Lost Hearts Return Home
Written by Tucker Cloudkicker
Edited by Tom Cloudkicker
Disclaimer: Kit, Baloo, Rebecca, Molly, and all other TaleSpin characters are owned by Walt Disney and Buena Vista Television. No commercial exploitation is intended nor should it be inferred. This story is written with much respect to the creators of the show.
Chapter 4
Quiet….No, quiet was an understatement. It was overbearingly quiet.
Staring up at the ceiling Kit hoped that any minute, Baloo and Rebecca would come back through that door, saying that they had changed their minds. The cub imagined Baloo ticking off the people they were supposed to meet before they had even left the cape. Rebecca would be hollering at Baloo and the big bear waving it off, calling them snobs or something to that effect.
Sadly, he knew neither would be back tonight. Nor would they be back until later tomorrow night if things went according to plan. Unfortunately, things never seemed to go according to plan.
Looking up at the ceiling again as he lay in the big overstuffed chair, beads of sweat had formed on his forehead. Yeah, Kit had been alone a lot in his life, but even then there were plenty of sounds around him. Here it was too quiet, except for the sound of the waves hitting the dock and the sound of the mooring bell clanging softly. Other than that, there were no sounds of people milling about or arguing or haggling over a business deal.
Taking a deep breath, Kit closed his eyes, trying to shove out the thought. Usually, Kit would be against the thought of admitting that he the great Kit Cloudkicker was afraid of anything but being here by himself. In the big and quiet building, Kit realized he was more than a little uncomfortable.
Two Hours Earlier
Kit sighed as he sat down in the big overstuffed chair and nodded as Rebecca switched from giving him instructions to hollering at the pilot for the umpteen thousandth time. Shaking his head as the bearess turned to holler at Baloo again and keep Molly from tripping her up, Kit didn't know who he felt worse for; Baloo or Rebecca.
Turning back to Kit, Rebecca frowned and sighed. "Now, honey, you're sure you're going to be okay on your own? I wish I could get a hold of Wildcat, but you know he's visiting his girlfriend. I still can't understand that one." Shaking her head, she smiled weakly at Kit. "And you know I can't leave Molly, honey. Not overnight when it's just you here."
Kit waved her off and smiled confidently. He had learned to do that too well and the cub knew it would probably come back to bite him in the…
"Hey, boss lady! Where'd you say you kept the passports?"
Rebecca growled and turned back to him. "Did you try the filing cabinet under the letter 'P'? You know, 'P' as in predictably annoying?"
Baloo gave a sarcastic laugh and went to retrieve them as Rebecca turned her attention back to Kit. "Now, Kit, you may not have to go to school tomorrow, but I do expect you in bed at a reasonable hour okay?"
Kit blinked at her request and found himself surprised that he hadn't gotten angry, because he had been told what to do. Maybe…maybe it was because she cared. Smiling warmly, Kit nodded. "Yes, Miss Cunningham".
Helping Baloo take the bags to the plane, Kit shook his head as he listened to Baloo gripe again as the big bear tossed the bags into the back of his beloved plane. "Geez, kiddo, if you ever learn why women take so much luggage for a one day trip ya mind telling me, please?"
Kit gave a small chuckle and shrugged, giving his Papa Bear that look that said he wasn't getting involved.
As the cub turned back to walk back into the building, even Baloo couldn't help but see how the boy walked. That anxious yet depressed way his shoulders seemed to slump; he acted as he'd never see Baloo again. It was strange. Baloo and Rebecca had left him behind before to watch the place while they went on a trip. So why was he acting so…? Shaking his head, he braced himself as Rebecca moved quickly down the dock toward him, looking at her watch again.
"Alright, Baloo, we need to get going we do have a…"
Baloo winced and rolled his eyes again. "Oh, please, don't say the 'S' word again!"
Rebecca tilted her head to the side and blinked at the bear, wondering what he was talking about until realization hit. "Oh, good…. Baloo, if you hadn't stopped at Louie's AGAIN, you would have been there on time, and I wouldn't have to give you that…schedule."
Baloo winced again and banged his head against the plane.
Watching with a small evil grin, Rebecca turned to look to Kit to say goodbye and frowned to see that he was nowhere to be seen. Shaking her head, she entered the plane and got ready to leave, figuring he must not be too much on goodbyes.
From the window of the top floor, Kit watched quietly as the Sea Duck slowly backed away from the dock, picked up in speed, and flew away. With a sigh, the cub moved back down the office area, dropping back into Baloo's favorite chair once again.
The Present
Two hours later, Kit continued to look up at the ceiling. Blinking a bit, he realized how crazy he was acting. "What's wrong with me? People would think I've never been on my own before…Come on, Cloudkicker! You're almost 13; get a hold of yourself. Most kids my age go insane at the chance at having their home to themselves."
That was when his inner voice reminded him that all of the kids he knew his age weren't orphans and hadn't lived on the streets most of their lives.
"S-s-so what? I lived the streets by myself, yeah, but not anymore. I've got Baloo and Wildcat and Miz Cunningham and…they're not here."
