A Golden Opportunity

A thank you goes out to Bl4zeTC for planting a little nugget of an idea in my head. This isn't a romantic story, but it does feature a romance novel. :)

Higher for Hire
6:00 PM-ish

Rebecca sat behind her desk, her attention drifting between the grandfather clock and the pink paperback she was reading. On the cover of Love's Golden Secret was a picture of a muscular man embracing a blonde beauty. The couple was superimposed upon an enlarged image of a treasure map, and there was a pile of gold doubloons at their feet.

She swiftly stashed the book under a ledger when the person she had been impatiently waiting for - Baloo - walked in the door.

"About time you got back," Rebecca said.

Baloo took a banana from the fruit bowl on her desk and began to peel it. He shrugged, unconcerned. "Who cares if I was a little late deliverin' reading glasses to Blinknyamissit?"

"I care. In fact, because the President of Blinknyamissit didn't have his reading glasses, he accidentally gave everyone in his administration pinkslips instead of pay raises, which gave Higher for Hire's reputation a black eye!" Rebecca snapped. Spying a rolled up comic book sticking out of his shirt pocket, she said, "Speaking of being fired, don't tell me you completely missed Blinknyamissit again, because you were reading those Rick Sky comics?"

"All right, Miz Manager, I won't tell you," he countered sarcastically, popping the entire banana in his mouth.

Rebecca marched around the desk and plucked the comic from his pocket, prompting an indignant "Hey!" from Baloo.

She opened her desk drawer, dropped the comic in, and shut the drawer, locking it in the process. She then slipped the key into her pocket. "You can have it back at the end of the week after you've completed all of your deliveries."

Baloo, whose spirits suddenly seemed as flat as the banana peel that he tossed in the trash, slumped across the office to the door, muttering, "Now what am I s'posed to do on long cargo runs? No comics and Kit's in school. Be bored out of my gourd while hauling mangoes here and potatoes there? Aw, Becky, a pilot needs some fun and adventure."

As the door closed quietly behind him, Rebecca murmured, "Some fun and adventure, huh?" She slid the romance book out from under the ledger, an idea forming in her head.

Higher for Hire
The Next Evening…

"Baloo, what are you doing?" Kit asked, walking down the stairs. The math book that the twelve-year-old had been searching for was immediately forgotten in the hopes of something more exciting.

The big bear was tugging on the handle of Rebecca's locked very-private-tresspassers-will -be-shot desk drawer.

"Becky took my…" Baloo put one foot against the desk to get better leverage and redoubled his efforts; "new Rick Sky comic. Ahhh!" The handle had unexpectedly detached from the desk. He backpedaled, slammed into the wall, and slid down, landing on his backside with a pained "Oof!" Kit ran around the desk to help him up. "I just gotta know how the dogfight turns out. Pretty please, partner?"

Kit hesitated, then finally gave in for the sake of the desk. "Fine." From his inner sweater pocket, he produced a lockpick and inserted it into the lock. "Why don't you just do what Miz Cunningham asks? Then she wouldn't take your comics."

"Where's the fun in that?" Baloo said, a little hurt that Kit was taking Rebecca's side.

Kit shook his head, wondering at the games that Baloo and Rebecca played. Finally the lock clicked open. Curious, he watched as Baloo rummaged in the drawer.

Out came an appointment calendar, a thick business textbook, and a pink paperback, which were piled haphazardly on the desk. "Bingo! Hey, what's this?" A piece of paper was tucked into the comic.

Baloo unfolded the well-creased, dirt-streaked paper. He had seen enough treasure maps to know what a treasure map looked like, and this looked like a treasure map. Apart from flying, eating, and snoozing, treasure hunting was his favorite thing. His formerly low spirits rose.

He spread it out under the desk light to get a better look. Scrawled across the top was "Ye Olde Golden Opportunity" as well as a crude drawing of a skull and crossbones. Scattered across the map were three X's that were labeled 1, 2, and 3. "Three X's that mark the spot. Three piles of gold!"

"Uh, Baloo…" Kit had noticed something that his Papa Bear didn't. His gaze flitted between the map and the appointment calendar, which was open to the current week. "Don't you think it's odd that…?"

But Baloo was too excited to listen to his young navigator. He shoved everything back into the drawer, including the Rick Sky comic. Then he closed the drawer and put the handle back on crookedly, making a mental note to glue it on later. "Becky took my comic, so I'm takin' her treasure map!"

