“We bears have almost mystical senses,” Eddie whispered back. “We can sense things. And I sense that we are being watched.”
“By spacemen, do you think?”
“There’s a tone in your voice,” said Eddie. “Put me down, please.”
And Jack put Eddie down.
Jack said, “I don’t see any landed spaceships. But then perhaps landed spaceships have some kind of advanced camouflage and can look like ruined houses. In which case, I can see lots of spaceships. Which one do –”
“Stop it,” said Eddie. “We are being watched. And I don’t like it here.”
“I’ll protect you,” said Jack. “I have my gun.” Jack patted his pockets. “Oh no,” he said. “I don’t have my gun – one of the laughing policemen confiscated it.”
“We’re doomed,” said Eddie. “Do you still have your watch?”
“I do,” said Jack, holding his wrist up to the moonlight. “It’s nearly two-thirty. Time travels fast when you’re having a good time, doesn’t it?”
“Turn it in,” said Eddie. “You’re as scared of this place as I am.”
“I’m afraid of no man,” said Jack.
“There’s something out there,” said Eddie. “And it ain’t no man.”
Which rang a distant bell, somewhere.[15]
“Which way do you want to go?” asked Jack.
“Home,” said Eddie.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“It’s what I mean,” said Eddie. “I used to live here. I’d like to see my old home.”
“Oh,” said Jack. “Right. Lead on, then.”
And Eddie led the way.
He led the way to Toy Town Square. There were ruined shops all around and about: a butcher’s, a baker’s, a candlestick maker’s, a cheese shop and a dolls’ hospital.
Jack peered through the grime-stained window of a tailor’s. “This really is a proper ghost town,” he said. “There’s still a display in this window and suits of clothing hanging up.” Jack moved on through the square. “Same in the cheese shop,” he said. “It’s full of old cheese. How come when the traders moved away they left their stock behind?”
“They moved away fast,” said Eddie. “In a single day. All at once.”
“But I thought you said –”
“I know what I said. I didn’t say how fast they all moved to Toy City.”
“What happened here, Eddie? Something bad, was it?”
“I don’t want to talk about it now.”
Jack shook his head. “Are we still being watched? What do your special senses tell you?”
Eddie nodded. “We’re still being watched. Come on, this way.”
And so they moved on, across the moonlit square, into a side alley that wasn’t really lit very well at all, into worrying darkness, then out into some small light.
“Ah,” said Jack. “I see.”
Before them stood a little house. A pretty little house. It was a man-sized pretty little house. A flaky painted sign upon the aged front door spelled out the name “WINKIE” in archaic lettering.
“Bill Winkie’s house,” said Jack. “The house of Wee Willy Winkie. And you were his bear.”
“I was Bill’s bear,” said Eddie. And he produced a key from his trenchcoat pocket. “Would you care to let us in, Jack?”
Jack took the key from Eddie. “You have the key with you,” he said, “but you didn’t know we were coming here. I mean –”
“I’ve always carried it, one way or another, and the another way wasn’t very comfortable,” Eddie said. “I carry it as a kind of good-luck charm, or something.”
“Oh.” Jack said no more, but tried the key in the lock. After some struggling, he turned it. “Are you sure about this?” he asked Eddie. “Sure that you want to go in? It might be painful for you. I know how much you loved Bill.”
“It will be painful,” said Eddie, “but I have to. There’s something I have to know.”
“All right.” Jack drew the key from the lock, returned it to Eddie, then pressed his hands to the door, which opened, silently.
“There should be a candle box on the wall to your left,” said Eddie. Jack felt around to his left, found the candle box, located candles within it and a tinderbox, fumbled about with the tinderbox, drew sparks, then fire from it, lit a candle. Jack held up this candle.
“What do you see?” Eddie asked.
“Just a room,” said Jack. “Quite tastefully furnished. Are you coming in, then?”
Eddie followed Jack.
Jack spied candles set in wall sconces, others upon a table. Jack lit these candles with his. Soft light filled the room.
Eddie gazed around and about it. “Just as I feared,” he said.
“Feared?” Jack asked. “What did you fear?”
“The hinges on the front door have been oiled and there’s no dust,” said Eddie. “Look at the tables and the chairs and the floor – no dust. Someone’s living here.”
“Upstairs, do you think? Asleep?”
“Possibly. Jack, give me a hand, if you will.”
“What’s this, then?”
Eddie was tugging at a rug. “Help me with this.”
Jack did tuggings, too. They tugged the rug aside.
“Ring in the floorboards,” said Eddie. “Secret compartment. Lift the trap door, Jack.”
“Oh,” said Jack. “Exciting. What’s down there?”
“You’ll see.”
Jack pulled upon the ring and the trap door lifted. He held up his candle. “Golly,” he said.
“Golly? Where?”
“Term of surprise,” said Jack, “not golly as in golliwog.” And then Jack did awed whistlings. “This is what you’d call an arms cache,” said he, once done with these whistlings.
“Well, Bill was a private eye.”
“And part-time arms dealer?” Jack beheld the stash that lay beneath, steely parts glinting in the candlelight. There were many guns there, big, impressive guns, toy guns all, although toy guns got the business done in these parts.
“Just haul up some weaponry.”
“Okey-dokey,” said Jack, “will do.” And he lowered himself into the secret hideaway beneath and handed weapons up to Eddie. And as he did so, Jack did thinkings. What exactly was all this about? went one of these thinkings. What exactly happened here in Toy Town that drove its population away at the hurry-up, without their possessions? Why would Bill Winkie really have needed so much high-powered weaponry? And there would have been more thinkings along these lines had not Eddie hurried Jack up and broken the chain of these thinkings.
“It’s too much to carry anyway,” said Jack.
“And those grenades,” said Eddie.
“This is ridiculous,” said Jack.
“You’ll thank me for it later.”
“What was that?”
“What?” said Eddie.
“I thought you bears had special senses,” whispered Jack. “I heard something.”
“Come on, then, hurry up – gather up guns and let’s be off.”
The sound of voices now came to the ears of both Eddie and Jack.
“On second thoughts,” whispered Eddie, now tossing weaponry back down to Jack, “it might be more propitious for us to hide.”
“But we’re all tooled-up.”
“These guns are very old.”
“Sling the rest of them down here and follow on, then.”
Eddie did so. Jack climbed from the secret hideaway, extinguished candles, did complicated in-the-dark back-tuggings of the rug and lowerings of the trap door over him and Eddie.
Voices, slightly muffled now but growing louder nonetheless, were to be heard above.
“And I say that I locked the door behind us,” said one voice.
“And I say that you forgot,” said another. “And as I’m in charge, that’s final.”