Post by KitCloudkicker5285 on Apr 8, 2010 22:27:12 GMT -5
Title: An Angelic Christmas
Authors: KitCloudkicker52885 and Kit_Lee
Disclaimer: We do not own Disney's TaleSpin, but we do own Chris Cloudkicker and Jeffery & Melissa Cunningham
Chapter One
Chris' Doughnuts
It was a beautiful evening in Cape Suzette, the pink and gold sky was always very pleasant to look at and the cooler air and shower of falling leaves meant that autumn was here at last.
In the backyard of a four-story, red-brick boarding house, there was a pile of red, yellow and orange leaves. The pile was shaking, like there was something moving around within the pile.
And then, all of a sudden, the head of a golden, light-brown bear cub poked out from beneath the leaves, laughing. He has shining blue eyes and a smile that makes him look adorably cute.
He laughed playfully as he lay on his back on top of the leaves, spreading his arms and legs, as if making a snow angel.
"Chris!" said his brother, Kit, sounding exasperated. He was holding the handle of a rake in one hand; the other one was on his hip. "We're supposed to be raking the leaves, not playing in it."
But Chris continue to laugh and play in the leaves, giving no sign that he had heard Kit except to roll over onto his belly and flick a handful of leaves at Kit's face.
Kit was caught off guard and he stood there with a look that said: 'I can't believe you just did that!'
"Chris!" Kit exclaimed indignantly, brushing a few leaves off his face and shoulder.
Their cousin, Jeffery, a medium chocolate brown bear cub, laughed at the expression on Kit's face, clutching his rake for support and Chris sat up and hunched his shoulders, looking worried that he might have upset Kit in some way. His eyes were downcast and he looks as though he was about to cry, his bottom lip was trembling.
"Aw, let him play, Kit," Jeffery said lightly. "I've never seen him having this much fun before, and I'd hate to spoil it for him."
"Oh, Chris," Kit said, spotting the look on his face. "I'm sorry," he said, bending down and hugging his brother. "Don't cry. Tell you what, you can play a little longer, but only in this pile, okay?"
"Okay, big brother." Chris said, wiping his eyes on his sleeve and hugging Kit. He then went back to playing in his pile of leaves while Kit and Jeffery continue raking their piles toward the wooden fence at the end of the yard.
Just then, Molly Cunningham came outside to see what all the big boys were doing. She walked toward Chris, who was sitting in his pile of leaves, laughing happily as he threw leaves into the air.
"What'cha doing, Chris?" she asked in a sweet voice
"Oh, hi Molly," Chris said cheerfully, he took two leaves, red and orange and stuck them in the bows tied to Molly's ears. "Just playing in the leaves."
Molly giggled, thinking Chris was being so silly. "Hey, can I play with you?"
"Sure!" Chris said, beaming at her.
"Alright!" Molly cried delightedly. "Danger Woman to the rescue!" she yelled, jumping into the pile next to Chris and flicking some at Chris' face and Chris laughed as he flicked some back. Soon, they were having a leaf version of a snowball fight, each throwing handfuls of leaves at the other.
Rebecca and Melissa stepped outside at that point, observing the kids.
"Molly, Chris…" Rebecca said, laughing. "What are you two up to?"
"Just playing in the leaves, Mama," Chris replied cheerfully as he threw a handful of leaves playfully at Melissa, while Molly targeted Rebecca.
"Why you…" Rebecca said in mock anger, the effect was ruined by a sly grin playing on her face. She launched herself at Chris, giving him a hug while tickling his belly.
Chris giggled as he squirmed within Rebecca's clutches while Molly was receiving the same treatment from Melissa.
"Mama!—Heh-heh-heh-heh!—Cut it out."
Rebecca stopped tickling Chris and just hugged him and planting a kiss on his furry cheek while Molly was yelling: "Yeah, Auntie Melissa—ha, ha, ha, ha! What Chris said!"
"Oh, fiddlesticks," Melissa pouted as she released Molly. "You kids never let me have my fun."
Rebecca stood up, lifting Chris to his feet and steering him toward the boarding house.
"Now go wash your face and hands; dinner is on the table." Rebecca said gently. "That means you too, young lady." She added as Molly attempted to sneak away.
"Aw, Mom…" she moaned, pouting and crossing her arms.
"Okay, Mama." Chris said sadly, he really wanted to play some more, but he knew he had to listen to Rebecca, now that she was his adoptive Mama. And so, he went obediently into the house and Rebecca followed, with Molly bringing up the rear.
Rebecca gently took hold of Chris' shoulder, stopping him on his way to the washroom and pulled him into a hug.
"Listen, Chris," she said kindly. "I know you wanted to play some more, but you can play tomorrow. I'll tell Kit and Jeffery to leave your pile where it is, so you could play in it again tomorrow. Is that okay?"
Chris smiled as he hugged Rebecca back. "Yeah! Thanks, Mama," he kissed her on the cheek and continued on his way to the washroom, followed by Molly.
Rebecca went back outside while Melissa was calling and beckoning the boys into the house.
"Kit, Jeffery dears! Come on inside now, dinner is ready." Melissa called to them from the porch.
"Just a minute, Aunt Melissa," Kit said, raking the pile of leaves in the middle of the yard. "This is the last pile and then we'll be ready to come in."
"Oh, Kit." Rebecca said, joining Melissa on the porch again. "Leave that pile for Chris, I promised he could play in it again tomorrow."
"Okay," Kit said, handing his rake to Jeffery, who was gathering all the outside tools and getting ready to put them back in the shed. "Good luck keeping the wind from blowing it away…"
At the mention of wind, gray clouds covered the pink and gold sky, a light breeze begin to sweep the yard and a sprinkle of rain started falling
"Oh great, just great, that's not good." Jeffery groaned in dismay as a drop of rain hit him squarely on the nose, he had been enjoying the beautiful autumn day and it was turning into a gloomy rain with a rumble of thunder.
Jeffery and Kit quickly hurried inside since neither of them had their rain gears on.
"Just great…" Rebecca said, looking sadly up at the sky, a drop of rain hit her nose. "Now it'll be too wet and muddy for Chris to play in the leaves tomorrow…Oh, he'll be so disappointed."
"Maybe not, Rebecca dear," Melissa said beside her. "We'll just have to let him play an indoor game that's just as fun."
Chris was less than happy when he was told at the dinner table that, unfortunately, he wouldn't be playing in the leaves tomorrow as promised, but he understood and made no fuss about it, he just sat there in a sad mood, one hand on his chin , the other stirring his peas with his fork.
"Oh, cheer up, Chris dear." Melissa said sympathetically. "Tell you what, how about we play a game instead; have you ever played Musical Chairs?"
"Mom…." Jeffery groaned, slightly embarrassed. "That's a little kid's game." But he fell silent at the rare stern look his mother gave him. "I'm sorry," he muttered, knowing his mother's 'apologize now!' glare only too well.
Melissa smiled approvingly. "Don't think you're off the hook yet, young man, you're still doing the dishes."
"Aw man!" Jeffery groaned despairingly.
"Um, no…" Chris said quietly, he was curious about this game but he didn't want to appear too childish, since Jeffery thought this game was for little kids. "How do you play?"
"Oh it's easy." Molly piped up. "You put chairs together, play some music and walk around the chairs, when the music stops; you have to sit down before anybody else do."
"'Does,' sweetie." Rebecca corrected her, and then she turned her attention to Chris and Kit. "Chris, Kit, when Baloo gets back, I have something I want to discuss with you."
"Okay, Mama." Chris said.
"Yes, ma'am." Kit said respectfully.
In the next half hour, Baloo came through the front door in a very wet brown overcoat. He took it off and hung it on the coat rack. Drip…drip…drip… drops of water dripped off his coat and hit the floor, creating a small puddle under the coat rack
"Man alive, it's raining cats and dogs out there!" Baloo panted, shaking his head and sending water everywhere.
"Baloo!" Rebecca said indignantly. "Melissa spent all morning mopping!"
"Sorry Aggie." Baloo said sheepishly.
"Oh, it's okay, dear." Melissa said with a smile, understanding of the rain. "Jeffery, would you run and get the mop and a bucket, dear?"
"Aye-aye, Mommy."Jeffery said happily, obeying his Mom as he walked off toward the cleaning closet. He was always glad to help his mother around the house.
Just then, Chris came into the living room and spotted Baloo.
"Daddy Bear!" Chris shouted joyfully, running and jumping into Baloo's arms.
"Hey there, Lil Buddy!" Baloo said, catching Chris in his arms and hugging him. "How was school today?" he asked, ruffling Chris' hair
"It was good," Chris replied excitedly. "I worked in the cafeteria today with big brother, Jeffery and Oscar! And then I met Linda! She's really nice, she introduced me to her friends and they really like me! And then…" Chris paused, all excitement drained out of him and he let out a sad sniff.
"Hey, what's wrong, Chris?" Baloo asked gently, cradling Chris in his arms, concerned for his sudden change of mood. "Did one of their boyfriends get jealous?"
"No…" Chris said, wiping his tears on his sleeve, and then burying his face in Baloo's chest
"Aw, c'mon Chris, you can tell ol' Baloo." Baloo said, now rocking Chris gently in his cradling arms.
"Baloo, Chris came here after school, crying. Kit said he had a problem at school today after his lunch duties. And-and…" Rebecca stuttered with barely suppressed rage.
"It was a substitute teacher, Papa Bear." said Kit angrily. "He was only filling in and he gave us a test, even though it was only Chris' fourth day at school." He crumpled up a piece of paper into a ball and threw it very hard to the floor. "That wasn't fair! What's the point of tests if you don't learn anything?"
Rebecca wrapped her arms around Kit and soothed him until he was calmed again
"He was really harsh with Chris." Jeffery said quietly, looking very upset by the memory.
"What!" Baloo exclaimed angrily, but then he calmed himself to rock and sooth a sobbing Chris in his arms. "Shh…Lil Buddy, it'll be okay."
"Their regular teacher had to leave to pick up her kid for a doctor's appointment and they had to have a substitute to fill in, but he was a little hard on Chris, as Kit and Jeffery said," said Melissa walking in to the living room area, having just finished mopping up the puddle made by Baloo's coat.
"A little hard? Mom, he yelled at him for not passing the test." Jeffery said angrily. "He called Chris du—I mean....the D word," he finished, with a nervous look at his mother.
"What's the D word?" Baloo asked, confused. But he knew it must be a word Melissa doesn't like Jeffery using, for Melissa was frowning at her son's near-slip of the word while Jeffery grinned apologetically at his mother.
Rebecca leaned toward Baloo and whispered the word "dumb" in his ear, while Melissa was tactful enough to lift Chris out of Baloo's arms, in case the large pilot becomes so angry, that he could hurt Chris unintentionally. She sat down in her armchair, placed Chris on her lap and begins rocking him while humming a soothing hymn to him
"WHAT!" Baloo shouted in pure anger. "My boy's not du—the D word! Oh, that tears it, I'll show him a thing or two, and when I'm through with him, he'll be able to count all his teeth on one finger!" he growled, slamming his fist upon an innocent carpet table, completely breaking it beyond repair.
"BALOO!" Rebecca and Melissa shouted in unison.
"Eeek!" Jeffery exclaimed in a freak-out reaction, flattening himself against the wall as though he thought Baloo would launch at him next.
Melissa pressed Chris' face to her chest so he wouldn't see the broken table, and when Jeffery recovered, he and Kit picked up the pieces and threw them away.