Nought Atoll
Early the Next Morning…

The Sea Duck pulled up to the beach at Nought Atoll. On the opposite side of the island, there was a resort, but on this side, it was sand and jungle as far as the eye could see. Baloo eagerly hopped out of the seaplane, map in hand.

"Let's see…" He compared the map with the coastline. The X on the map was inland from where he was, so, shoving the map in his pocket, he pushed his way into the thick jungle undergrowth.

A little while and a lot of scratches from branches later, he heard rustling from a nearby bush. He paused, listening intently. The rustling was getting closer, coupled with a low growl.

Baloo hastily backed away from the growling noise only to trip over a tree root and fall with a yelp and a splash into a river. As he was swept down the river and over a waterfall, two groundskeepers carrying pruning shears emerged from the bushes.

One of them patted his stomach, which growled. "Yep, definitely breakfast time." His co-worker nodded.

Meanwhile, Baloo was pulling himself, coughing and spluttering, onto a grassy bank. Sitting up, he extracted the map from his pocket and wrung it out. The X was over a cave. As luck would have it, the mouth of a cave yawned right in front of him.

"Treasure, here I come!" the pilot exclaimed, hurrying into the cave with only a passing thought of the growl he had heard earlier.

Upon entering the dark cave, it wasn't a growl he heard, but a reverberating, "Surprise!"

Baloo, who had jumped, was indeed surprised. He was even more surprised when electric lights came on, revealing a banquet hall full of people, tables, chairs, balloons, party decorations, food, and a cake that said 'Congratulations on 50 Years, George & Martha'.

The disappointment on the people's faces was surpassed only by Baloo's.

One of the party goers, a middle-aged panther, approached the big bear. "Are you the pilot from Higher for Hire?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Here's the banner." At Baloo's blank stare, the man added, "For the golden anniversary party. Quick! My parents will be here any minute." Baloo was still confused. "You're supposed to attach it to the back of your plane and circle the island for a couple of hours."

"But, but, but…!" Baloo stammered as he was prodded outside. He glanced down at the banner, then back at the people putting up party decorations in the reception hall disguised as a cave. He pulled the map out of his pocket and peered perplexedly at it while walking back towards the Sea Duck, the banner dragging in the sand behind him.

The NoSmoky Mountains
Later That Same Day…

The Sea Duck mowed down a swath of tall grass as it landed in a broad valley. Before getting out, Baloo consulted the treasure map. The X was literally over the river and through the woods from where he was, but this was the closest he could land due to the mountainous terrain.

He jumped from rock to rock across a gurgling stream and trekked up the side of the mountain. At the top of the windy peak, he leaned against the trunk of a tree and gazed down into the valley. Below him was a sprawling fenced-in area. Trucks were coming and going through a guarded gate. A large building in the middle of the enclosure was surrounded by acres of trees.

Baloo looked at the map. The X was over the building. But how was he supposed to get through the gate and past the guards? He wasn't exactly sure, but from his lofty perch, it looked like the guards were armed with long guns or spikes of some kind.

Guards or no guards, he had to get in that building. After all, there was gold in there!

Baloo was plotting how he could somehow sneak in on the back of one of those trucks, when Mother Nature gave him a push in the right direction. Or rather, a really strong gust of wind made him lose his balance on the rocky cliff. Pebbles and pinecones rolling under his feet, he slid down the side of the mountain, arms flailing to grab onto something, anything, to stop his way-too-fast descent.

"Oh!" He bounced off a boulder, which changed his trajectory and sent him soaring over a ledge.

"Yech!" He had landed on the top of a large pine tree and had gotten a mouthful of needles.

"Hey!" The pine tree bent under his weight until it was almost doubled over to the ground.

A split second before Baloo could jump off, the tree catapulted him through the air. "Heeeeeee!"

Baloo flew over the fence where a smaller, deciduous tree broke his fall. Baloo, not kindly, repaid the tree by breaking some of its branches as he crashed down through it. He landed in the soft grass with several bumps, bruises, and an apple in his mouth. He spit out the apple and exhaled a relieved, "Whew!"

Seconds later, he was surrounded by curious onlookers. Some were carrying long things that Baloo could now see were fruit pickers. Others were toting baskets of apples. They were all wearing T-shirts that said: 'The NoSmoky Mountains Orchard'.

"Who's that?"

"What's he doing?"

"He's got a bump the size of a Granny Smith growing on his forehead."

"You think he's okay?"

"Who are you, mister?"