Sitting up, Kt turned on the nearby lamp, almost immediately wishing he hadn't. Maybe it was just his imagination, but Kit started to feel as if the room had gotten a lot bigger. So big that the light could fill the entirety of the room. Feeling his heart beat faster, the cub took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes, cursing silently to himself.
"Come on, Kit, you're acting like a little kid. They'll be home tomorrow. You just have to….relax."
Looking around again, Kit tried to look into the darkness of the still office as sweat drops formed on his forehead. Trembling, he sat back in the chair and tried to relax as he finally took notice of the ticking of the grandfather clock ticking away in the corner. The slow, steady ticks of the second hand maddeningly continued as Kit gritted his teeth.
Four Hours Later
Still sitting there in the near darkness of the office, Kit unconsciously wiped sweat from his forehead as he stared into the darkness to where he knew that grandfather clock sat mocking him as it ticked away. Panting heavily, the cub did not realize until now that he had been clinching the arms of the chair as he trembled.
By this point, the boy's nerves had been shot and would have sworn his heart was ready to burst out of his chest.
"G-g-gotta snap out of it…Gotta get some sleep so I c-c-can answer the p-p-phone."
Looking around again, the boy swallowed and winced. His throat had become dry and sore as he sat back in the chair again. Up until now, the navigator had nothing to fear. He had flow through hurricanes, fought Don Karnage and had come close to death. Now, he was dealing with something he could not handle; a dark, oppressively lonely Higher for Hire, and for the first time in his life, he was scared. Truly scared to the point of tears as he wrapped his arms around himself, lying down in the chair as he continued to suck in breaths of air.
He knew he had to calm down, or he would start hyperventilating, but knowing and doing were two different things. If he could just ignore the dark lonely…
Shutting his eyes tightly and fighting the tears that dripped down his cheeks, Kit opened his mouth to scream, but all that could come out was a small whimper. Finally unable to deal with it any longer, the cub broke down in tears as he crawled into a ball, sobbing quietly as he hugged himself. He didn't know when, but sometime after Kit finally passed out, crying himself to sleep.
That Evening
Hours into the next evening, as the sun slowly faded into the horizon, the Sea Duck appeared from the cliffs.
Its pilot was glad to see Cape Suzette again as he brought the plane lower, as the docks of Higher for Hire came into view. Wincing as he looked over to Rebecca, who glared at him for the 20th time, he knew he'd get another earful as soon as they left the plane. With a sigh, the big bear brought the plane down gently; not wanting to wake the sleeping Molly in the bunks in the cargo hold as he taxied the plane up the docks and shut off the engines.
Glad to be home again, Baloo hopped out of the cockpit and stretched a bit as he looked around, giving a slight yawn before Rebecca made her way out, storming her way over to her pilot.
"Of all the rude, arrogant…"
"Don't forget 'pompous'," Baloo added.
"Pompous…how could you make fun of the Prime Minister's flying skills when we're TRYING TO GET HIM TO SIGN A CONTRACT?!"
Baloo hmphed as he grinned. "Hey I was just bein' honest, Beckers. The guy couldn't even figure out which direction was North WITH a compass. Besides we still got the contract didn't we?"
Taking a deep breath, Rebecca smacked her forehead. "Yes, but no thanks to you."
Opening his mouth to make a sarcastic comment, Baloo noticed that Kit had not come out to welcome them home.
Looking up at the place he called home, Baloo couldn't see a single light on from the building and not a sound could be heard from inside. Neither were good signs. If he had gone out with his friends, leaving Higher for Hire when he was supposed to be watching the phones, Rebecca would have a major fit.
Shaking his head again, Baloo knew that Kit was a lot more responsible than that and realized something felt wrong. Walking slowly toward the building, Baloo almost missed Rebecca hollering at him again.
"Excuse me, but are you going to help me get the bags? And don't walk away from me when I'm hollering at you, Baloo!" Storming toward him to continue yelling, Rebecca stopped as Baloo suddenly turned to her; a concerned look on his face. Switching modes, she looked at him worriedly and put a hand on his arm. "What's wrong, Baloo?"
Baloo looked back at the building and sighed. "You don't notice what's missing? Or more like…who's missing? You woulda thought Li'l Britches would have been out here ready to
welcome us before we could even land."
Rebecca opened her mouth to refute the fact she knew to be true, but realized herself that if anybody besides Baloo would recognize the engines of the Sea Duck, it would be Kit. Feeling worried, Rebecca scratched the back of her neck and blinked.
"Why did that seem familiar?" Baloo thought.
Looking back to the building, Rebecca tried to think of a good reason why he was still a no-show. "Maybe…maybe he's listening to his radio show and didn't hear us…" Rebecca then realized there was no way Kit could have not heard the Sea Duck, especially how close Baloo flew to the building. She gave a knowing glare to Baloo, blinked and gave an innocent grin.
Looking back at Higher for Hire, Rebecca shook her head and sighed. "Baloo, why are we standing here? We really ought to go in and see if he's okay."