Baloo looked ashamed at his action. "Sorry, Aggie," he muttered.
"It's okay," Melissa said in a strangled voice, still cradling Chris. "I never really liked that table anyway."
Baloo walked very slowly toward Melissa and Chris and gently lifted Chris out of Melissa's arms and hugging him while he cries.
"Shh, Chris, I'm sorry you had ta see that. That won't happen again, I promise." Baloo said soothingly.
"Promise you won't hurt anybody?" Chris asked in muffled voice, because his face was pressed to Baloo's chest.
Baloo stood there, holding Chris and looking uncertain with himself. Then he felt Kit and Jeffery hugging him around his big belly.
"Yeah, Papa Bear," Kit said. "Please promise that, that was too scary for Chris and Jeffery, and this guy's not worth it; he's just a big jerk."
"Yeah, Da—Uncle Baloo, you scared me pretty bad there." Jeffery said, while mentally scolding himself for nearly letting something slip out again.
Chris pulled his face out of Baloo's chest and looked up at him.
"Daddy Bear… p-please don't hurt anybody," he said, wiping his tears on his sleeve. "You're not a b-bad man, and bad mans hurt people."
Oh dear me… Melissa thought, his vocabulary skills needs some work.
"Baloo, I have an idea, but I think we need to discuss it as a family first." Rebecca said, taking Baloo's arm and leading him to the dinning room. Baloo put Chris down as he was led into the dinning room. Chris stayed in the living room to play with Molly.
"A family? I thought we were only partly an official family?" Baloo said in confusion as all except Chris and Molly entered the dinning room.
"Get use to it, Papa Bear, we're all family now, even if we're not biologically related." Kit said, walking along the table and sitting down in a chair. "And no one goes mistreated in this family.
"And beside, Uncle Baloo," Jeffery cut in, sitting down next to Kit. "It's the people that care about you no matter what that's your family."
"Heh, you're right, Star Bear." Baloo chuckled, reaching over the table to ruffle Jeffery's hair. "So, what's your idea, Becky?" he asked, turning his attention to Rebecca, while Jeffery smiled brightly at the usage of his magic show name.
"My idea includes my sister." Rebecca said, pulling Melissa to her side. Trapped with Rebecca's arm around her, Melissa smiled and waved sheepishly. "Now, I think we need to withdraw Chris from public school," Rebecca begins as they all sat down at the table "I don't want this to happen to Chris again. Baloo, he's our son now and we need to do what's best for him," she added gently taking Baloo's hand
"Yeah, Papa Bear, I can keep the bullies off of him, but I can't do anything against a bullying teacher." Kit said.
"And, Kit and I can keep him safe doing cafeteria work." Jeffery added. "but this is out of my league."
"So, I was thinking, Baloo," Rebecca continued, "that maybe we should have Chris homeschooled by Melissa until he gained enough education to keep up with Kit and Jeffery's class."
"I don't know, sister dear." Melissa said slowly. "Even if he gains enough education, he still has the heart and mind of a small child, teachers and students can still take advantage of his innocence. And Jeffery and Kit can't prevent everything from happening to him."
"Oh…yeah, you've got a point there, sis." Rebecca said. "Hmm, then I guess you'll have to homeschool him permanently."
"I'd be glad to, as long as it keeps him safe." Melissa said, smiling.
"But what about his friends he made today?" Jeffery asked. "Making friends is hard, believe me, I know."
"Yeah and, how is he going to see them again when he's not going to public school anymore?" Kit asked. "Jeffery's right, it took me weeks to make friends with Ernie and the Jungle Aces, Oscar, Jeffery and Linda—"
"Wait, let me get this straight," Baloo interrupted, with an air of one trying to understand something complex. "You want to take Chris out of public school and have Aggie homeschool him instead?"
"Yes." Rebecca said again holding Baloo's hand. Then she turned to Kit and Jeffery. "I've thought about that, and maybe you can work something out with the Jungle Aces and get a mixture of yours and his friends in that club."
"Uh, actually Mom, I was planning on dropping out of that club…" Kit admitted. "Ernie's not the best influence for Chris and he might not even let Chris in. Beside, he turned me against Papa Bear…" he shot an apologetic glance at Baloo.
"What, now when did this happen?" Rebecca asked, feeling confused.
"Heh-heh… Long story, Mom, but it worked out in the end." Kit said still looking apologetically at Baloo. "Papa Bear was playacting Bullethead, but he was only doing it for me, and Ernie made me see it as an embarrassment instead of a gift from the heart."
"Ah, thanks Lil Britches." Baloo smiled, giving Kit a one-arm hug, happy that he made Kit proud.
"Yeah, Cuz is right." Jeffery said. "Ernie wouldn't let me in and that was before I said I was Kit's cousin, but no matter, he would have said 'no adventure, no join,' and Kit's co-founder..."
"You're right," Rebecca said, frowning. "Ernie doesn't sound like someone I'd want Chris to hang out with. I guess it's good that you're leaving that club."
"Well now," Baloo said to Kit and Jeffery, as if Rebecca has not spoken. "Looks like you'll have to start a new club and make it yer own."
"Hey, yeah…" Kit said, he liked Baloo's suggestion rather a lot, it meant Chris can keep all the friends he made even though he'll no longer be attending the same school.
Jeffery looked slyly at Kit. "Yeah, why didn't you think of that, O Great Magician?" he asked teasingly.
"Oh hush," Kit said, giving Jeffery a nuggie.
"Anyway, back to the topic of discussion, Baloo," Melissa said. "Those teachers don't have the patience to deal with Chris, they're moving too fast for him, schooling him myself would the best thing for him, dear."
"And also," Rebecca added. "There's going to be a few changes at Higher for Hire. Baloo, I want you and the boys to move here in this boarding house. Higher For Hire is just not much of a home for the boys, you understand, don't you, Baloo?"
"Yeah, Becky," Baloo said understandingly. "But what about the Sea Duck, who's gonna watch the plane?"
"Wildcat will watch over it, but the boys having a stable home is more important than that plane,"
"Well, he could always park it at the dock out back."Melissa suggested.
Jeffery let out a happy whoop and swung an arm around Kit's shoulders.
"Hey Cuz, looks like we're roommates."
"Hey yeah I guess so." Kit said smiling happily
Kit loved Higher for Hire, but seeing that he and Chris are moving in with Jeffery and the fact that Baloo will be moving here as well, he didn't really have a problem with the changes, as long as he can get away from Baloo's snores.
"What are you guys talking about?" said an innocently curious voice.
They all turned to see Chris standing in the doorway to the dinning room with a curious expression. Apparently, Kit and Jeffery's yells of celebration aroused Chris' curiosity and he came to investigate.
"Chris, come sit by me, sweetie." Rebecca said, gesturing to the chair beside her.
"Okay, Mama." Chris said, and he obediently sat in the chair Rebecca had indicated.
"Chris, remember that teacher who treated you unfairly today?" Rebecca asked. Chris nodded, as though he'd rather not think about it. "Well, we've been talking and we really don't want that happening to you again." She stopped there and gave Melissa a look that told her to pick up from there.
"Well, Chris dear, as your Mama said," Melissa said, slightly nervous. "We don't want that happening to you again, and we decided that it would be best if I teach you from now on."
"You're gonna be my new teacher at school? Oh boy!" Chris exclaimed excitedly.
"No, Chris." Kit said, shaking his head. "They want to take you out of school and have Aunt Melissa teach you at home instead."
"Oh…" said Chris sadly, bowing his head. His lips trembled as he went on. "B-b-but, what about my friends? W-will I ever see them again?"
Rebecca hugged him with a hand on his head. "Shh, baby, you'll see them again. Kit and Jeffery will see to that."
"R-r-really?" Chris sniffed, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.
"Yeah, Little Brother, we promise. Besides, Linda and her friends are mine and Jeffery's too." Kit said hugging Chris sympathetically.
"Yeah, Cuz," Jeffery said, hugging Chris with Kit. "We're gonna start our own club for just us and our friends. That way, you'll see Linda and the others every afternoon."
"Wow, you mean it?" Chris said in awe.
"Yes, we mean it, Cuz. Just give us a little time to set it all up for us, okay?"Jeffery said, giving Chris a light tickle in his ribs, causing Chris to giggle.
The next day at school, Kit and Jeffery has been held up in the hallways by all of Chris' friends; mostly the girls and they demanded to know where Chris was.
"He's being homeschooled from now on," Kit and Jeffery kept saying over and over again,
"Why?" asked Linda when she cornered them herself, looking concerned. "Is it something to do with that horrible sub?"
"Uh, yeah," Kit said, "Baloo and Miss Cunningham are afraid that people might take advantage of him, being so innocent, you know."
"Yeah, that is probably wise. I hated seeing him hurt like that." Linda said with a frown. "I am glad Mr. Pomeroy fired him, he was causing Chris such distress."
"You hated it? How do you think I felt, I wanted to hit him for scaring my brother and making him cry." Kit said in a slightly angry tone.
"Will we ever see him again?" Linda asked.
"You know," Jeffery piped up. "We're working on that, we're thinking of starting an after school club for just his and our friends."
Just then, Linda's gang of girls came up behind her and realized instantly that Chris wasn't there.
"Aww..." they cooed in disappointment, and something about their behavior made Kit and Jeffery frown. "Where's our cute, adorable little baby?" they asked, giggling behind their hands.
"Ugh!" Linda said in anger and disgust. "Girls, he's not a baby, he's just innocent and caring." She clapped a hand to her face as they begin to whine and protest, feeling really embarrassed by her friends' behavior. "I'm surrounded by superficial idiots…"
"Humph! Fine, be that way, Linda," they said, rather snobbishly. "Hang out with Baby Jeffery and Clownkicker if you want! We could care less."
Kit's anger suddenly burst to the surface and he slammed his fist against the lockers so hard that the girls shrieked with fright and ran off in different directions.
"Kit!" Jeffery cried; seizing Kit's wrist and examining his hand, which started to turn red at the spot where it made contact with the lockers. "Are you alright?"
"Looks like Mom pulled Chris out of here just in time." Kit said sadly. "Who knows what those girls would've done to him in the long run."
"So that's the famous Cloudkicker tough guy routine?" Linda asked "I'm glad I'm your true friend or I'd be in trouble." She let out a nervous chuckle.
"No, that was just me letting my anger out," Kit said, "My tough guy routine is different from that."
"Cuz, c'mon, let's go to my locker." Jeffery said, still holding Kit's wrist. "I need to treat it right away and then I'd have to bandage it."
Jeffery then pulled Kit along down the hall toward his locker, Linda followed. He opened his locker, got out the first aid kit and begin treating and bandaging it up.
"There, how does that feels, Cuz?" Jeffery asked anxiously.
Kit held up his hand and flexed his fingers. "Better. Thanks, Jeffery."
"No problem, Cuz," Jeffery said, hugging Kit. "But next time, hit something softer!"
"What, your stomach?" Kit asked jokingly, giving Jeffery a light, playful punch to his stomach.
"Ha-ha, very funny, Cuz…" Jeffery said sarcastically, rubbing his belly.
"You two are funny." Linda said, giggling. "So, about this after school club…when and where is it going to be?"
"We don't have those details straighten out yet." Jeffery admitted. "But it's just for ours and Chris' true friends, like you and Oscar."
"Do you know if any other of Chris' so-called friends are really his friends, or do they all only like him because he's cute?" Kit asked Linda.