Baloo, sitting up dizzily and feeling for his cap, which was still miraculously on his head, muttered, "Baloo. Pilot. Yeowch!" He had accidentally touched the bump on his forehead.

"Are you from Higher for Hire?" asked a business-like female voice.

"Yeah?" The big bear wasn't quite sure of that as he struggled to his feet.

"You're right on time. We've got a shipment of apples here for you." A lioness read from a clipboard. "Golden Delicious. Three hundred crates." She glanced over at the empty, grassy landing strip, which happened to be right beside the orchard. "Where's your plane?"

It was literally insult added to injury. Baloo thought he'd find gold, but all he got were apples? The so-called treasure map was beginning to have 'Rebecca's harebrained scheme' written all over it. Swallowing his disappointment, he replied, "Uh, I'll go get it."

Struckitrich Hills
Later…

As the saying goes, third time's the charm. In the last century, miners had flocked to the Struckitrich Hills, because there was gold in them thar hills.

Baloo, who had parked the Sea Duck next to a weather-beaten sign that said 'The Mine-Mine-Mine Mine that-a way', scowled as he studied the map. The first two X's had only resulted in work and this one probably wouldn't be any different. Still…given the location, there could be actual gold here.

Maybe?

Probably not.

Baloo crammed the map into his pocket.

All the angry things he planned to say to Rebecca about her fake treasure map surged through his mind as he jumped out of the plane onto the only dusty street in the one-horse town, stormed past a mule drinking from a watering trough, and pushed through the swinging doors of the Struckitrich Saloon. The third X had been over the saloon.

Apart from a bored bartender leaning against the bar, an old-timer halfheartedly playing a tinny piano, and a few miners engrossed in a dominoes game, the place was empty. It looked like he would have to 'dig' a little to get some information about gold.

Baloo approached the bar. He slammed a dime down. "Sarsaparilla. Make it a double." That's what all the cowboys in the movies ordered, right?

Judging from the bartender's acne, he was almost too tender an age to be tending bar. His voice cracked as he replied, "Sorry, mister. We're all outta sarsaparilla. Supply truck's late again. How about an Orange Fizzie?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Baloo said, taken aback. So much for the movies.

The bartender popped the cap off the bottle and handed it to Baloo, who took a swig. He leaned across the bar and motioned for the bartender to come closer. Conspiratorially, he whispered, "Is there any gold here?"

"Mold?" An expression of fear crossed the bartender's face. "Are you the health inspector?"

"Nah," Baloo said in his normal voice. "Gold. You know, M-O-N-Y."

The bartender chuckled, "Shucks, mister, the only gold here is Jitterbug Goldie and her dancing girls."

"Dancing girls?" The big bear's interest was definitely piqued. His anger towards Rebecca lessened slightly.

"Dancers like you've never seen. You're just in time for their floor show." He pointed to a sign near the stage. It read: Jitterbug Goldie and her Wondrous, Stupendous, Fabulous, and Cute Dancing Girls. Four shows daily!

Baloo swiveled on his stool to face the stage. Maybe this trip wouldn't be a complete waste of time after all.

Everyone's attention turned to the stage as a jazzy song belted from a gramophone. A beautiful woman tap-danced her way onto the stage followed by…

"B-b-b-but they're…they're dogs!" Baloo exclaimed. He couldn't believe his eyes as Jitterbug Goldie and her four Golden Retrievers did a complicated dance/acrobatic routine.

"Yep," the bartender said, grinning. "They're going to audition for The Follies. Just waiting for the pilot who will fly them there. Gee, I wish I was that talented. Once they get in The Follies, they're golden."

Baloo faintly echoed, "Golden…"

Higher for Hire
That evening…

Rebecca, leaning comfortably back in her chair, was reading the Rick Sky comic. She would never admit it to Baloo, but it was pretty good. She had just gotten to the big dogfight scene when Baloo stomped in, steaming mad.

"About that phony treasure map, Rebecca! You! You! Uh, you…" His anger fizzled when she placed a big stack of cash in his hands. "What's this?"

"A bonus for doing all of those not-fun and not-adventurous jobs today. And on time, I might add." Rebecca looked very pleased with herself. "Maybe I should make fake treasure maps more often."

Baloo gulped nervously at the thought.

"Now about my desk." She held up the broken handle, frowning.

"Can't talk now, Becky. Louie's waiting for me to pay my tab." Before she could stop him, Baloo grabbed his comic and sped for the door, muttering, "This is my golden opportunity to skedaddle."

The End