of cheeseburger, Baloo mumbled, “After I chow this chow down, kiddo.”

Kit shook his head reprovingly. He didn’t like being Baloo’s conscience, and didn’t like nagging his beloved Papa Bear. Truthfully, he wanted to stay at Louie’s longer, too, but he knew if they were late their boss would figuratively explode. Peace was preferable to a second Great War. Smiling enigmatically, Kit poked at a small bulge in Baloo’s left-hand pocket. It was blackmail, but a navigator had to do what a navigator had to do. “I’m sure Rebecca would like to know what this is.”

“You wouldn’t!”

A cunning expression flashed across Kit’s visage that made him appear older than his thirteen years. He nodded. “You wanna bet?”

“Awright, you win, Kit-boy.” Baloo heaved a heavy sigh as if he were making a great sacrifice. He wrapped the food up in a napkin. “We’ll eat it on the way.” He headed for the door uttering a cheery, “Catch ya later, Louie.”

Louie waved at them. “Bye, cuz, an’ watch out for the abominable snowman.”

“Whatcha make of that, partner?” Baloo asked, climbing into the Sea Duck’s cockpit after Kit.

“Definitely bizarre, but Wiley Pole’s not the type to make up stories.” Kit absently munched on a french fry and gazed out the window as the Sea Duckgained altitude, deep in thought about what he just heard. He didn’t have to give Baloo the coordinates. The big bear could fly from Louie’s to Cape Suzette in his sleep - and sometimes he had done just that. “Do you really think that there could be a blizzard monster in Aridia?”

“I’m more worried about the boss monster when we get home.” After leveling the plane out, Baloo reclined in the seat, steering with his feet. He hungrily chomped into his cheeseburger; a drop of ketchup squirted out and dribbled down his shirt. Not really caring about the sloppy state of his clothes, Baloo scraped the ketchup off as best as he could with a french fry, which he promptly crammed in his mouth.

“Aw, Baloo, Miz Cunningham’s not that bad.”

Baloo snorted incredulously. “You’re just sayin’ that ‘cause Becky never yanks on yer ears when she gets riled up.”

“Yeah,” Kit shot a sly, sideways grin over at the big bear, “but that’s because she’s too busy yanking on yours, Papa Bear.”

“Smarty-pants.” Baloo threw a french fry at his navigator.

Twenty minutes later, the Sea Duck soared through the crack between rugged cliffs. It was the gateway to Cape Suzette.

Cape Suzette. A wonderland of innovation and architecture. A beautiful, bustling metropolis located in southwestern Usland. A major hub of commerce with multitudes of skyscrapers stretching towards the sky. Ships and airplanes from all over the world brought their goods there in exchange for the many wonders that Usland had to offer. The city itself was sandwiched between verdant, conical-shaped hills and a sparkling blue crescent of a harbor. Bordering on the western edge were the massive cliffs, enclosing the bay and city in its protective arms. These cliffs were well-fortified with large cannons, which made it difficult for unwanted intruders, such as Don Karnage and his gang, to invade.

The Sea Duck skirted two seaplanes, a glider, and a blimp before splashing down for a landing in front of Higher for Hire: a square, lighthouse-type structure with an adjoining small warehouse. Atop the tin-roofed lighthouse was a windsock that fluttered in the breeze. The unpainted brown building, jutting out onto the docks, was surrounded by paving stones except for a small, fenced-in square of grass and a spreading elm tree in the rear. A houseboat, belonging to Higher for Hire’s mechanic Wildcat, was moored to the seawall next to the Higher for Hire. The houseboat was constructed of a fuselage and odd bits of this and that. It wasn’t the most prosperous or picturesque place in Cape Suzette, but to Baloo and Kit it was home.

Stepping from the plane, Baloo said, “We’re only a half hour late. Hope that’s close enough to count as on time for Miz Manager.”

Pilot and navigator walked up the dock towards the Higher for Hire. Today, it appeared unusually festive. Streamers and bright bunches of balloons were draped along the ‘Higher for Hire’ sign at the end of the dock.

“Looks like Miz Cunningham’s got the decorations up for Higher for Hire’s anniversary celebration,” Kit commented, looking up at the white life preserver hanging above his head. Below the red, stenciled ‘Higher for Hire’ was a bright red and blue crepe paper bow.

Opening the door to the office, they heard an indignant woman’s voice snap, “Ow! Hey, watch it!” The door shut with a bang.

A second later the door opened a crack. Molly Cunningham stuck her head around the door, grinning. “Hi, Baloo! Hi, Kit!” The little yellow seven-year-old bearess was clad in a pink shirt and blue overalls with matching blue ribbons around her fuzzy ears. In her hands was a tape dispenser. A piece of Scotch tape was stuck to her nose. She proclaimed proudly, “I’m Tape Girl!”

“Hey, Molly, er, Tape Girl,” Kit replied, smiling down at her. He gently pulled the piece of tape from her nose. “Is this your secret disguise?”

“You’re silly, Kit. It’s just a piece of tape.”

“What’s goin’ on in there, Button-nose?” Baloo inquired, peeking through the little square window into the office.

“Mommy and me are decorating in here. You almost squished her with the door, Baloo,” the little girl scolded, her hands on her hips. She stared up at the big bear with a look full of disapproval.

“Oops,” Baloo snickered.

“And it wasn’t funny, flyboy,” Rebecca Cunningham snapped, causing the goofy grin to drop from Baloo’s face. A petite brown bearess sporting a magenta cardigan over a