"Well, there's Tootie Little…" Linda said slowly, "But she's obsessed with having him for a boyfriend, so I wouldn't recommend her...."
"Heh-heh, the turtle trainer…" Jeffery muttered, chuckling softly.
"Heh-heh, yeah, Chris is a long way away from being ready for that kind of stuff." Kit chuckled.
"Um-hmm!" Jeffery nodded.
"Well," Linda said, holding her chin thoughtfully. "The other three who were in line that day were your friends, Kit, the three original Jungle Aces members… I never knew their names, but they liked Chris for who he is, even saying Ernie was a bad influence for him to meet."
"Okay," said Jeffery, getting out a piece of paper and pen and begins to write down names. "Oh, Linda, if you're not busy, would you come to the Malt Shop after school? We're meeting Oscar and a few friends there later to discuss this club and stuff."
"Okay, I'm there." Linda said just as the bell rang, singling the start of fifth period. "Well I gotta go, see ya later."
True to her words, when school was let out that afternoon, Linda was the first to meet them at the Malt Shop. Kit offered to buy her a sundae while Jeffery went to the payphone booth to call home.
"Hello?" said Chris' voice from the receiver.
"Oh, hi, Chris." Jeffery said brightly. "How's your first day with my Mom?"
"Great!" Chris said happily. "She's taught me lots of stuff, right now she's teaching me to make your favorite afternoon snack!"
"Jammed doughnuts?" Jeffery asked eagerly.
"Yeah," Chris confirmed.
"Well, that's great!" Jeffery said happily. "Listen, could you please tell my Mom that Kit and I are going to be late getting home today, we had to meet with our friends after school. We'll try to be home around five, okay?"
"Okay, Jeffery. Can I talk to Kit?"
"Uh…" Jeffery said hesitantly, glancing at Kit and saw that he was busy buying seven sundaes, one for each friend that were coming or have already arrived. "He's a little busy right now, Chris. But he'll see you in a little while, okay?"
"Okay…" Chris sighed sadly, and Jeffery could tell from his tone that he really misses Kit.
"Listen, Cuz," Jeffery begun, but a cool female voice interrupted him.
"Please insert another ten cents if you would like to extend your toll time."
Jeffery glared at the phone, then he turned out his pocket and a tiny little white moth flutters out of it, he was broke and he had no way of calling Chris back. He scowled coldly at the phone as he put the receiver back in its place with a little more force than he had intended.
"Stupid payphone…" he muttered grumpily. "Ran out of time before I could even try to comfort my poor Cuz, and I didn't even use my full five minutes!" He then vented his feelings by kicking the phone booth with his foot. "I want my dime back, you piece of junk!" he shouted, waving a fist threateningly at the phone booth.
He joined Kit at the bar, looking very grumpy with his arms folded and his lips pursed.
"Oh, there you are." Kit said, "Help me with—what's the matter with you?" he asked, noticing Jeffery's less-than-happy expression.
"I called home; Chris answered the phone and he asked about you." Jeffery said, still looking a bit annoyed. "When I told him you were busy, he…he sounded sad…and before I could cheer him up, the stupid phone was asking for more money, and I only used two minutes, that phone owes me another three minutes!"
To Jeffery's slight indignation, Kit didn't seem bothered by this news.
"Heh, yeah, that happens a lot." Kit said; handing Jeffery the tray loaded with four glasses of sundaes. "Here, take these, please and carry them over there. Linda's saving us a table."
"Okay, can do, Cuz." Jeffery sighed, picking up two trays at once. "Oh, by the way, Chris is well. He had a great day with my Mom, but I think he really misses us. But as I said, he sounded a little sad before the phone went off on me."
Poor little brother, Kit thought as he turned back toward the bar for another tray. I hope Aunt Melissa explain to him how payphones work, I'd hate for him to be very sad over a misunderstanding. I'll buy him a sundae before I leave, just in case he is, that'll cheer him up... Let's see, I still got fifty cents left….
Kit and Jeffery carried the trays of sundaes to the table where five people were waiting for them, Linda, who was saving the table for them. Next to her, sat Oscar, looking a little nervous but happy to be there. Next to him were the hippo, the rabbit and the vulture from the Jungle Aces.
"Hey Kit," the hippo, rabbit and vulture said in unison.
"Hey Kit, uh, Ernie's been saying mean stuff about you…" said the hippo. "Well, more of your brother than you. He says your brother is so babyish, he may still drinks out of a baby bottle…."
"We told him to shut up and left," the rabbit said quickly, seeing the outraged look on Kit's face.
Linda frowned. "Chris Cloudkicker is a very sweet, very nice person, he's just innocent as a lamb, that doesn't mean he's a baby."
"Yeah, but I noticed your girl friends treating him like one," the rabbit said. "And they started doing that after Ernie started the bottle-drinking rumor."
Linda gritted her teeth and a vein was throbbing in her temple. She let out a snarl and her grip on her glass was so tight that it cracked down the side.
"They weren't my friends, they were just tag-alongs!" she shouted.
"Eeek!" squeaked Jeffery, Oscar and the three ex-Jungle Aces members fearfully and they huddled together in fright, as though afraid Linda might suddenly run at them and attack. Kit, however, sat there like nothing had happened.
"Linda, calm down," Kit said, still acting like nothing unusual just happened. "I know they weren't really your friends, now drink your sundae before it leaks from that crack you made in your glass."
"Tee-hee… oops!" Linda laughed. "Oh no, did I just do—? Great! I let my anger get me again, darn it!" she said in a half-hearted sigh as the ice cream started running down on her hands.
"You break it, you buy it!" yelled the bartender from the bar.
Linda let out a small squeal-like squeak and fell out of her seat, landing on her back on the floor. She then pulled herself up by holding onto the edge of the table.
"Heh, heh, sorry…" Linda muttered, a big sweat-drop was sliding down her forehead. And she went over to the bar to pay for the cracked glass while getting a new sundae.
"Kit, we all really like your brother as he is, like Linda said, he's just innocent as a lamb, we don't think he's babyish at all," the rabbit said, hopping to cheer Kit up.
"Thanks guys," Kit said, smiling. "Let's forget about Ernie and get down to business. Jeffery?"
Jeffery cleared his throat as Linda rejoined their table. "Chris made a few true friends in his last day in our school. But he misses his friends and we'd like to provide him with a connection to his friends. This connection will be in a form of a new club, just for friends of his and ours to join."
"That means you guys." Kit said, beaming around at them all.
"Right Kit," Jeffery said nodding,
"But we'll need a clubhouse, and Ernie would never surrender his Jungle Aces' Clubhouse," said the vulture.
"We've already thought of that," Jeffery said. "There's an empty lot across the street from my boarding house, it's used as a small junkyard mostly, we just need to buy that lot, clean it up and build a clubhouse there."
"But how do we do all of this?" asked Linda. "We'll need money and lots of it if we're going to buy a square piece of land, clean it up and build a clubhouse…."
"That's where Oscar comes in," said Kit, with an encouraging hand on Oscar's shoulder. "He has already agreed to ask his Mom if he can sponsor for us and be our financial manager."
"Now all we have to do is clean up that lot, that's all." Jeffery said; he was looking forward to cleaning up that old lot.
"U-um, don't get your hopes up too high, guys." Oscar said nervously, fearing the possibility of a 'no' from his mother. "I haven't even gotten the 'yes' from my Mom yet..."
"Oh, I'm sure you'll get it, Oscar." Linda said kindly, patting Oscar's hand. "Be optimistic for once in your life! This is for Chris mostly, but it's also for us to hang as friends."
"Okay, but what's our name's gonna be?" asked the hippo. "The Flying Dutchman?"
"Ugh, no!" Linda said with distaste. "That name has already been used in tons of stories, we need to be more original."
"Uh, we'll come up with a name once we have our clubhouse," said Kit. "I don't want us to become official and then get disappointed because Oscar's Mom says 'no.'"
The group all murmured in agreement.
"Now guys, I was thinking of linking our club with a Cub Scout society," Jeffery said, keen to share his idea. "That way we can have summer camps and charity work to go with our club, what do you guys think?'
"I think that's a wonderful idea, Jeffery, as long as there's a girls' cabin…" Linda said, making Jeffery blush. "We can clean up the world and help the needy people."
"Yeah, let's do it!" echoed the others.
"But to do that, we'll need a scout master," said the rabbit. "Two of them, if we're going to have girls in our club."
"Well, Baloo can be our scout master." Kit said slowly.
"Yeah, let's get Uncle Baloo," said Jeffery, excitedly. "And we can get my Mom to be the girls' scout master."
"Sure, who is your Mom anyway?" Linda asked.
Jeffery blushed scarlet at Linda's question. "Melissa Aggie Cunningham."
"No way!" Linda said in surprise. "Your Mom is the Great Magician Girl Melissa?"
"Uh, yeah…" Jeffery muttered, blushing, if that was possible, even more.
"Then that makes you Star Bear, I didn't recognize you without your costume!" Linda said excitedly, clearly retraining herself from launching at Jeffery like a lunatic fan. Then as though unable to stop herself, she pulled out a notebook and pen from her bag and practically begged him for his signature.
Jeffery sighed sadly. "Please don't start treating me like a celebrity, I hate it."
Linda looked sad and apologetic as she lowered her notebook and pen. "I'm sorry…" she muttered
"No, don't be," Jeffery said quickly. "You did nothing wrong. It's just that, I want to be treated like everyone else, I don't want anybody treating me like a king.... But I will sign your book."
"Oh, yay!" Linda said happily.
He then took her book and wrote the following words.
Follow your heart and dreams; you will be amazed where they will lead you. Always have hope for the future, no matter what you're facing now.
If you ever get lost, follow your heart and your heart will lead you home, to the people who care. Love may be hard to find, but that's only because people are looking in the wrong places.
—Star Bear
He handed the notebook back to Linda and she took it and read what he written. She smiled a very teary smile.
"Aww, that was so sweet, Jeff," she said, giving him a gentle hug.
"Okay, I think that's all we need to talk about for now." Kit said. "Until we get our clubhouse, we're meeting at the boarding house where Jeffery, Chris and I live on Mondays and Fridays after school. Is there any other questions?"
The hippo raised his hand
"Yes?" said Kit, acknowledging him.
"I thought you lived at Higher for Hire, Kit…" said the hippo, confused.
"Chris and I have been relocated to Jeffery's house as a more stable home to live in." Kit explained. "Any other questions?"
When they shook their heads, Kit dismissed them and went over to counter.
"I'd like one more sundae, please." Kit said to the bartender.
"Haven't you had enough?" the bartender asked in mild concern. "You don't want to go getting big around the middle, do ya?" he added teasingly, gently poking Kit's small round belly. Kit laughed
"Hey, it's not for me, Max," Kit said with a smile, rubbing the spot where the bartender had poked him. "It's for my brother. I'm taking it home to him."
"Oh well, that's nice of ya." Max said, scooping the sundae into a paper cup and sealing it with a plastic lid. "Here you are," he handed Kit the cup.
"Thanks Max." Kit said, holding out two quarters while taking the cup with the other hand. Then he turned to leave. "Bye Max, c'mon Jeff, let's go."
"Comin', Cuz!" Jeffery said happily, jogging alongside Kit. "Bye Max," he called over his shoulder at the bartender, waving an arm in farewell.
"Bye boys!" Max shouted after them just as they ran out of the malt shop.
