or a couple of weeks off?”
“Don’t press your luck, buster,” Rebecca retorted with a wry smile as they made their way to the cockpit.
“They made it!” Molly squealed with delight. Undoing her seatbelt, the little girl ran over and latched onto her mother, who eagerly returned the warm hug.
“Nice flyin’, Li’l Britches,” Baloo said, tousling the boy’s hair. “You’re gonna be an ace yet.”
Kit beamed as he took his place in navigator’s seat. “Thanks, but Ignatz helped me a lot.”
Baloo opened his mouth to make a snide comment, then shut it. Instead, he respectfully doffed his hat to the parrot. “Thank you...sir.”
Ignatz replied, “Don’t mention it...tubby.” He chuckled a little at Baloo’s annoyed expression.
Taking her customary seat on crate behind the pilot’s seat, Rebecca said, “I’m afraid to ask. Did we get out with anything but our lives?”
Baloo and Kit felt around in their pockets then solemnly shook their heads.
Molly, sitting on Rebecca’s lap, emptied her marble bag into her mother’s hand. “I saved the marbles that we found in the little treasure chests. See?”
“That’s nice, Pumpkin, but I’m afraid marbles aren’t worth anything,” Rebecca said with a sad smile.
“Think again,” Ignatz interjected. “Those happen to be Juan Toomanie’s oldest and rarest marbles. To the right buyer, they might be worth, say, five hundred dollars.”
Rebecca gasped. In the blink of an eye, her expression changed from hopeless to hopeful. She tightened her grip on the now-precious marbles. “Really? On the way home, Baloo, can we stop off at Stu’s Secondhand Store? I mean, if these little, tiny marbles are worth that much, think what an antique desk or lamp would be worth. Or maybe we’ll find another treasure map!”
Baloo groaned, “Here we go again.”
The End
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