thinkin’!” Baloo said, squinting through the semidarkness to survey their situation.
“Think faster!” she said, the tremor in her voice betraying her fear. They had two feet of airspace and it was quickly shrinking.
Baloo ran his hand across the bumpy surface of the ceiling. The marbles seemed to be securely cemented together. Finally, in desperation, he started to pound at the ceiling with his fist.
“Wha...what are you doing?” Rebecca gasped and spluttered. His movements were causing water to splash in her face.
“Tryin’ to break through this glass ceiling,” Baloo said, putting as much force behind each blow as he possibly could.
Rebecca also began to punch at the ceiling, saying with a shaky laugh, “I’ve been trying to do that for years.”
After what seemed like an eternity, but was in actuality only a few minutes, the ceiling splintered, allowing sunlight to pour in.
“Ladies first. Ally-oop!” Baloo said as he hoisted Rebecca through the hole.
Meanwhile...
At the Cove
As they yellow seaplane came into view, Molly asked, “What’s wrong with the Sea Duck?”
The Conwing L-16 was tilted to one side with one wingtip nearly touching the water.
Despite the fact that he was exhausted, Kit redoubled his speed. “The tree it’s tethered to is pulling it down with the rest of the island. It’ll sink if we don’t cut that rope.”
Molly reminded him, “But we don’t have a knife.”
“I’ll do it.” Ignatz proclaimed. He flew to the rope and chomped it in two, causing the seaplane to spring upright on its pontoons. “Come on!” he motioned from atop the Sea Duck.
Around the island, the water had been whipped into a white frenzy, making it too dangerous to swim. To make matters worse, the Sea Duck was drifting farther and farther away from shore with each passing second.
“Easy for you to say,” Kit said sarcastically.
“Yeah, you can fly,” Molly added.
“Fly!” Kit said, snapping his fingers. “That’s it!” Cupping his hands to his mouth, he shouted over the rumbling, “Ignatz can you give me that rope, the one that you just cut?”
“Roger Wilcox. Bwak!” Ignatz retrieved the portion of the rope that was still connected to the seaplane, then flew to the shore and dropped the end of the rope into Kit’s hand, saying, “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” Kit pulled out his airfoil, flicked it open, and put it on the ground. “Hop on, Molly, and hold tight to me.” When both cubs were on the airfoil, Kit pulled on the rope, thus causing them to wing their way into the open back hatch.
Once inside, Ignatz shook off his wet feathers, saying a la the Hunchback of Notre Dame, “Sanctuary. Sanctuary.”
“Baloo will save Mommy, right?” Molly asked, climbing into the navigator’s seat.
“Yeah, but now we’ve got to save both of them.” Kit’s hands shook as he flipped the switches to start the engine. He’d always wanted to fly the Sea Duck solo, but not under these conditions.
Meanwhile...
Shakenquake Island
“Step on it, Becky!” Baloo commanded, practically dragging his boss up to the highest point of the island.
“I’m stepping! I’m stepping!” Rebecca gasped out. In addition to the treacherous terrain, the weight of the jewels she had stashed on her person was making it difficult to run.
“This island’s crumblin’ faster’n a month-old cookie.”
“How would you know? Cookies don’t last that long around you.”
Baloo glared at her. “If we can just get to the Duck...” When they got to the top of the hill, he looked north, south, east, and west. However, there was no sign of the yellow seaplane. “The Duck! Where’s my Sea Duck?”
“Now what?” Rebecca panted. She watched helplessly as the land that they were standing on became surrounded by a whirlpool that was sucking the whole island into its deadly undertow. “We’re sinking!”
“Just like my tummy.”
Shakenquake Island, once a tiny speck in the ocean, was becoming an even tinier speck in the ocean. In mere minutes both they and the entire island would be completely engulfed by the merciless waves.
When the Sea Duck flew over, Baloo wildly waved his arms and shouted, “Hey, Li’l Britches! Over here!” Hope turned to despair as the seaplane soared towards the horizon. The big bear’s shoulders slumped. “They can’t see us, Becky.”
“I’ll fix that.” Rebecca tilted the large ruby pendant she was wearing around her neck towards the sun. “Come on...”
Meanwhile...
The Sea Duck
Tears came to Molly’s eyes as she watched the island sinking beneath the foaming waves.
“Bwak! Don’t worry, Molly,” Ignatz said, alighting on her shoulder. “Baloo carries his own floatation device under that thick skin of his. He and your mom will float like corks.”
“Keep your eyes peeled,” Kit said, diving the plane as low as he dared. “They’ve gotta be down there someplace.”
Seeing a flash of red, Ignatz exclaimed, “There! There!”