Kit and Jeffery raced each other down the street toward their boarding house, which now has a sign on the side of the building to the right of the front door, which had an image of a house floating on a cloud and underneath this image were words that read: 'Cunningham's Home of the Sky.'
"Hey look, Jeffery, your Mom finally got the sign up." Kit said as he hopped onto the front step.
"Finally! Mom's been meaning to put that sign up for weeks." Jeffery said as he ran past Kit and hopped onto the welcome mat. "Ha, ha, I beat you, Cuz."
"Heh, nice try, Jeff…" Kit said slyly, swinging an arm around Jeffery's neck and proceeded to give him a nuggie. "I was here first, ergo, I beat you."
"Aw, but you always win, I never win a foot race with you, Cuz…" Jeffery said, pouting from under Kit's arm.
Kit laughed as he released Jeffery. "Oh, don't worry, Jeff, I've just been running all my life, it's only natural that I'm a bit faster."
"Heh, yeah, and you had to be fast to get away from Weatherspoon and pirates." Jeffery said, opening the front door.
"Exactly," Kit said, clapping Jeffery on the back as they walked into the boarding house. "Tell you what, I'll help you become a fast runner, you just have to jog and exercise more and slim that belly of yours down a bit…" he added slyly, patting Jeffery's round belly.
"Look who's talking, cubby," Jeffery replied slyly, patting Kit's belly in return. "And no thanks, that would mean I'll have to give up Mom's donuts and I'm not giving 'em up,"
Kit laughed. "Okay, suit yourself."
They walked down the hall toward the kitchen to find Melissa standing in the doorway to the kitchen, her arms crossed and she looked stern.
"Uh-oh…" Jeffery squeaked and he ducked behind Kit.
"Uh… hi, Aunt Melissa." Kit said uncertainly, wondering what Melissa was looking so stern about.
"Jeffery Lee Cunningham," Melissa said very sternly, and Kit sidestepped out of the way, no longer hiding Jeffery behind his back. "What is the meaning of this?"
"W-what is the m-m-meaning of what, Mommy?" Jeffery asked very timidly, his head slightly bowed and his shoulders hunched.
"Did you hang up on Chris?" she asked. "He was very upset and he went up to your room and cried his heart out, poor dear."
"Oh," Jeffery said, comprehension dawned on his face. "That wasn't my fault, Mommy, it was a payphone and it went off on me."
"Oh..." Melissa said, and her sternness seemed to melt as she unfolded her arms. "I'm sorry, Jeffery dear, I know I raised you better than that." And she moved forward and hugged her son.
"It's okay, Mommy." Jeffery said, hugging her back. "I'm going to go up and comfort him, I'll be right back," he said as they broke apart.
He climbed up the stairs all the way up to the attic bedroom. He pushed the door slowly open and entered the room, looking around for Chris. He spotted him sitting on the bottom bunk.
Chris' knees were drawn up to his chin, his arms were wrapped around his legs and his face was buried on top of his knees. As Jeffery approaches him slowly, he heard a sob escape Chris.
Jeffery sat lightly onto the bed beside Chris. Chris didn't even seem to notice the extra weight on the bed. Jeffery reached over to Chris and gently pulled him toward himself, setting Chris on his lap, holding him a gentle soothing embrace while massaging the back of Chris' head with one hand.
Inside Jeffery's embrace, Chris uncurled himself and buried in his face on Jeffery's shoulder, hiccupping slightly.
"W-why…d-d-did you…hung up on me?" Chris asked between sobs and hiccups.
"Chris, I didn't…" Jeffery said in a soft, soothing voice, still massaging the back of Chris' head with gentle strokes and circle motions.
Chris pulled his face away from Jeffery's shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes. Chris' face was a real mess, his furry cheeks were wet with tears and his nose was a little snotty.
"B-b-but, I h-h-heard a click, and then… you weren't there anymore…"
"Oh, Chris…." Jeffery said gently, reaching over to the bedside table for a tissue and handed it to Chris, who took it and blew his nose on it very hard and wiped the tears out of his eyes. "I was calling home via payphone; they cost a dime to call people with and only give you five minutes to talk."
"B-b-but, we d-d-didn't talked that long…" Chris said confusedly, laying his head back on Jeffery's shoulder again and let out a few more hiccups.
"The phone was broken." Jeffery said, hugging Chris on his lap a little tighter. He wanted to say 'the stupid payphone was broken,' but he always deliberately avoided using the word 'stupid' in Chris' presence. "It only gave me two out of five minutes to talk to you. I wanted to call you back, but I was broke."
"Broke?" Chris asked, and he backed away a few inches so he could see Jeffery's face. "What did you broke."
"No, Chris," Jeffery said in a resigned voice, placing a hand on Chris' head and gently pushing him back to rest on his shoulder. "Broke is the past tense for break, that's true, but it's also a term meaning a person has no money."
"Oh…." Chris said slowly. "So—so you didn't….hung up on me?"
"I would never do that, Cuz," Jeffery said with another gentle squeeze in his embrace on Chris. "You and Kit are my very favorite cousins next to Molly," He ruffles Chris' hair a bit. "I love you guys too much to ever hang up on you." Chris let out a cry of happiness and hugged Jeffery very tightly. "There, that's my happy Cuz," Jeffery said encouragingly, hugging Chris too and patting him on the back of the head. "Now, c'mon, Kit brought you back a sundae."
"The ice cream kind?" Chris asked hopefully as he slid himself off of Jeffery's lap.
"Heh-heh, yeah." Jeffery laughed. "With an extra cherry on top, just for you, Cuz." He added, playfully tickling Chris' side, causing Chris to squeal with excitement and ticklish laugher.
As Jeffery and Chris entered the kitchen, Kit was at the bar, eating a doughnut with a bit of icing on his upper lip.
"Hmm, these are good, Aunt Melissa," Kit said, taking a swig of milk.
"Actually, Chris made them," Melissa said proudly, glancing over at Chris. "All I did was talked him through it and showed him what to do and he did the rest."
Kit spat out a mouthful of milk, spraying Jeffery in the face, who has just sat down next him and now wished he had not.
"Cuz!" Jeffery exclaimed, glaring at Kit with great annoyance. He then reached for a napkin and wiped his face clean. "Don't make a habit of that, it's not cool."
"Sorry," Kit said quickly, and then he turned his attention to Melissa as Chris sat down on his other side. "He did? –He made these?"
"Give your brother some credit, Kit; he may be uneducated, but he's a good listener and a fast learner." Melissa said, looking at Chris with pride. "He knows how to follow directions, and these good doughnuts are the results of his ability to follow directions and instructions to the letter."
"That's great! I was just surprised that he could cook so well after just one day of homeschooling, that's all." Kit said, and then he swung an arm around Chris' shoulder and gave him a one-arm hug. "These doughnuts are great, Chris, I'm proud of you."
"Aw shucks, it was nothing…" Chris said modestly, and for the first time since Jeffery had known him, he blushed, his cheeks turned a pinkish red.
"Hey, these are good, Cuz!" Jeffery said happily, biting into one of Chris' doughnut. Chris blushed even redder.
"Boys, while Chris was making these doughnuts, he had an idea." Melissa said, standing opposite them across the bar. "Go on, Chris dear, tell them."
"Heh-heh, well um..." Chris laughed bashfully as he blushed scarlet and he avoided eye contact with the other two. "C-can you tell them?" He asked Melissa timidly.
"No, Chris dear, this was your idea, you need to tell them." Melissa said encouragingly.
"Yeah, c'mon Chris, what's your idea?" Kit asked, grasping Chris' hand reassuringly.
"I….I thought we could make doughnuts… for the poor kids who don't get any." Chris muttered
"Hey, that's a great idea, Cuz!" Jeffery said excitedly after a moment's pause.
"Yeah," agreed Kit. "That can be part of our charity work. Chris, you're a genius!"
Kit hugged Chris and Jeffery joined in.
"Aw shucks, I'm no genius…" said Chris modestly. "I just had a good idea, that's all."
"Well, you came up with a great idea, Cuz." Jeffery said, giving Chris a gentle squeeze. "And that makes you a genius in my book.
"Amen, Jeffery." Kit said in agreement.
"Aw guys, cut it out, you're making me blush." Chris said bashfully, but he looked rather pleased with himself all the same. "So, uh, what were you two doing at the malt shop?"
"Oh, um, we were meeting our friends there." Jeffery said
"Chris, I felt bad about you leaving your school friends just to be homeschooled, away from bullying teachers." Kit added. "So Jeffery and I agreed that we needed to set something up so you can see your friends again. We've formed a new club, which will be for us and our friends only."
Chris bowed his head, looking a little sad. "You didn't have to feel bad for me, big brother, I was having so much fun learning from Aunt Melissa, but now it won't be fun anymore, knowing you feel bad for me not being with my friends."
Kit wrapped his arms around Chris' shoulders. "Well, with this club, I won't have to feel bad for you, because you'll see your friends in the afternoon every other day."
Jeffery hugged Chris too. "You know, Cuz…your doughnut for charity idea came at a prefect timing. Our club is going to be doing a lot of charity work and you came up with the first charity idea!"
"I-I did?"Chris asked uncertainly.
Just then, Rebecca came walking into the kitchen, led by the smell of Chris' doughnuts.
"Mmm, something smells good in here." Rebecca said, taking a doughnut from the bar, but it was snatched out of her hand by Melissa. "Ow!" she gasped as Melissa smacked her hand.
"Sorry sister dear, but it's too close to dinnertime for this." Melissa said, placing the doughnut back on the tray.
Rebecca frowned resentfully as she rubbed her hand, clearly thinking Melissa was a hypocrite for allowing the boys to have one.
"But you let the boys have one, it's not fair, sis." Rebecca pouted, crossing her arms.
"Well that's different, sister dear," Melissa said gently, putting the lid on top of the tray of doughnuts and moving the tray to the counter opposite the bar. "They are growing boys, whereas you are a grown woman who needs to watch her fat intakes," she said, grinning slyly at her.
"Oh, fine!" Rebecca said in great annoyance. "You just want to spoil them. I know you, sis."
Chris was looking back and forth between Rebecca and Melissa, a look of pity on his innocent face.
"Can Mama just have one bite, Aunt Melissa?" Chris asked. "I want her to taste my doughnuts."
"Your doughnut, Chris?" Rebecca said, looking surprised. "You mean you made those doughnuts?"
"Yes, Mama, and Aunt Melissa helped." Chris said happily.
Melissa smiled as she placed a hand on Chris' shoulder. "Yes, Chris made these doughnuts under my supervision. I gave him instructions and he did it, the only things I did were preheating the oven, put the doughnuts into the oven and then took them out when they were done."
"Wow," Rebecca said, looking impressed. "Keep this up, and we'll have another little chef in the family," she said, glancing in Jeffery's direction.
"Hey, what about me? I can cook too, you know!" Kit shouted indignantly.
"Oh Kit, I've been needing to have a word with you." Rebecca said, placing a hand on Kit's shoulder.
"Huh?" Kit said, looking a little confused. "What about?"
Rebecca surveyed him for a moment, as though worried that what she had to say might upset him. She sighed as she steered Kit out of the kitchen and into the living room. Jeffery followed them.
Authors' note:
Oooh, sounds serious. What does Rebecca have to say? Any guesses? Find out for sure on the next chapter of An Angelic Christmas!
KitCloudkicker52885 and Kit_Lee are hoping you're enjoying their second installment of TaleSpin: The Cloudkicker Trio and hope that you are entertained as well as interested in our Cloudkicker Trio series.
