Spencer hung on tight to Aldo’s back as the bear made his way to the pool shed. They were sticking to the perimeter of the dark zoo, and though Spencer was trying to stay alert and watch for guards, security cameras, or anything else that might give them away, he could hardly see a thing, especially when they raced through the alleyway between Hidden Rock Zoo’s outer wall and the Caves.

I am definitely going to need the night-vision goggles tonight, he thought, glad for the millionth time that he’d brought the cool gear along on this mission.

Aldo broke out of the alley and headed for the Seaport Pools. On the hilltop to their right, Spencer could see lights on in Pam’s house. He hoped now, of all times, Pam wasn’t standing on his second-floor viewing deck, surveying his miniature world …

When they reached the shed beside the Seaport Pools area of the zoo, Spencer slid off Aldo’s back. Each pool was lit from below, and each one looked like a moon, glowing silver into the dark night. The nearest pool cast enough light for Spencer to find the door to the pool shed. Remembering his impatience to enter the aquarium, and the alarm he’d set off in the process, Spencer paused, waiting for Aldo to smell the door.

The bear finished his scent investigation. “Nobody’s here,” he said. Spencer pushed open the door, bracing himself for an alarm to blare on, but the door swung open in silence. He let out a sigh of relief and stepped into the little building. He pulled the flashlight from his back pocket and flicked it on.

“This would have made a much better hideout,” Aldo whispered when the first thing the flashlight’s beam landed on was a pile of lounge chair cushions. “It would have been way more comfortable.”

“Okay, let’s look for rope and a hook.” Spencer maneuvered around the pile of cushions and a pile of folded-up umbrellas. It looked like all kinds of supplies were stored in this building. He scanned a huge set of shelves filled with cleaning supplies, then moved on to a tall stack of cardboard boxes. He pulled one of the boxes down and flipped the top open.

Black gift boxes were neatly stacked inside, each one imprinted with the silver crown logo. Spencer couldn’t look at it now without thinking about Darwin, even though Pam’s plan for the cub still puzzled Spencer.

He opened one of the gift boxes. Inside, surrounded by velvet cushioning, was a black stone bear figurine. Spencer felt goose bumps rise on his arms. The figurine looked so much like his own jade bear. The bear was standing up on its hind legs, just like Spencer’s jade figurine. A jeweled collar had been carved onto its neck, and on its head, in shining silver, was a crown.

Spencer lifted the figurine out of its box. It was at least three times bigger than his jade bear. Beneath the bear, the velvet was embroidered. King of Bears it read. Spencer thought of Darwin again, the living version of this stone figurine and suddenly he understood exactly what Pam’s plans for Darwin were. Pam is just going to use Darwin to show off his power over bears, he thought with disgust. “What a creepy party favor,” Spencer said aloud.

“What?” Aldo’s voice rang in Spencer’s ear. The bear was on the other side of the shed.

“Oh, nothing.” Spencer dropped the bear figurine back into its velvet-padded box, and closed it up. He didn’t need to think about Pam’s plans for Darwin, or the evil work he did at Moon Farm, because tonight’s rescue was going to be the first step in stopping Pam’s plans altogether. It had to be.

“I think I found something,” Aldo called. Spencer pointed his flashlight in the direction of Aldo’s grunts. The bear had a long coil of pool lane dividers looped around his neck. He was holding one end up in his claws. “Looks like rope to me.”

“Perfect!” Spencer exclaimed. He made his way over to Aldo, who had found a pile of five pool rope lane dividers. “Let’s bring two, just in case.” Spencer took the lane divider from around Aldo’s neck. He popped off the plastic buoys one by one, leaving only the thin, strong nylon rope of the lane divider. Then he started to coil the rope into the tightest ball he could. “Now we need a hook.”

Aldo padded deeper into the shed. A minute later, he returned. Spencer shone his flashlight on the bear, who was sitting back on his haunches, a huge garden tool in his claws.

“I think Raymond has one of these,” Aldo said, examining the oversized garden fork. Spencer laughed with relief. It was definitely bear-sized, but after seeing how big Pam’s gardens were, Spencer wasn’t surprised there was such a tool at Hidden Rock Zoo. The garden fork had a long wooden handle and a metal head with four curved prongs. It was exactly what they needed. They could use this garden tool as a grappling hook to send down to Mom and Dad and Uncle Mark.

“All right, we have everything,” Spencer said. “Now we just need to get it all to them.” Spencer reached for the garden fork. It was way too sharp to drop into the empty tank the way it was. He took the second lane divider and used it to wrap the tines of the heavy fork tool. When he was halfway done, Spencer remembered the Ear-COM. They had to find a way to drop it safely, too. “I have an idea!” He rushed back over to the boxes of bear figurines and grabbed one. These creepy gifts are good for something after all! he thought, opening the box. The stone figure glared at him. Spencer grabbed it and shoved it deep into his pocket, where the jade bear was supposed to be. He hurried back to where Aldo was waiting with the other supplies. “Look,” he said, shining the flashlight into the velvet interior of the box.

“For the Ear-COM?” Aldo guessed. “Good thinking.”

Spencer grabbed B.D.’s Ear-COM from his pocket and placed it inside the small gift box. He put the box on top of the garden fork with the partially wrapped tines. “Can you hold this here?” he asked Aldo. Aldo extended a claw, pinning down the gift box to the garden fork. Spencer continued to wind the lane divider around the garden fork, wrapping the Ear-COM in its protective box into the bundle. Aldo removed his claw when the box was secure. “Okay. All set,” Spencer said, knotting the last bit of rope to the garden fork’s handle. He stood up. The garden fork looked like half of a giant Q-tip. Spencer picked it up and swung it onto his shoulder, propping it there. “I can carry this. Can you get the other lane divider?”

“Sure,” Aldo answered, eyeing the garden fork on Spencer’s shoulder. “We’re going to have to be extra careful now.”

“I know,” Spencer answered, looking up at the white rope. “This thing looks like a white flag, but we are definitely not planning to surrender.”