other. Some were pointing accusing fingers at the Sea Duck.

"It can't get any worse than this," Baloo moaned, sinking further into his seat as if he wished he were solid gone.

"Think again." Kit pointed at the giraffe cop on a motorcycle speeding their way.

The cop, water streaming from his hat, pulled up next to the Sea Duck and stuck his head into the open cockpit window. "Did you cause all this?"

Baloo nodded, then shook his head, then nodded.

"What's your problem, Mac?"

"I'm an inconsiderate idjit." Startled at by what he just said, Baloo clamped his right hand over his mouth. But his left hand was mysteriously compelled to tug his right hand away from his mouth. He mumbled guiltily, "There's something else you should know, officer."

"What?" The giraffe punctuated his question by ripping the ticket from his pad and handing it to Baloo. The big bear winced at the amount on the piece of paper.

As if against his will, Baloo hung his head and admitted, "I have unpaid parking tickets." When he opened the glove box, a pile of parking tickets poured out onto Kit's lap and the floor.

Baloo groaned as the police officer wrote another ticket.

"Be more careful next time, Mac," the officer growled, handing the second ticket to Baloo. "And pay those parking tickets."

Afraid of saying more and getting more tickets, Baloo held his breath as the policeman walked away.

Kit scooped tickets back into the glove box. "We're in enough trouble as it is. Why'd you tell him about the parking tickets?"

Baloo exhaled loudly. "I can't lie!" After thinking about it for a minute, he reiterated wonderingly, panickingly, "I can't lie? This can't happen! I've been tellin' fibs since I wore a bib!"

Kit looked perplexed. He'd seen some weird things in his short life, but this took the cake. "Well, uh, start with a small lie. Say my shirt is red."

"Your shirt is r-r-r..." Baloo grit his teeth in determination and tried again. "R-r-r...green! See! I can't lie!"

Both jumped when they heard a sharp rap on the airplane's hull. They hurried back to the cargo hold, almost tripping over something in the process.

"An egg." When Kit picked it up, the shell shattered; the pieces hit the ground with a tinkly sound. The boy held a beautiful silver filigree egg. Suspended in the center of the delicate curlicues was a tiny gold bird, its beak open as if it were singing.

"And what an egg!" Realizing that it was a Fabriget egg, green dollar signs appeared in Baloo's eyes.

Suddenly, the cargo door was impatiently yanked open by a female horse clad in a flower print dress, carrying an umbrella. She was as loud as her dress. "How kind of you to finally come. The insane rain does nothing for my mane!" She attempted to smooth her mass of frizzy, curly hair.

Kit quickly hid the Fabriget egg behind his back.

"Miss Doolittle, I presume?" Off her annoyed look, Baloo proceeded to quickly spill the beans. "We're really late, 'cause I was in a chili dog eating contest with Slim at Louie's. I lost. Don't know where that guy puts it all. Here are your seeds, lady." He picked up the only box in the cargo hold and shoved it at her. "And the main thing wrong with yer mane is that bad perm."

"How rude!" Miss Doolittle snorted. She whacked him on the head with her umbrella before leaving.

Frowning, Baloo rubbed his head. "Man, the truth hurts!"

"You really can't lie, can you?" Kit observed thoughtfully.

"Forget that. We got somethin' more important to think about."

Kit carefully handed the egg to Baloo. "One of those emus must have laid this yesterday. Do you know what this means?"

"Those two guys stole those emus from the Jenzeebar royal garden, and if the authorities find out we have this, we're kkkrrrrrrk." Baloo made a slashing motion across his throat.

"What are we gonna do?" Kit squeaked. He was too young for kkkrrrrrrk. "Throw it overboard?"

"And throw away all this moolah? Nuh-huh. There's only one place we can sell this million dollar baby no questions asked. Plot me a course to Cove Fefi, navigator."

Kit gulped nervously.

Cove Fefi
Later...

Cove Fefi was a wretched hive of scum and villainy surrounded by a scummy swamp. A smuggler's paradise, it was populated with pawn shops and people looking to make a quick, but not exactly legal, buck. Despite the streetlights, the litter-strewn streets felt like dark alleys.

Kit kept very close to Baloo as they traversed the main street. The last time he had been here was burned in the back of his mind. It was an experience he'd tried hard to forget.