Till next time…
Authors: KitCloudkicker52885 and Kit_Lee
Disclaimer: We do not own Disney's TaleSpin, but we do own Chris Cloudkicker and Jeffery & Melissa Cunningham
Chapter One
Chris' Doughnuts
It was a beautiful evening in Cape Suzette, the pink and gold sky was always very pleasant to look at and the cooler air and shower of falling leaves meant that autumn was here at last.
In the backyard of a four-story, red-brick boarding house, there was a pile of red, yellow and orange leaves. The pile was shaking, like there was something moving around within the pile.
And then, all of a sudden, the head of a golden, light-brown bear cub poked out from beneath the leaves, laughing. He has shining blue eyes and a smile that makes him look adorably cute.
He laughed playfully as he lay on his back on top of the leaves, spreading his arms and legs, as if making a snow angel.
"Chris!" said his brother, Kit, sounding exasperated. He was holding the handle of a rake in one hand; the other one was on his hip. "We're supposed to be raking the leaves, not playing in it."
But Chris continue to laugh and play in the leaves, giving no sign that he had heard Kit except to roll over onto his belly and flick a handful of leaves at Kit's face.
Kit was caught off guard and he stood there with a look that said: 'I can't believe you just did that!'
"Chris!" Kit exclaimed indignantly, brushing a few leaves off his face and shoulder.
Their cousin, Jeffery, a medium chocolate brown bear cub, laughed at the expression on Kit's face, clutching his rake for support and Chris sat up and hunched his shoulders, looking worried that he might have upset Kit in some way. His eyes were downcast and he looks as though he was about to cry, his bottom lip was trembling.
"Aw, let him play, Kit," Jeffery said lightly. "I've never seen him having this much fun before, and I'd hate to spoil it for him."
"Oh, Chris," Kit said, spotting the look on his face. "I'm sorry," he said, bending down and hugging his brother. "Don't cry. Tell you what, you can play a little longer, but only in this pile, okay?"
"Okay, big brother." Chris said, wiping his eyes on his sleeve and hugging Kit. He then went back to playing in his pile of leaves while Kit and Jeffery continue raking their piles toward the wooden fence at the end of the yard.
Just then, Molly Cunningham came outside to see what all the big boys were doing. She walked toward Chris, who was sitting in his pile of leaves, laughing happily as he threw leaves into the air.
"What'cha doing, Chris?" she asked in a sweet voice
"Oh, hi Molly," Chris said cheerfully, he took two leaves, red and orange and stuck them in the bows tied to Molly's ears. "Just playing in the leaves."
Molly giggled, thinking Chris was being so silly. "Hey, can I play with you?"
"Sure!" Chris said, beaming at her.
"Alright!" Molly cried delightedly. "Danger Woman to the rescue!" she yelled, jumping into the pile next to Chris and flicking some at Chris' face and Chris laughed as he flicked some back. Soon, they were having a leaf version of a snowball fight, each throwing handfuls of leaves at the other.
Rebecca and Melissa stepped outside at that point, observing the kids.
"Molly, Chris…" Rebecca said, laughing. "What are you two up to?"
"Just playing in the leaves, Mama," Chris replied cheerfully as he threw a handful of leaves playfully at Melissa, while Molly targeted Rebecca.
"Why you…" Rebecca said in mock anger, the effect was ruined by a sly grin playing on her face. She launched herself at Chris, giving him a hug while tickling his belly.
Chris giggled as he squirmed within Rebecca's clutches while Molly was receiving the same treatment from Melissa.
"Mama!—Heh-heh-heh-heh!—Cut it out."
Rebecca stopped tickling Chris and just hugged him and planting a kiss on his furry cheek while Molly was yelling: "Yeah, Auntie Melissa—ha, ha, ha, ha! What Chris said!"
"Oh, fiddlesticks," Melissa pouted as she released Molly. "You kids never let me have my fun."
Rebecca stood up, lifting Chris to his feet and steering him toward the boarding house.
"Now go wash your face and hands; dinner is on the table." Rebecca said gently. "That means you too, young lady." She added as Molly attempted to sneak away.
"Aw, Mom…" she moaned, pouting and crossing her arms.
"Okay, Mama." Chris said sadly, he really wanted to play some more, but he knew he had to listen to Rebecca, now that she was his adoptive Mama. And so, he went obediently into the house and Rebecca followed, with Molly bringing up the rear.
Rebecca gently took hold of Chris' shoulder, stopping him on his way to the washroom and pulled him into a hug.
"Listen, Chris," she said kindly. "I know you wanted to play some more, but you can play tomorrow. I'll tell Kit and Jeffery to leave your pile where it is, so you could play in it again tomorrow. Is that okay?"
Chris smiled as he hugged Rebecca back. "Yeah! Thanks, Mama," he kissed her on the cheek and continued on his way to the washroom, followed by Molly.
Rebecca went back outside while Melissa was calling and beckoning the boys into the house.
"Kit, Jeffery dears! Come on inside now, dinner is ready." Melissa called to them from the porch.
"Just a minute, Aunt Melissa," Kit said, raking the pile of leaves in the middle of the yard. "This is the last pile and then we'll be ready to come in."
"Oh, Kit." Rebecca said, joining Melissa on the porch again. "Leave that pile for Chris, I promised he could play in it again tomorrow."
"Okay," Kit said, handing his rake to Jeffery, who was gathering all the outside tools and getting ready to put them back in the shed. "Good luck keeping the wind from blowing it away…"
At the mention of wind, gray clouds covered the pink and gold sky, a light breeze begin to sweep the yard and a sprinkle of rain started falling
"Oh great, just great, that's not good." Jeffery groaned in dismay as a drop of rain hit him squarely on the nose, he had been enjoying the beautiful autumn day and it was turning into a gloomy rain with a rumble of thunder.
Jeffery and Kit quickly hurried inside since neither of them had their rain gears on.
"Just great…" Rebecca said, looking sadly up at the sky, a drop of rain hit her nose. "Now it'll be too wet and muddy for Chris to play in the leaves tomorrow…Oh, he'll be so disappointed."
"Maybe not, Rebecca dear," Melissa said beside her. "We'll just have to let him play an indoor game that's just as fun."
Chris was less than happy when he was told at the dinner table that, unfortunately, he wouldn't be playing in the leaves tomorrow as promised, but he understood and made no fuss about it, he just sat there in a sad mood, one hand on his chin , the other stirring his peas with his fork.
"Oh, cheer up, Chris dear." Melissa said sympathetically. "Tell you what, how about we play a game instead; have you ever played Musical Chairs?"
"Mom…." Jeffery groaned, slightly embarrassed. "That's a little kid's game." But he fell silent at the rare stern look his mother gave him. "I'm sorry," he muttered, knowing his mother's 'apologize now!' glare only too well.
Melissa smiled approvingly. "Don't think you're off the hook yet, young man, you're still doing the dishes."
"Aw man!" Jeffery groaned despairingly.
"Um, no…" Chris said quietly, he was curious about this game but he didn't want to appear too childish, since Jeffery thought this game was for little kids. "How do you play?"
"Oh it's easy." Molly piped up. "You put chairs together, play some music and walk around the chairs, when the music stops; you have to sit down before anybody else do."
"'Does,' sweetie." Rebecca corrected her, and then she turned her attention to Chris and Kit. "Chris, Kit, when Baloo gets back, I have something I want to discuss with you."
"Okay, Mama." Chris said.
"Yes, ma'am." Kit said respectfully.
In the next half hour, Baloo came through the front door in a very wet brown overcoat. He took it off and hung it on the coat rack. Drip…drip…drip… drops of water dripped off his coat and hit the floor, creating a small puddle under the coat rack
"Man alive, it's raining cats and dogs out there!" Baloo panted, shaking his head and sending water everywhere.
"Baloo!" Rebecca said indignantly. "Melissa spent all morning mopping!"
"Sorry Aggie." Baloo said sheepishly.
"Oh, it's okay, dear." Melissa said with a smile, understanding of the rain. "Jeffery, would you run and get the mop and a bucket, dear?"
"Aye-aye, Mommy."Jeffery said happily, obeying his Mom as he walked off toward the cleaning closet. He was always glad to help his mother around the house.
Just then, Chris came into the living room and spotted Baloo.
"Daddy Bear!" Chris shouted joyfully, running and jumping into Baloo's arms.
"Hey there, Lil Buddy!" Baloo said, catching Chris in his arms and hugging him. "How was school today?" he asked, ruffling Chris' hair
"It was good," Chris replied excitedly. "I worked in the cafeteria today with big brother, Jeffery and Oscar! And then I met Linda! She's really nice, she introduced me to her friends and they really like me! And then…" Chris paused, all excitement drained out of him and he let out a sad sniff.
"Hey, what's wrong, Chris?" Baloo asked gently, cradling Chris in his arms, concerned for his sudden change of mood. "Did one of their boyfriends get jealous?"
"No…" Chris said, wiping his tears on his sleeve, and then burying his face in Baloo's chest
"Aw, c'mon Chris, you can tell ol' Baloo." Baloo said, now rocking Chris gently in his cradling arms.
"Baloo, Chris came here after school, crying. Kit said he had a problem at school today after his lunch duties. And-and…" Rebecca stuttered with barely suppressed rage.
"It was a substitute teacher, Papa Bear." said Kit angrily. "He was only filling in and he gave us a test, even though it was only Chris' fourth day at school." He crumpled up a piece of paper into a ball and threw it very hard to the floor. "That wasn't fair! What's the point of tests if you don't learn anything?"
Rebecca wrapped her arms around Kit and soothed him until he was calmed again
"He was really harsh with Chris." Jeffery said quietly, looking very upset by the memory.
"What!" Baloo exclaimed angrily, but then he calmed himself to rock and sooth a sobbing Chris in his arms. "Shh…Lil Buddy, it'll be okay."
"Their regular teacher had to leave to pick up her kid for a doctor's appointment and they had to have a substitute to fill in, but he was a little hard on Chris, as Kit and Jeffery said," said Melissa walking in to the living room area, having just finished mopping up the puddle made by Baloo's coat.
"A little hard? Mom, he yelled at him for not passing the test." Jeffery said angrily. "He called Chris du—I mean....the D word," he finished, with a nervous look at his mother.
"What's the D word?" Baloo asked, confused. But he knew it must be a word Melissa doesn't like Jeffery using, for Melissa was frowning at her son's near-slip of the word while Jeffery grinned apologetically at his mother.
Rebecca leaned toward Baloo and whispered the word "dumb" in his ear, while Melissa was tactful enough to lift Chris out of Baloo's arms, in case the large pilot becomes so angry, that he could hurt Chris unintentionally. She sat down in her armchair, placed Chris on her lap and begins rocking him while humming a soothing hymn to him
"WHAT!" Baloo shouted in pure anger. "My boy's not du—the D word! Oh, that tears it, I'll show him a thing or two, and when I'm through with him, he'll be able to count all his teeth on one finger!" he growled, slamming his fist upon an innocent carpet table, completely breaking it beyond repair.
"BALOO!" Rebecca and Melissa shouted in unison.
"Eeek!" Jeffery exclaimed in a freak-out reaction, flattening himself against the wall as though he thought Baloo would launch at him next.
Melissa pressed Chris' face to her chest so he wouldn't see the broken table, and when Jeffery recovered, he and Kit picked up the pieces and threw them away.
Baloo looked ashamed at his action. "Sorry, Aggie," he muttered.
