Spencer climbed back up the tallest tree in Dora’s enclosure as Darwin grunted softly in his knotted rope sling, bound tightly to Spencer’s chest. Spencer could imagine Dora’s ears snapping in the direction of the sound. He knew she was below him now, pacing back and forth, watching his every move to make sure he was being careful with her son.

Spencer’s anger at Dora had faded. She hadn’t been trying to trick them. She just hadn’t realized that Darwin would have to be returned. The risk stealing Darwin posed to the rest of Spencer and Aldo’s mission just hadn’t mattered to her as much as the chance to see her cub. Spencer had taken the Ear-COM back from Dora and slipped it into his pocket before that conversation. They couldn’t leave the top secret device with Dora in case Pam caught sight of it, and Spencer didn’t want to hear Aldo reason with the mother bear. He knew Dora would fight for Darwin to stay with her, and he understood why. He couldn’t imagine being separated from Mom again after finally being reunited with her, even if just for a short time. But eventually Aldo had convinced Dora that returning Darwin to Pam’s house until Bearhaven’s team was ready to make its final escape from Hidden Rock Zoo was the only plan that made any sense.

“That’s the one,” Spencer whispered up to Aldo. The bear was above him, testing the sturdy branch that would carry them all out over the glass wall. Aldo didn’t answer; he was just focused on getting out of Dora’s home as fast as he could. While Spencer was returning Darwin to his room, Aldo would update B.D. Then Spencer and Aldo would meet in the pear grove as soon as possible, before finally going to find Mom, Dad, and Uncle Mark.

“Ready to head back to bed, buddy?” Spencer whispered down to the bundle of black and white fur at his chest. He didn’t think the sleepy cub would mind being returned to his fake forest and cave for a little while. Darwin took a long, slow blink.

Once Aldo had reached the tree outside, Spencer climbed out across the wide branch. Just as he was moving deeper into the branches of the far tree, heading for the ground, a fiery sliver of light appeared on the horizon.

“Oh no … ” he whispered.

“Spencer?”

“The sun’s rising,” Spencer said, speeding his climb back down to the ground.

“Hurry,” Aldo urged, then took off toward the Caves.

Spencer tucked one of Darwin’s paws back into place inside the knotted sling and headed for Pam’s front path. He pushed open Pam’s front door and silent-walked inside. He left the door open behind him. With the sun rising through the massive windows, Spencer didn’t need his night-vision goggles to retrace his steps to Darwin’s room. This time, he ignored the huge dining room, and the living room filled with bearskin rugs. He headed for the stairs, straining his ears with every step for the sounds of Pam snoring. When he heard the whistling snore, he stepped off the staircase and onto the second floor. He didn’t hesitate but rushed down the hall, right into Pam’s office, and slipped into Darwin’s room. The room was just as he and Darwin had left it barely an hour earlier.

Spencer crouched to the ground. He scooped Darwin out of the rope sling and set him down on all fours. The cub stumbled, then found his footing and trotted over to his cave. He flopped down in the mouth of the cave, gave a great big yawn, and tucked his paws in close to his furry body to sleep.

“So far, so good,” Spencer whispered. Quietly, so he wouldn’t disturb Darwin, Spencer left the room. Standing in Pam’s office, he checked again for the sound of snoring. When he heard it, he headed back downstairs.

Spencer was in the foyer, silent-walking toward Pam’s half-open front door when he heard footsteps coming up Pam’s front path. He froze. The living room was too wide open, and the thought of hiding anywhere near a bearskin rug made Spencer’s own skin crawl. The dining room didn’t offer any good hiding spots, either. Spencer turned and sprinted down the long hallway. He saw a doorway and darted through it just as someone stepped through the open front door.

“Hello?” a man’s voice called softly. “Hmm. How odd.” Spencer held his breath. He immediately regretted leaving the front door open when he’d snuck in. Just don’t alert the guards, he thought, willing whoever was now in the house with him to not raise an alarm about Pam’s open front door. Spencer listened to the door shut. Then footsteps started toward the kitchen.

Now what?! Spencer’s heart pounded as he scanned the kitchen. He spotted a pantry on the far side of the room, one of its doors stood open. Spencer ran over to it, ducked inside, and pulled the door shut. Through a small crack between the two pantry doors, Spencer watched a man walk into the kitchen and flip on the lights. He went to one of the cabinets and pulled out a baby bottle.

It’s Darwin’s caretaker! Spencer realized as he watched the man pull milk from Pam’s fridge and heat it in a small pot on the stove. The man checked his watch, filled the baby bottle with warm milk, and left the kitchen.

Spencer sighed in relief. He hadn’t been discovered yet, but it was only a matter of time before Pam woke up and the rest of his household staff arrived. Spencer had to get out of here, but first … He slipped his mission pack off his back, then grabbed a box of protein bars from a shelf and emptied it into his bag. Power food for the powerful man the box read. Spencer rolled his eyes and put the empty box back on its shelf. He took a jar of mixed nuts off another shelf, and a package of dried apricots, hurriedly stuffing them into his mission pack. He zipped the pack and got ready to leave. He didn’t know how long it took to bottle-feed a sleepy spirit bear cub, but he definitely didn’t want to still be here when Darwin’s caretaker got back.

Spencer slowly opened the pantry door, slipped out of the closet, and silent-walked out of Pam’s house.