Pirate Island was tame compared to this place. Nearly every block, there were men slugging or shooting it out. Kit recognized a few of them as ex-pirates. Women with hats shading their faces beckoned to them from doorways, selling everything from phony Series tickets to bogus treasure maps. Kids snaked their way through the crowds, pickpocketing the adults and each other.

Suddenly, a grizzled lion wearing an overcoat stepped in front of Baloo and Kit, leering at them with his good eye. "Wanna have the time of your life?" He opened his overcoat to reveal his merchandise - watches, bracelets, earrings, etc. "Buy a watch?"

"Not tonight, bub," Baloo growled, pushing past him.

The lion persisted, following them. "What's in the box?"

If ever there was a time to lie, it was now. Unfortunately, all Baloo could say was, "Fabriget egg."

"Fabriget egg!" the old man wheezed loudly, grabbing for the box.

Baloo whisked it above his head, out of the lion's reach.

The words 'Fabriget egg' spread like wildfire. All slugging, shooting, scamming, and stealing stopped. Everyone's attention turned towards Baloo and Kit, especially the box in the big bear's hand.

"Uh-oh," Baloo and Kit said simultaneously.

Someone shouted, "Get 'em!" And the stampede began.

"Pull chocks!" Kit yelled.

The two bears ducked into the nearest shop…and almost got hit by a flying axe. The axe head bit deep into a target hanging right beside the door.

"Whoa, baby! Talk about your close shaves!" Baloo yelped as the crowd inside the store laughed raucously.

Eyeing the glowering, axe-wielding men, Kit felt exactly two inches tall. And he figured those men would have no qualms cutting him into two-inch pieces. "What now, Papa Bear?"

"This way!" Baloo said, leading the boy outside. Spying the money-hungry mob coming their way, he skidded to a stop. "That way!"

They ran back into the pawn shop.

Tucking the box containing the Fabriget egg firmly under his arm, Baloo barreled through the line of axe-wielding men, knocking them down like bowling pins. The bears sped out the back door into the alley, tipping over a couple of garbage cans and scaring a stray cat in the process.

Hearing the chant of 'Fabriget egg' getting closer, they pushed through the rotting screen door of the building directly across the alley from the pawn shop they had just exited. They found themselves in another pawn shop. The dusty, dingy store with its knock-off merchandise epitomized the word 'sleaze', but seemed quiet enough.

They didn't notice the proprietor - a potbellied, bespectacled panther - tied up and gagged behind the counter.

Instead, they saw a diminutive crocodile with a tall, floppy hat standing behind the cash register. His beady eyes gleamed as they approached. "May I help youse?"

"Yeah. We have a Fabriget egg for sale," Baloo said, placing the box on the long counter. He was willing to take whatever this guy offered him. The faster they sold the egg and got out of Cove Fefi, the better.

"If I may ask, how'd youse get possession of dis fine article?"

Baloo, the truthful, stammered, "We...we…found it...we b-b-b-b-bought..." Angrily, he said, "Doggone it! We helped a couple of guys steal the emu that laid this."

"Like dem?" Trader Moe - for Trader Moe it was - jerked a thumb behind him.

As if on cue, Rhino Goon and Ape Goon stepped out of the storage room behind the counter, cracking their knuckles. Trader Moe and his goon squad's expressions were not friendly.

"Yeah," Baloo said, sharing a frightened look with Kit.

The Swamp on the Outskirts of Cove Fefi

The full moon, making the night almost as bright as day, reflected off the still waters of the swamp as well as the end of a large corrugated pipe protruding from the side of a grassy bank. The pipe carried wastewater from the city to the swamp.

Glug, glug…

A rat and four tiny turtles, heeding the familiar warning, scurried out of the end of the pipe and scrambled onto the bank. A few seconds later, dirty water gushed from the pipe along with a small bear cub and a large bear.

"Whoa!" Baloo and Kit shouted as they shot out of the pipe and dropped like rocks into the murky swamp.

Surfacing, Kit spluttered, "Cookware salesmen, huh?"

Baloo wiped algae slime from his face and reached for his hat, which was floating a few feet away. Trying to make light of the situation, he said, "Well, they did cook up a lotta trouble for us."

Half swimming, half wading towards the shore, Kit said, "I guess that's that. Trader Moe and his goons have the Fabriget egg, and we're going back

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