"It's okay," Melissa said in a strangled voice, still cradling Chris. "I never really liked that table anyway."
Baloo walked very slowly toward Melissa and Chris and gently lifted Chris out of Melissa's arms and hugging him while he cries.
"Shh, Chris, I'm sorry you had ta see that. That won't happen again, I promise." Baloo said soothingly.
"Promise you won't hurt anybody?" Chris asked in muffled voice, because his face was pressed to Baloo's chest.
Baloo stood there, holding Chris and looking uncertain with himself. Then he felt Kit and Jeffery hugging him around his big belly.
"Yeah, Papa Bear," Kit said. "Please promise that, that was too scary for Chris and Jeffery, and this guy's not worth it; he's just a big jerk."
"Yeah, Da—Uncle Baloo, you scared me pretty bad there." Jeffery said, while mentally scolding himself for nearly letting something slip out again.
Chris pulled his face out of Baloo's chest and looked up at him.
"Daddy Bear… p-please don't hurt anybody," he said, wiping his tears on his sleeve. "You're not a b-bad man, and bad mans hurt people."
Oh dear me… Melissa thought, his vocabulary skills needs some work.
"Baloo, I have an idea, but I think we need to discuss it as a family first." Rebecca said, taking Baloo's arm and leading him to the dinning room. Baloo put Chris down as he was led into the dinning room. Chris stayed in the living room to play with Molly.
"A family? I thought we were only partly an official family?" Baloo said in confusion as all except Chris and Molly entered the dinning room.
"Get use to it, Papa Bear, we're all family now, even if we're not biologically related." Kit said, walking along the table and sitting down in a chair. "And no one goes mistreated in this family.
"And beside, Uncle Baloo," Jeffery cut in, sitting down next to Kit. "It's the people that care about you no matter what that's your family."
"Heh, you're right, Star Bear." Baloo chuckled, reaching over the table to ruffle Jeffery's hair. "So, what's your idea, Becky?" he asked, turning his attention to Rebecca, while Jeffery smiled brightly at the usage of his magic show name.
"My idea includes my sister." Rebecca said, pulling Melissa to her side. Trapped with Rebecca's arm around her, Melissa smiled and waved sheepishly. "Now, I think we need to withdraw Chris from public school," Rebecca begins as they all sat down at the table "I don't want this to happen to Chris again. Baloo, he's our son now and we need to do what's best for him," she added gently taking Baloo's hand
"Yeah, Papa Bear, I can keep the bullies off of him, but I can't do anything against a bullying teacher." Kit said.
"And, Kit and I can keep him safe doing cafeteria work." Jeffery added. "but this is out of my league."
"So, I was thinking, Baloo," Rebecca continued, "that maybe we should have Chris homeschooled by Melissa until he gained enough education to keep up with Kit and Jeffery's class."
"I don't know, sister dear." Melissa said slowly. "Even if he gains enough education, he still has the heart and mind of a small child, teachers and students can still take advantage of his innocence. And Jeffery and Kit can't prevent everything from happening to him."
"Oh…yeah, you've got a point there, sis." Rebecca said. "Hmm, then I guess you'll have to homeschool him permanently."
"I'd be glad to, as long as it keeps him safe." Melissa said, smiling.
"But what about his friends he made today?" Jeffery asked. "Making friends is hard, believe me, I know."
"Yeah and, how is he going to see them again when he's not going to public school anymore?" Kit asked. "Jeffery's right, it took me weeks to make friends with Ernie and the Jungle Aces, Oscar, Jeffery and Linda—"
"Wait, let me get this straight," Baloo interrupted, with an air of one trying to understand something complex. "You want to take Chris out of public school and have Aggie homeschool him instead?"
"Yes." Rebecca said again holding Baloo's hand. Then she turned to Kit and Jeffery. "I've thought about that, and maybe you can work something out with the Jungle Aces and get a mixture of yours and his friends in that club."
"Uh, actually Mom, I was planning on dropping out of that club…" Kit admitted. "Ernie's not the best influence for Chris and he might not even let Chris in. Beside, he turned me against Papa Bear…" he shot an apologetic glance at Baloo.
"What, now when did this happen?" Rebecca asked, feeling confused.
"Heh-heh… Long story, Mom, but it worked out in the end." Kit said still looking apologetically at Baloo. "Papa Bear was playacting Bullethead, but he was only doing it for me, and Ernie made me see it as an embarrassment instead of a gift from the heart."
"Ah, thanks Lil Britches." Baloo smiled, giving Kit a one-arm hug, happy that he made Kit proud.
"Yeah, Cuz is right." Jeffery said. "Ernie wouldn't let me in and that was before I said I was Kit's cousin, but no matter, he would have said 'no adventure, no join,' and Kit's co-founder..."
"You're right," Rebecca said, frowning. "Ernie doesn't sound like someone I'd want Chris to hang out with. I guess it's good that you're leaving that club."
"Well now," Baloo said to Kit and Jeffery, as if Rebecca has not spoken. "Looks like you'll have to start a new club and make it yer own."
"Hey, yeah…" Kit said, he liked Baloo's suggestion rather a lot, it meant Chris can keep all the friends he made even though he'll no longer be attending the same school.
Jeffery looked slyly at Kit. "Yeah, why didn't you think of that, O Great Magician?" he asked teasingly.
"Oh hush," Kit said, giving Jeffery a nuggie.
"Anyway, back to the topic of discussion, Baloo," Melissa said. "Those teachers don't have the patience to deal with Chris, they're moving too fast for him, schooling him myself would the best thing for him, dear."
"And also," Rebecca added. "There's going to be a few changes at Higher for Hire. Baloo, I want you and the boys to move here in this boarding house. Higher For Hire is just not much of a home for the boys, you understand, don't you, Baloo?"
"Yeah, Becky," Baloo said understandingly. "But what about the Sea Duck, who's gonna watch the plane?"
"Wildcat will watch over it, but the boys having a stable home is more important than that plane,"
"Well, he could always park it at the dock out back."Melissa suggested.
Jeffery let out a happy whoop and swung an arm around Kit's shoulders.
"Hey Cuz, looks like we're roommates."
"Hey yeah I guess so." Kit said smiling happily
Kit loved Higher for Hire, but seeing that he and Chris are moving in with Jeffery and the fact that Baloo will be moving here as well, he didn't really have a problem with the changes, as long as he can get away from Baloo's snores.
"What are you guys talking about?" said an innocently curious voice.
They all turned to see Chris standing in the doorway to the dinning room with a curious expression. Apparently, Kit and Jeffery's yells of celebration aroused Chris' curiosity and he came to investigate.
"Chris, come sit by me, sweetie." Rebecca said, gesturing to the chair beside her.
"Okay, Mama." Chris said, and he obediently sat in the chair Rebecca had indicated.
"Chris, remember that teacher who treated you unfairly today?" Rebecca asked. Chris nodded, as though he'd rather not think about it. "Well, we've been talking and we really don't want that happening to you again." She stopped there and gave Melissa a look that told her to pick up from there.
"Well, Chris dear, as your Mama said," Melissa said, slightly nervous. "We don't want that happening to you again, and we decided that it would be best if I teach you from now on."
"You're gonna be my new teacher at school? Oh boy!" Chris exclaimed excitedly.
"No, Chris." Kit said, shaking his head. "They want to take you out of school and have Aunt Melissa teach you at home instead."
"Oh…" said Chris sadly, bowing his head. His lips trembled as he went on. "B-b-but, what about my friends? W-will I ever see them again?"
Rebecca hugged him with a hand on his head. "Shh, baby, you'll see them again. Kit and Jeffery will see to that."
"R-r-really?" Chris sniffed, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.
"Yeah, Little Brother, we promise. Besides, Linda and her friends are mine and Jeffery's too." Kit said hugging Chris sympathetically.
"Yeah, Cuz," Jeffery said, hugging Chris with Kit. "We're gonna start our own club for just us and our friends. That way, you'll see Linda and the others every afternoon."
"Wow, you mean it?" Chris said in awe.
"Yes, we mean it, Cuz. Just give us a little time to set it all up for us, okay?"Jeffery said, giving Chris a light tickle in his ribs, causing Chris to giggle.
The next day at school, Kit and Jeffery has been held up in the hallways by all of Chris' friends; mostly the girls and they demanded to know where Chris was.
"He's being homeschooled from now on," Kit and Jeffery kept saying over and over again,
"Why?" asked Linda when she cornered them herself, looking concerned. "Is it something to do with that horrible sub?"
"Uh, yeah," Kit said, "Baloo and Miss Cunningham are afraid that people might take advantage of him, being so innocent, you know."
"Yeah, that is probably wise. I hated seeing him hurt like that." Linda said with a frown. "I am glad Mr. Pomeroy fired him, he was causing Chris such distress."
"You hated it? How do you think I felt, I wanted to hit him for scaring my brother and making him cry." Kit said in a slightly angry tone.
"Will we ever see him again?" Linda asked.
"You know," Jeffery piped up. "We're working on that, we're thinking of starting an after school club for just his and our friends."
Just then, Linda's gang of girls came up behind her and realized instantly that Chris wasn't there.
"Aww..." they cooed in disappointment, and something about their behavior made Kit and Jeffery frown. "Where's our cute, adorable little baby?" they asked, giggling behind their hands.
"Ugh!" Linda said in anger and disgust. "Girls, he's not a baby, he's just innocent and caring." She clapped a hand to her face as they begin to whine and protest, feeling really embarrassed by her friends' behavior. "I'm surrounded by superficial idiots…"
"Humph! Fine, be that way, Linda," they said, rather snobbishly. "Hang out with Baby Jeffery and Clownkicker if you want! We could care less."
Kit's anger suddenly burst to the surface and he slammed his fist against the lockers so hard that the girls shrieked with fright and ran off in different directions.
"Kit!" Jeffery cried; seizing Kit's wrist and examining his hand, which started to turn red at the spot where it made contact with the lockers. "Are you alright?"
"Looks like Mom pulled Chris out of here just in time." Kit said sadly. "Who knows what those girls would've done to him in the long run."
"So that's the famous Cloudkicker tough guy routine?" Linda asked "I'm glad I'm your true friend or I'd be in trouble." She let out a nervous chuckle.
"No, that was just me letting my anger out," Kit said, "My tough guy routine is different from that."
"Cuz, c'mon, let's go to my locker." Jeffery said, still holding Kit's wrist. "I need to treat it right away and then I'd have to bandage it."
Jeffery then pulled Kit along down the hall toward his locker, Linda followed. He opened his locker, got out the first aid kit and begin treating and bandaging it up.
"There, how does that feels, Cuz?" Jeffery asked anxiously.
Kit held up his hand and flexed his fingers. "Better. Thanks, Jeffery."
"No problem, Cuz," Jeffery said, hugging Kit. "But next time, hit something softer!"
"What, your stomach?" Kit asked jokingly, giving Jeffery a light, playful punch to his stomach.
"Ha-ha, very funny, Cuz…" Jeffery said sarcastically, rubbing his belly.
"You two are funny." Linda said, giggling. "So, about this after school club…when and where is it going to be?"
"We don't have those details straighten out yet." Jeffery admitted. "But it's just for ours and Chris' true friends, like you and Oscar."
"Do you know if any other of Chris' so-called friends are really his friends, or do they all only like him because he's cute?" Kit asked Linda.
