Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2012 02:36:01 -0400 (EDT)
From: Pwrlftrbear@aol.com
Subject: Stepping Into Forever 11

					11

	We stopped to pick up Mikey and his cub.  Wish we could have met
under better conditions.  Cliff is a big, blond bear, built like a Nordic
god.  Hadn't seen Mike in years, but he takes after Jim, though his hair is
a darker red than his papa's, or mine for that matter.  That they
understood the gravity of the situation was apparent.  Mikey was usually a
jovial guy, but this afternoon, none of his jocularity was to be seen.
	"Don't know about going that way," Brian was saying, looking at the
GPS over Kip's shoulder.  "Might be faster in theory to go through Chicago,
but that's if there's no traffic.  And there's always traffic.  And
construction."
	"That way will take us nearly seven hours," Kip said.
	"That's if we stay at the speed limit," Brian said.  "Don't think
we have time for that."
	"What about speed traps?" Cliff asked.
	"I...let's worry about it if we have to," Brian said with a sigh.
"Just make sure we stay close together."



	Not sure how it happened, but there was twice that I thought for
sure we were snagged.  The first time, the cop flipped on his lights and
pulled out right behind us.
	"Keep going," Brian said calmly, his eyes closing.
	Without warning, the lights went off and we left the cop in the
dust.
	The second one I didn't see until after we flew by him.  This time
he didn't even move.
	"What the hell," I said.
	"I do have some uses," Brian said with a slight smirk, then his
expression smoothed.



	It was getting dark by the time we got there.  We parked the
vehicles a couple of miles from Gene's place.
	"Well?" Paul asked his cub as we climbed out.
	Brian took a deep breath and closed his eyes.  Suddenly he
shuddered, clutching at Paul's arm.
	"Fuck," he snarled.  "Well, they didn't just shoot and run.  I
don't think they've found Keith yet, though."
	"Can't you find him?" Cliff asked.
	Brian shook his head ruefully.
	"I'm hoping it's just because he hasn't changed yet," he said
uncertainly.  "I figure if they'd found him, they would have left by now.
Do you have any idea where he would have hidden?"
	"They never said anything about anything like that," I said.  "But
our conversation didn't get that in depth."
	"Then we're going to have to do this the hard way," Brian said
expressionlessly.  "Lead the way."
	We set out into the forest, all of our senses alert.  There were
men roaming the woods, searching for Keith, I assumed, but we were able to
avoid them.  We got near the house, but there were a couple of guys
standing out front.  Both were armed with shotguns.
	"Now what?" Mike whispered as we gathered out of earshot.
	"Distraction?" Cliff asked.  "Draw them away?  Rush them?"
	"I can get by them," Brian said suddenly.
	"How?" I asked, but he was staring at Paul.
	Their tableau held for a long moment, Paul's face a frozen mask.
	"Be careful," Paul whispered hoarsely.
	"Wait for my signal."
	Brian leaned in for a quick kiss and disappeared into the
underbrush.
	"What is he doing?" I hissed, feeling my buried anger uncoiling.
"You're letting him walk into that?  Just like you did with Rick."
	The others hushed me, then Paul turned towards me.  His expression
washed over me like a bucket of ice water.  His eyes were haunted, his face
drawn.
	"He's my cub, but I don't own him, any more than I owned Rick," he
said with a tight quaver to his voice.  "And like Rick, he's doing what he
has to do."
	"Paul," I said, feeling my anger finally washing away.
	"Look," Jim hissed, drawing our attention.
	We looked down into the clearing.  The two men were lounging on the
porch when Brian stepped out of the trees.  He walked quietly towards them.
Kip raised his rifle, but held his fire.  Brian continued forward, but
neither man reacted to his presence.
	"What the...," I breathed.
	Jim pulled us back, looking expectantly at Paul.
	"I've heard some of the oldest weres can walk unseen when they
wish.  Is that it?" he said.
	"Something like that, I guess," Paul admitted.  "As I understand
it, at least in his case, it's making others see what he wants them to, or
in this case, not see."
	"So now what?" Mike asked tensely.
	"We wait," Paul said grimly.