Simultaneously, Kit and Molly said, “Where? Where?”
“Off the starboard bow.”
Kit looked around, but the crowbar that was usually used as the autopilot was nowhere to be found. “Molly, take the controls while I get the ladder ready.”
“Me?” the little girl squeaked. “B-but I can’t fly!”
“Sure you can. Danger Woman can do anything,” Kit said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “Just hold it steady.”
“Okay.” Molly reluctantly climbed into the pilot’s seat and took hold of the control yoke. She let out a surprised squeal when she accidentally yanked too hard to the left.
“Molly!” Kit picked himself up off the floor, saying, “Whatever you do, don’t crash.”
“Don’t crash. Meh,” Molly muttered, sticking her tongue out at Kit.
“I’ll help her,” Ignatz offered. “I’m a natural at flying.”
Kit ran into the cargo hold, grabbed the rope ladder from where it hung on the wall, and quickly fastened the hooks to the seaplane’s hull. He then threw it out the cargo hold door, thus causing it to unroll. “Hope that holds,” he murmured, racing back to the cockpit.
Taking the controls from Molly, he said, “Here goes everything,” as he swung the Sea Duck back around towards the island.
Spotting the red flash again, Ignatz said, “I spy with my eagle eyes two bears. Fly as low as you can, Kit. I’ll help direct you there.”
“Okay...” Gulping nervously, the boy pushed the control yoke forward. He knew he only got one shot at this.
Meanwhile...
On What Was Left of Shakenquake Island
Baloo, who was more nervous than Kit, paced around the tiny piece of land and murmured directions as the Sea Duck approached. What worried him more than being sucked into a whirling vortex of terror was Kit flying solo. He wished that he had some way to communicate with the boy. “Get your nose up, kiddo. Little more to port. Whoops, too much. Swing her back the other way, son. Easy...easy... There ya go. Spot on. Okay, now, lower, lower. I see ya got the ladder out. Good thinkin’, partner.”
His mutterings ceased when Rebecca kissed him on the cheek.
Surprised, the big bear put a hand to his face. “What was that for?”
Her eyes intently focused on the approaching seaplane, Rebecca said, “For luck. We’re gonna need all that we can get.”
Baloo smiled a little. “You got that right, lady.” He then returned his attention back to the seaplane, which was coming closer, closer... “Come on, Li’l Britches...”
The moment that the Sea Duck passed overhead, Baloo with his arm around Rebecca, grabbed the bottom rung of the ladder just as the last vestige of the island disappeared beneath the angry, churning waves.
Being towed along at two hundred screaming miles per hour, Baloo felt as if his arm was being torn out of its socket. Not only was he losing his grip on the rope, but he was losing his grip on Rebecca. Therefore, there was no possible way that he could carry her and climb into the Sea Duck.
Then there was one other problem.
“Uh, Becky...” he said with a gulp. “I just remembered something.”
“What?” she snapped.
“I, uh, was gonna replace this ladder.”
“Why?” Looking further up the ladder, she saw the problem. Towards the top, both of the parallel ropes were beginning to fray.
“We might be at the end of our ropes,” Baloo said with a sheepish grin.
A very frightened Rebecca dug her fingers into his shirt and shouted, “Don’t you dare drop me, buster!”
“I don’t wanna, but all them gewgaws are makin’ you heavy.”
“What do we do?” she said, panicking.
“You gotta lose some weight.”
Rebecca looked annoyed. “I have to lose weight? You’re the one who needs to go on a diet, buster.”
“No time,” Baloo said, feeling the ladder fraying more. “The treasure! The treasure!”
“Oh, no!”
“Oh, yes! I really hate to say it, Becky, but it’s either that or us.”
Rebecca glanced down several thousand feet at the blue ocean speeding by. With a pained look that was normally reserved for trips to the dentist, she started emptying her pockets of coins and precious jewels.
“More! Drop more,” Baloo urged.
“But these are pearls,” Rebecca said, clutching the last of the treasure. “Every woman loves pearls.”
“Hope you love swimmin’.” As if to corroborate his statement, one of the parallel ropes severed completely.
Rebecca kissed the necklace, shut her eyes, and let it go with a whimper.
“I’m gonna need both hands for hoistin’ us up, so hang on tight.” Before the other side of the ladder could break, Baloo climbed hand over hand up the rope.
When they finally reached the Sea Duck’s cargo hold and had closed the door behind them, both flopped down on the deck with sighs of relief.
“I don’t know how to thank you, Baloo,” Rebecca said softly.
Helping her to her feet, he said with a twinkle in his eye, “How about a big, fat pay raise or a couple of
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