"Well, there's Tootie Little…" Linda said slowly, "But she's obsessed with having him for a boyfriend, so I wouldn't recommend her...."
"Heh-heh, the turtle trainer…" Jeffery muttered, chuckling softly.
"Heh-heh, yeah, Chris is a long way away from being ready for that kind of stuff." Kit chuckled.
"Um-hmm!" Jeffery nodded.
"Well," Linda said, holding her chin thoughtfully. "The other three who were in line that day were your friends, Kit, the three original Jungle Aces members… I never knew their names, but they liked Chris for who he is, even saying Ernie was a bad influence for him to meet."
"Okay," said Jeffery, getting out a piece of paper and pen and begins to write down names. "Oh, Linda, if you're not busy, would you come to the Malt Shop after school? We're meeting Oscar and a few friends there later to discuss this club and stuff."
"Okay, I'm there." Linda said just as the bell rang, singling the start of fifth period. "Well I gotta go, see ya later."
True to her words, when school was let out that afternoon, Linda was the first to meet them at the Malt Shop. Kit offered to buy her a sundae while Jeffery went to the payphone booth to call home.
"Hello?" said Chris' voice from the receiver.
"Oh, hi, Chris." Jeffery said brightly. "How's your first day with my Mom?"
"Great!" Chris said happily. "She's taught me lots of stuff, right now she's teaching me to make your favorite afternoon snack!"
"Jammed doughnuts?" Jeffery asked eagerly.
"Yeah," Chris confirmed.
"Well, that's great!" Jeffery said happily. "Listen, could you please tell my Mom that Kit and I are going to be late getting home today, we had to meet with our friends after school. We'll try to be home around five, okay?"
"Okay, Jeffery. Can I talk to Kit?"
"Uh…" Jeffery said hesitantly, glancing at Kit and saw that he was busy buying seven sundaes, one for each friend that were coming or have already arrived. "He's a little busy right now, Chris. But he'll see you in a little while, okay?"
"Okay…" Chris sighed sadly, and Jeffery could tell from his tone that he really misses Kit.
"Listen, Cuz," Jeffery begun, but a cool female voice interrupted him.
"Please insert another ten cents if you would like to extend your toll time."
Jeffery glared at the phone, then he turned out his pocket and a tiny little white moth flutters out of it, he was broke and he had no way of calling Chris back. He scowled coldly at the phone as he put the receiver back in its place with a little more force than he had intended.
"Stupid payphone…" he muttered grumpily. "Ran out of time before I could even try to comfort my poor Cuz, and I didn't even use my full five minutes!" He then vented his feelings by kicking the phone booth with his foot. "I want my dime back, you piece of junk!" he shouted, waving a fist threateningly at the phone booth.
He joined Kit at the bar, looking very grumpy with his arms folded and his lips pursed.
"Oh, there you are." Kit said, "Help me with—what's the matter with you?" he asked, noticing Jeffery's less-than-happy expression.
"I called home; Chris answered the phone and he asked about you." Jeffery said, still looking a bit annoyed. "When I told him you were busy, he…he sounded sad…and before I could cheer him up, the stupid phone was asking for more money, and I only used two minutes, that phone owes me another three minutes!"
To Jeffery's slight indignation, Kit didn't seem bothered by this news.
"Heh, yeah, that happens a lot." Kit said; handing Jeffery the tray loaded with four glasses of sundaes. "Here, take these, please and carry them over there. Linda's saving us a table."
"Okay, can do, Cuz." Jeffery sighed, picking up two trays at once. "Oh, by the way, Chris is well. He had a great day with my Mom, but I think he really misses us. But as I said, he sounded a little sad before the phone went off on me."
Poor little brother, Kit thought as he turned back toward the bar for another tray. I hope Aunt Melissa explain to him how payphones work, I'd hate for him to be very sad over a misunderstanding. I'll buy him a sundae before I leave, just in case he is, that'll cheer him up... Let's see, I still got fifty cents left….
Kit and Jeffery carried the trays of sundaes to the table where five people were waiting for them, Linda, who was saving the table for them. Next to her, sat Oscar, looking a little nervous but happy to be there. Next to him were the hippo, the rabbit and the vulture from the Jungle Aces.
"Hey Kit," the hippo, rabbit and vulture said in unison.
"Hey Kit, uh, Ernie's been saying mean stuff about you…" said the hippo. "Well, more of your brother than you. He says your brother is so babyish, he may still drinks out of a baby bottle…."
"We told him to shut up and left," the rabbit said quickly, seeing the outraged look on Kit's face.
Linda frowned. "Chris Cloudkicker is a very sweet, very nice person, he's just innocent as a lamb, that doesn't mean he's a baby."
"Yeah, but I noticed your girl friends treating him like one," the rabbit said. "And they started doing that after Ernie started the bottle-drinking rumor."
Linda gritted her teeth and a vein was throbbing in her temple. She let out a snarl and her grip on her glass was so tight that it cracked down the side.
"They weren't my friends, they were just tag-alongs!" she shouted.
"Eeek!" squeaked Jeffery, Oscar and the three ex-Jungle Aces members fearfully and they huddled together in fright, as though afraid Linda might suddenly run at them and attack. Kit, however, sat there like nothing had happened.
"Linda, calm down," Kit said, still acting like nothing unusual just happened. "I know they weren't really your friends, now drink your sundae before it leaks from that crack you made in your glass."
"Tee-hee… oops!" Linda laughed. "Oh no, did I just do—? Great! I let my anger get me again, darn it!" she said in a half-hearted sigh as the ice cream started running down on her hands.
"You break it, you buy it!" yelled the bartender from the bar.
Linda let out a small squeal-like squeak and fell out of her seat, landing on her back on the floor. She then pulled herself up by holding onto the edge of the table.
"Heh, heh, sorry…" Linda muttered, a big sweat-drop was sliding down her forehead. And she went over to the bar to pay for the cracked glass while getting a new sundae.
"Kit, we all really like your brother as he is, like Linda said, he's just innocent as a lamb, we don't think he's babyish at all," the rabbit said, hopping to cheer Kit up.
"Thanks guys," Kit said, smiling. "Let's forget about Ernie and get down to business. Jeffery?"
Jeffery cleared his throat as Linda rejoined their table. "Chris made a few true friends in his last day in our school. But he misses his friends and we'd like to provide him with a connection to his friends. This connection will be in a form of a new club, just for friends of his and ours to join."
"That means you guys." Kit said, beaming around at them all.
"Right Kit," Jeffery said nodding,
"But we'll need a clubhouse, and Ernie would never surrender his Jungle Aces' Clubhouse," said the vulture.
"We've already thought of that," Jeffery said. "There's an empty lot across the street from my boarding house, it's used as a small junkyard mostly, we just need to buy that lot, clean it up and build a clubhouse there."
"But how do we do all of this?" asked Linda. "We'll need money and lots of it if we're going to buy a square piece of land, clean it up and build a clubhouse…."
"That's where Oscar comes in," said Kit, with an encouraging hand on Oscar's shoulder. "He has already agreed to ask his Mom if he can sponsor for us and be our financial manager."
"Now all we have to do is clean up that lot, that's all." Jeffery said; he was looking forward to cleaning up that old lot.
"U-um, don't get your hopes up too high, guys." Oscar said nervously, fearing the possibility of a 'no' from his mother. "I haven't even gotten the 'yes' from my Mom yet..."
"Oh, I'm sure you'll get it, Oscar." Linda said kindly, patting Oscar's hand. "Be optimistic for once in your life! This is for Chris mostly, but it's also for us to hang as friends."
"Okay, but what's our name's gonna be?" asked the hippo. "The Flying Dutchman?"
"Ugh, no!" Linda said with distaste. "That name has already been used in tons of stories, we need to be more original."
"Uh, we'll come up with a name once we have our clubhouse," said Kit. "I don't want us to become official and then get disappointed because Oscar's Mom says 'no.'"
The group all murmured in agreement.
"Now guys, I was thinking of linking our club with a Cub Scout society," Jeffery said, keen to share his idea. "That way we can have summer camps and charity work to go with our club, what do you guys think?'
"I think that's a wonderful idea, Jeffery, as long as there's a girls' cabin…" Linda said, making Jeffery blush. "We can clean up the world and help the needy people."
"Yeah, let's do it!" echoed the others.
"But to do that, we'll need a scout master," said the rabbit. "Two of them, if we're going to have girls in our club."
"Well, Baloo can be our scout master." Kit said slowly.
"Yeah, let's get Uncle Baloo," said Jeffery, excitedly. "And we can get my Mom to be the girls' scout master."
"Sure, who is your Mom anyway?" Linda asked.
Jeffery blushed scarlet at Linda's question. "Melissa Aggie Cunningham."
"No way!" Linda said in surprise. "Your Mom is the Great Magician Girl Melissa?"
"Uh, yeah…" Jeffery muttered, blushing, if that was possible, even more.
"Then that makes you Star Bear, I didn't recognize you without your costume!" Linda said excitedly, clearly retraining herself from launching at Jeffery like a lunatic fan. Then as though unable to stop herself, she pulled out a notebook and pen from her bag and practically begged him for his signature.
Jeffery sighed sadly. "Please don't start treating me like a celebrity, I hate it."
Linda looked sad and apologetic as she lowered her notebook and pen. "I'm sorry…" she muttered
"No, don't be," Jeffery said quickly. "You did nothing wrong. It's just that, I want to be treated like everyone else, I don't want anybody treating me like a king.... But I will sign your book."
"Oh, yay!" Linda said happily.
He then took her book and wrote the following words.
Follow your heart and dreams; you will be amazed where they will lead you. Always have hope for the future, no matter what you're facing now.
If you ever get lost, follow your heart and your heart will lead you home, to the people who care. Love may be hard to find, but that's only because people are looking in the wrong places.
—Star Bear
He handed the notebook back to Linda and she took it and read what he written. She smiled a very teary smile.
"Aww, that was so sweet, Jeff," she said, giving him a gentle hug.
"Okay, I think that's all we need to talk about for now." Kit said. "Until we get our clubhouse, we're meeting at the boarding house where Jeffery, Chris and I live on Mondays and Fridays after school. Is there any other questions?"
The hippo raised his hand
"Yes?" said Kit, acknowledging him.
"I thought you lived at Higher for Hire, Kit…" said the hippo, confused.
"Chris and I have been relocated to Jeffery's house as a more stable home to live in." Kit explained. "Any other questions?"
When they shook their heads, Kit dismissed them and went over to counter.
"I'd like one more sundae, please." Kit said to the bartender.
"Haven't you had enough?" the bartender asked in mild concern. "You don't want to go getting big around the middle, do ya?" he added teasingly, gently poking Kit's small round belly. Kit laughed
"Hey, it's not for me, Max," Kit said with a smile, rubbing the spot where the bartender had poked him. "It's for my brother. I'm taking it home to him."
"Oh well, that's nice of ya." Max said, scooping the sundae into a paper cup and sealing it with a plastic lid. "Here you are," he handed Kit the cup.
"Thanks Max." Kit said, holding out two quarters while taking the cup with the other hand. Then he turned to leave. "Bye Max, c'mon Jeff, let's go."
"Comin', Cuz!" Jeffery said happily, jogging alongside Kit. "Bye Max," he called over his shoulder at the bartender, waving an arm in farewell.
"Bye boys!" Max shouted after them just as they ran out of the malt shop.
Kit and Jeffery raced each other down the street toward their boarding house, which now has a sign on the side of the building to the right of the front door, which had an image of a house floating on a cloud and underneath this image were words that read: 'Cunningham's Home of the Sky.'