Baloo nodded and scratched his neck before heading to the front door before looking back to Rebecca. "Um…Molly?"
Blinking a few seconds, the bearess grinned sheepishly and nodded before turning to wake her daughter.
From the second floor of the building, the cub in question watched quietly as he saw the two people he had wanted to see since they had left the night before and had to fight the urge to run down the stairs and out the building.
Wiping his face again, the small bear had to figure a way to explain why his eyes were bloodshot and he looked as if he hadn't had bit of sleep. To a point, he hadn't. What sleep he had gotten had been restless with constant flashes of the constant memories that he would rather leave behind. Baloo had continued to beg him to let him know what was bothering him, but Kit couldn't get himself to talk.
He knew that Baloo was still not used to having him around and that he wasn't ready to give up his carefree life. Heck, he himself still had that same need to stay free as a bird; that same spirit of freedom that refused to let him be tied down. The problem was…that same spirit of freedom was keeping him alone. Of course, realizing it and doing something about it were two different things. He wanted to tell him but… "What if I scare him off? Baloo doesn't need some whiny little kid with a lot of baggage. He's done enough already just by rescuing me from Karnage and taking me in."
Miz Cunningham had tried her best as well in the past, but…"She's got Molly to take care of, Papa Bear can be interesting to deal with at times, and all of those angry customers…She doesn't need me to make things more complicated. Besides…How proud of me would she be if she knew what kind of past I had with the pirates?"
Sniffling a bit Kit wiped his eyes again as he looked out the two beside the plane. Neither knew just how much Karnage had impacted his life and, to this day, still didn't. He was like a ghost that haunted his thoughts, both waking and in dreams.
Shaking himself out of his reverie, Kit finally noticed as the big grey bear started to head toward the building and realized that Baloo would probably ask why he hadn't come out to meet them. Struggling to come up with a plan, Kit looked around before his eyes targeted the bathroom. "That's it!" As he heard the front door open, Kit dashed into the bathroom to take a shower.
Stepping into the front office, Baloo waited a moment so his eyes could adjust and slowly moved across the office to turn on the light. Looking around for a moment, Baloo searched for the cub; hoping he hadn't somehow hurt himself and was relieved to see nothing was out of place. "Still don't tell me where Kit is…I just hope he didn't run off again." Shaking his head, he moved over to the desk and hoped the kid had at least answered the phone for Becky before he went wherever he went.
Of course, Kit had, and Baloo knew better than to think that Kit would be anything but responsible enough to do what he said he would. Still…the fact remained. Baloo had not liked how Kit walked away the night before he and Rebecca had flown off. Picking up the message pad, Baloo looked through them and shook his head, giving a small chuckle.
When it came to the business side of the job, Kit had picked up a lot of Rebecca's habits when it came to message-taking. It had been set so professionally and clearly. The time and date, the name of whomever was calling, phone number and why they were calling and at the bottom he had signed his name, showing who had taken the message. At this, Baloo gave another chuckle, seeing how Kit had signed his name, giving it a bit of flourish at the end and at how proud he was of that last name.
Continuing through the messages, Baloo read with a bored sigh. "Geez, different people, same ole'…." Baloo stopped suddenly as he noticed something at the bottom of the messages and slowly turned back a few to check to see if he wasn't seeing things and went back to the beginning.
The first few had been signed in that same confident signature he had used since Rebecca had helped him with his handwriting, but then…they started to waver kind of like he seemed…unsure. Then, they started to get smaller and had regressed to that of how he used to write. He had just about put it down when the last message fell to the floor.
Looking down quietly, Baloo raised a brow as he saw something he had never seen before. Picking up the message, Baloo started from the top and read down and blinked, shaking his head as he looked it over. This couldn't have been Kit's handwriting. Maybe…maybe Kit had a friend over who may have taken a message for him? "Nah, the kid knows better than that."
"Knows better than what, Baloo?"
The bear turned around, the note still in his hand as he looked at Rebecca, who held a still half-asleep Molly in her arms. Sighing, Baloo slowly walked over and handed the stack over to Becky, who traded Molly over for the stack.
"What's this?" Looking them over, she scowled at him "Is it really that bad that he actually pick up some good habits from…"
Baloo silenced her by pointing to the signature at the bottom, causing a confused "what's your point" look on his boss's face. "Look through all of them."
Doing as he asked, a slow realization crossed her face as she noticed as well, which quickly turned to worry as she slowly to the last one. "I…I don't understand. This doesn't look anything like Kit's handwriting, but…Kit wouldn't have somebody else do his work for him. But the question remains: Who is…Mouse?"
From the nearby window, a figure watched from the darkness; unseen by Baloo, Becky or Molly. As he watched, he quietly cursed to himself. This was not going as his employer had planned and it seemed things were getting worse rather quickly. He had told him not to contact him unless it was of great emergency and well…this was it. Moving away from Higher for Hire, the figure whistled down a taxi and headed off in the direction of uptown Cape Suzette.