Spencer was just settling himself in a seat in Bearhaven’s plane when Evarita poked her head into the cabin.

“Spencer!” she cried, rushing over to wrap him up in a quick hug. “Finally! I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“Thanks to you I am,” Spencer answered. It seemed like Evarita got cooler every time he saw her these days. “How did you know to come in a helicopter?”

“I didn’t.” Evarita laughed. “We didn’t have another truck big enough to fit everyone.” She ruffled his hair and headed back toward the cockpit. “I have to get us ready to fly,” she called. “But I just had to hug you. I’ve been worried sick.”

“She’s been worried sick?” Mom remarked walking up from the back of the plane to take a seat beside Spencer. Her arms were loaded with Raymond’s fuel bars. “Imagine how I felt when I saw you in the aquarium with all those alarms going off! You, my dear, have had me scared to death since the moment I realized you were going on these rescue missions.”

“Sorry,” Spencer said sheepishly, remembering the first mission he’d gone on when he and Mom had spotted each other through a conference call between Margo and Pam at Jay Grady’s. That was less than a month ago, but now it seemed like another lifetime.

“If I’d only known you would make such an incredible operative.” Mom handed him a fuel bar. Spencer puffed up with pride.

“ ‘Incredible operative?’ Now that’s an understatement,” Dad said, joining them. “You know what else is an understatement? That we’ve missed you like crazy, Spencer.” Dad dropped into the seat in front of Spencer and spun around. “We’ve thought about you every minute of every day we’ve been gone.”

“Me too,” Spencer answered. “I don’t know what I would have done without Bearhaven.”

“Without Bearhaven?” Uncle Mark joked from behind Spencer. “What about your dear uncle Mark?”

“That’s what I meant!” Spencer laughed, looking over his shoulder. “I don’t know what I would have done without Bearhaven and my dear Uncle Mark.”

Uncle Mark smiled from where he crouched beside Aldo, buckling the sleeping bear in for the flight. Opposite them, B.D. and Darwin were settled together. Dad had already helped them get strapped in, and now Darwin was snuggling up against B.D., who was sitting back on his haunches, gnawing a large knob of ginger root.

“All right, everyone, what do you say we get out of here?” Evarita called back from the cockpit.

Uncle Mark dropped into the seat beside Dad. “I’d say the sooner the better,” he called back as he accepted a few Raymond’s fuel bars from Mom.

As Evarita steered Bearhaven’s plane down the tarmac, Spencer leaned his head back against his seat. He was suddenly so exhausted that the idea of unwrapping and eating a Raymond’s fuel bar was too much for him. He closed his eyes. Just for a minute, he told himself.

*   *   *

Spencer woke up on the TUBE with the smell of peanut butter wafting into his nose. He opened his eyes, and for a second, he thought he might be dreaming. Mom and Dad were standing in front of him. Dad was holding a tray of peanut butter toast, and Mom had a pitcher of milk in one hand and a stack of glasses in the other.

“I thought the smell of peanut butter might wake you up,” Mom joked.

“You’re really here!” Spencer exclaimed. It wasn’t a dream! Mom and Dad were really standing right in front of him!

“You bet we’re really here.” Dad laughed. “Come on, we’re almost at Bearhaven, and it’s about time you ate something.” Dad headed for the door to the dining car.

Spencer leaped out of his seat. “How did I get on the TUBE?” he asked Mom as they followed Dad into the dining car.

“You walked,” she answered. “But you were so tired, I think you might as well have been sleepwalking. I’m not surprised you don’t remember.”

Spencer was happy to see Aldo and Evarita sitting at the table where Dad had just set his tray of peanut butter toast. Evarita had a bowl of macaroni and cheese in front of her, and Aldo looked like he was savoring every bite of his berries and honey.

“You finally woke up!” Aldo exclaimed happily when he saw Spencer. His BEAR-COM had been returned to his neck.

“I could say the same to you!” Spencer rushed over and gave Aldo a huge hug. “What happened?!” He took a seat next to Mom and reached for a piece of peanut butter toast.

“Well, it was fine at first,” Aldo started, licking a smear of honey from his snout. “I was keeping the guards a good distance behind me, leading them all over the zoo property. I didn’t want to lose them too quickly, or else they might have gotten back to the guardhouse too soon. But I didn’t realize they had a tranquilizer gun … ” Aldo shook his head. Spencer couldn’t believe they hadn’t thought Pam’s guards might have tranquilizers. He hadn’t even known how much danger they were putting Aldo in!

“Since all they did was chase me in the beginning, I figured the longer I ran them around the better,” Aldo went on with a shrug. “But I’m guessing they didn’t use the tranquilizer gun right away because they hoped to get me over to the Caves and back in an enclosure without Pam finding out. My mistake was running too close to Pam’s house. Once I did, they started shooting.” Aldo paused to slurp up some berries. “Next thing I knew, you, Mark, and Shane were trying to get me to the helicopter. I could hear you, but I couldn’t really get my legs to move. I think I went in and out after that.”

Spencer washed down a big bite of peanut butter toast with a gulp of cold milk. “I’m sorry, Aldo,” he said. “I didn’t even think—”

“Don’t worry, little man,” Aldo cut him off. “The important thing is we did it! Our plan worked.”

“Yeah, the plan did work.” Spencer smiled. “Where’s everybody else?”

“B.D. is in the medical car, and Darwin refuses to be separated from B.D., so Mark is feeding him in there,” Evarita explained. “And Marguerite’s making sure everything is in order for our arrival in Bearhaven.”

Dad pulled an extra chair up to the table and accepted the glass of milk Mom offered him. She set a glass in front of Spencer, too.

“Making sure what’s in order?” Spencer asked, wondering what Marguerite, the TUBE attendant, would need to arrange for their arrival. “Like letting everyone know we’re coming?”

“No, the opposite,” Mom said. “And eat, Spencer, we’re arriving soon.”

Spencer took a big bite of peanut butter toast and waited for someone to explain.

“Marguerite is making sure the TUBE’s arrival in Bearhaven doesn’t get announced,” Evarita started. “Well, actually, we don’t want anyone to know about our arrival at all, except for the bears working in the TUBE station. It’s going to be just after dinnertime when we get in. If word gets out that the TUBE has arrived and the team has returned from Jane and Shane’s rescue mission, we’ll have all of Bearhaven waiting to welcome them. And welcome all of us, too.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Spencer asked. He couldn’t wait to see Kate and tell her all about the mission. What was so bad about her and the rest of Bearhaven being ready to celebrate their return?

“Darwin has been through a lot already,” Mom answered. “We don’t want to shock him with an enormous crowd of bears as soon as we get him to his new home.

And B.D. doesn’t want all of Bearhaven to know about his condition just yet. This way, he can get some medical attention before anyone sees him.”

“B.D.’s going to be okay, though, isn’t he?” Aldo asked.

“Yes,” Dad said. “B.D.’s going to be okay, but his wounds look pretty bad right now. We’ll have a town meeting in the morning once Pinky has had a chance to give him some stitches and bandage him up. And once we’ve all had a chance to get some rest.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Spencer finished his first slice of peanut butter toast, and was just reaching for another when the TUBE pulled into the station in Bearhaven. “I thought you said nobody was supposed to be here to greet us?”

A bear was standing alone on the TUBE platform. There was no BEAR-COM around his neck. At first, Spencer didn’t recognize him, but then he spotted the furless patch of skin at the bear’s jaw.