"Hey look, Jeffery, your Mom finally got the sign up." Kit said as he hopped onto the front step.
"Finally! Mom's been meaning to put that sign up for weeks." Jeffery said as he ran past Kit and hopped onto the welcome mat. "Ha, ha, I beat you, Cuz."
"Heh, nice try, Jeff…" Kit said slyly, swinging an arm around Jeffery's neck and proceeded to give him a nuggie. "I was here first, ergo, I beat you."
"Aw, but you always win, I never win a foot race with you, Cuz…" Jeffery said, pouting from under Kit's arm.
Kit laughed as he released Jeffery. "Oh, don't worry, Jeff, I've just been running all my life, it's only natural that I'm a bit faster."
"Heh, yeah, and you had to be fast to get away from Weatherspoon and pirates." Jeffery said, opening the front door.
"Exactly," Kit said, clapping Jeffery on the back as they walked into the boarding house. "Tell you what, I'll help you become a fast runner, you just have to jog and exercise more and slim that belly of yours down a bit…" he added slyly, patting Jeffery's round belly.
"Look who's talking, cubby," Jeffery replied slyly, patting Kit's belly in return. "And no thanks, that would mean I'll have to give up Mom's donuts and I'm not giving 'em up,"
Kit laughed. "Okay, suit yourself."
They walked down the hall toward the kitchen to find Melissa standing in the doorway to the kitchen, her arms crossed and she looked stern.
"Uh-oh…" Jeffery squeaked and he ducked behind Kit.
"Uh… hi, Aunt Melissa." Kit said uncertainly, wondering what Melissa was looking so stern about.
"Jeffery Lee Cunningham," Melissa said very sternly, and Kit sidestepped out of the way, no longer hiding Jeffery behind his back. "What is the meaning of this?"
"W-what is the m-m-meaning of what, Mommy?" Jeffery asked very timidly, his head slightly bowed and his shoulders hunched.
"Did you hang up on Chris?" she asked. "He was very upset and he went up to your room and cried his heart out, poor dear."
"Oh," Jeffery said, comprehension dawned on his face. "That wasn't my fault, Mommy, it was a payphone and it went off on me."
"Oh..." Melissa said, and her sternness seemed to melt as she unfolded her arms. "I'm sorry, Jeffery dear, I know I raised you better than that." And she moved forward and hugged her son.
"It's okay, Mommy." Jeffery said, hugging her back. "I'm going to go up and comfort him, I'll be right back," he said as they broke apart.
He climbed up the stairs all the way up to the attic bedroom. He pushed the door slowly open and entered the room, looking around for Chris. He spotted him sitting on the bottom bunk.
Chris' knees were drawn up to his chin, his arms were wrapped around his legs and his face was buried on top of his knees. As Jeffery approaches him slowly, he heard a sob escape Chris.
Jeffery sat lightly onto the bed beside Chris. Chris didn't even seem to notice the extra weight on the bed. Jeffery reached over to Chris and gently pulled him toward himself, setting Chris on his lap, holding him a gentle soothing embrace while massaging the back of Chris' head with one hand.
Inside Jeffery's embrace, Chris uncurled himself and buried in his face on Jeffery's shoulder, hiccupping slightly.
"W-why…d-d-did you…hung up on me?" Chris asked between sobs and hiccups.
"Chris, I didn't…" Jeffery said in a soft, soothing voice, still massaging the back of Chris' head with gentle strokes and circle motions.
Chris pulled his face away from Jeffery's shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes. Chris' face was a real mess, his furry cheeks were wet with tears and his nose was a little snotty.
"B-b-but, I h-h-heard a click, and then… you weren't there anymore…"
"Oh, Chris…." Jeffery said gently, reaching over to the bedside table for a tissue and handed it to Chris, who took it and blew his nose on it very hard and wiped the tears out of his eyes. "I was calling home via payphone; they cost a dime to call people with and only give you five minutes to talk."
"B-b-but, we d-d-didn't talked that long…" Chris said confusedly, laying his head back on Jeffery's shoulder again and let out a few more hiccups.
"The phone was broken." Jeffery said, hugging Chris on his lap a little tighter. He wanted to say 'the stupid payphone was broken,' but he always deliberately avoided using the word 'stupid' in Chris' presence. "It only gave me two out of five minutes to talk to you. I wanted to call you back, but I was broke."
"Broke?" Chris asked, and he backed away a few inches so he could see Jeffery's face. "What did you broke."
"No, Chris," Jeffery said in a resigned voice, placing a hand on Chris' head and gently pushing him back to rest on his shoulder. "Broke is the past tense for break, that's true, but it's also a term meaning a person has no money."
"Oh…." Chris said slowly. "So—so you didn't….hung up on me?"
"I would never do that, Cuz," Jeffery said with another gentle squeeze in his embrace on Chris. "You and Kit are my very favorite cousins next to Molly," He ruffles Chris' hair a bit. "I love you guys too much to ever hang up on you." Chris let out a cry of happiness and hugged Jeffery very tightly. "There, that's my happy Cuz," Jeffery said encouragingly, hugging Chris too and patting him on the back of the head. "Now, c'mon, Kit brought you back a sundae."
"The ice cream kind?" Chris asked hopefully as he slid himself off of Jeffery's lap.
"Heh-heh, yeah." Jeffery laughed. "With an extra cherry on top, just for you, Cuz." He added, playfully tickling Chris' side, causing Chris to squeal with excitement and ticklish laugher.
As Jeffery and Chris entered the kitchen, Kit was at the bar, eating a doughnut with a bit of icing on his upper lip.
"Hmm, these are good, Aunt Melissa," Kit said, taking a swig of milk.
"Actually, Chris made them," Melissa said proudly, glancing over at Chris. "All I did was talked him through it and showed him what to do and he did the rest."
Kit spat out a mouthful of milk, spraying Jeffery in the face, who has just sat down next him and now wished he had not.
"Cuz!" Jeffery exclaimed, glaring at Kit with great annoyance. He then reached for a napkin and wiped his face clean. "Don't make a habit of that, it's not cool."
"Sorry," Kit said quickly, and then he turned his attention to Melissa as Chris sat down on his other side. "He did? –He made these?"
"Give your brother some credit, Kit; he may be uneducated, but he's a good listener and a fast learner." Melissa said, looking at Chris with pride. "He knows how to follow directions, and these good doughnuts are the results of his ability to follow directions and instructions to the letter."
"That's great! I was just surprised that he could cook so well after just one day of homeschooling, that's all." Kit said, and then he swung an arm around Chris' shoulder and gave him a one-arm hug. "These doughnuts are great, Chris, I'm proud of you."
"Aw shucks, it was nothing…" Chris said modestly, and for the first time since Jeffery had known him, he blushed, his cheeks turned a pinkish red.
"Hey, these are good, Cuz!" Jeffery said happily, biting into one of Chris' doughnut. Chris blushed even redder.
"Boys, while Chris was making these doughnuts, he had an idea." Melissa said, standing opposite them across the bar. "Go on, Chris dear, tell them."
"Heh-heh, well um..." Chris laughed bashfully as he blushed scarlet and he avoided eye contact with the other two. "C-can you tell them?" He asked Melissa timidly.
"No, Chris dear, this was your idea, you need to tell them." Melissa said encouragingly.
"Yeah, c'mon Chris, what's your idea?" Kit asked, grasping Chris' hand reassuringly.
"I….I thought we could make doughnuts… for the poor kids who don't get any." Chris muttered
"Hey, that's a great idea, Cuz!" Jeffery said excitedly after a moment's pause.
"Yeah," agreed Kit. "That can be part of our charity work. Chris, you're a genius!"
Kit hugged Chris and Jeffery joined in.
"Aw shucks, I'm no genius…" said Chris modestly. "I just had a good idea, that's all."
"Well, you came up with a great idea, Cuz." Jeffery said, giving Chris a gentle squeeze. "And that makes you a genius in my book.
"Amen, Jeffery." Kit said in agreement.
"Aw guys, cut it out, you're making me blush." Chris said bashfully, but he looked rather pleased with himself all the same. "So, uh, what were you two doing at the malt shop?"
"Oh, um, we were meeting our friends there." Jeffery said
"Chris, I felt bad about you leaving your school friends just to be homeschooled, away from bullying teachers." Kit added. "So Jeffery and I agreed that we needed to set something up so you can see your friends again. We've formed a new club, which will be for us and our friends only."
Chris bowed his head, looking a little sad. "You didn't have to feel bad for me, big brother, I was having so much fun learning from Aunt Melissa, but now it won't be fun anymore, knowing you feel bad for me not being with my friends."
Kit wrapped his arms around Chris' shoulders. "Well, with this club, I won't have to feel bad for you, because you'll see your friends in the afternoon every other day."
Jeffery hugged Chris too. "You know, Cuz…your doughnut for charity idea came at a prefect timing. Our club is going to be doing a lot of charity work and you came up with the first charity idea!"
"I-I did?"Chris asked uncertainly.
Just then, Rebecca came walking into the kitchen, led by the smell of Chris' doughnuts.
"Mmm, something smells good in here." Rebecca said, taking a doughnut from the bar, but it was snatched out of her hand by Melissa. "Ow!" she gasped as Melissa smacked her hand.
"Sorry sister dear, but it's too close to dinnertime for this." Melissa said, placing the doughnut back on the tray.
Rebecca frowned resentfully as she rubbed her hand, clearly thinking Melissa was a hypocrite for allowing the boys to have one.
"But you let the boys have one, it's not fair, sis." Rebecca pouted, crossing her arms.
"Well that's different, sister dear," Melissa said gently, putting the lid on top of the tray of doughnuts and moving the tray to the counter opposite the bar. "They are growing boys, whereas you are a grown woman who needs to watch her fat intakes," she said, grinning slyly at her.
"Oh, fine!" Rebecca said in great annoyance. "You just want to spoil them. I know you, sis."
Chris was looking back and forth between Rebecca and Melissa, a look of pity on his innocent face.
"Can Mama just have one bite, Aunt Melissa?" Chris asked. "I want her to taste my doughnuts."
"Your doughnut, Chris?" Rebecca said, looking surprised. "You mean you made those doughnuts?"
"Yes, Mama, and Aunt Melissa helped." Chris said happily.
Melissa smiled as she placed a hand on Chris' shoulder. "Yes, Chris made these doughnuts under my supervision. I gave him instructions and he did it, the only things I did were preheating the oven, put the doughnuts into the oven and then took them out when they were done."
"Wow," Rebecca said, looking impressed. "Keep this up, and we'll have another little chef in the family," she said, glancing in Jeffery's direction.
"Hey, what about me? I can cook too, you know!" Kit shouted indignantly.
"Oh Kit, I've been needing to have a word with you." Rebecca said, placing a hand on Kit's shoulder.
"Huh?" Kit said, looking a little confused. "What about?"
Rebecca surveyed him for a moment, as though worried that what she had to say might upset him. She sighed as she steered Kit out of the kitchen and into the living room. Jeffery followed them.
Authors' note:
Oooh, sounds serious. What does Rebecca have to say? Any guesses? Find out for sure on the next chapter of An Angelic Christmas!
KitCloudkicker52885 and Kit_Lee are hoping you're enjoying their second installment of TaleSpin: The Cloudkicker Trio and hope that you are entertained as well as interested in our Cloudkicker Trio series.
Till next time…
