Secrets and Shadows

by Bryan Chick

  “Incredible,” Richie muttered. With his face raised to take in the scene, his wiggly pom-pom dangled off his hat.

  From above on the walkway, three people jogged up: Sam, Solana, and Hannah. They maneuvered through the giraffes, ducking beneath their outstretched necks and speckled bodies. They stepped up to the scouts and wordlessly stood there. As Tameron moved away to join his friends, the scouts traded nervous glances. The only sounds were the clomping of the giraffes’ hooves and the occasional pop of Hannah’s gum.

  Sam fixed his eyes on Noah and finally said, “What are you trying to prove?” cracking each word like a whip.

  Noah opened his mouth to speak, but his tongue simply sat between his teeth, spongy and shapeless.

  “You got an answer?”

  Noah knew he had to say something, so he released the first words his tongue managed to form. “I . . . I thought I could go in the Grottoes . . . and it would be no big deal. I thought—”

  “Do you have any clue what you’ve done?” Sam turned to Megan. “And you! At what point did you think it’d be cool to ride your minibike across the zoo?”

  Megan started to say something, but Noah interrupted her. “It’s not her fault. It’s mine.”

  Sam shook his head at Noah. “This was the most dangerous, most unnecessary stunt a Crosser has ever pulled! Ever! Are you trying to get the Secret Society discovered?”

  “You’re right,” Noah conceded. “It was wrong—totally wrong.” He stared at his feet. “I was confused. And looking for answers the wrong way.”

  “Let me tell you how it works,” Sam said. “You learn what we want you to learn!”

  “How are we supposed to help you if we don’t understand everything that’s going on? How can we be on your side if—”

  “That’s just it! You’re not on our side, and you won’t be— not ever. You’re Outsiders. Don’t you get it?”

  Noah flushed with anger. “That doesn’t mean anything!”

  “Maybe not to you. But to us on the Inside, it makes all the difference in the world.”

  Noah turned to the other Descenders. Tameron stared down at the scouts, his eyes buried in the shadow of his hat brim. Hannah worked her jaw, perpetually reshaping the gum in her mouth. Solana stood with her shoulders slumped, her hip cocked to one side, the tips of her fingers tucked into her pants pockets.

  Noah could think of nothing to say but the truth. “We might be Outsiders, but we’re not going anywhere, not until this is done, not until the sasquatches are found and DeGraff is stopped. If DeGraff gets Inside, we’re all in trouble, not just you guys, but us on the Outside. Our families, our friends. Don’t you think that gives us a right to understand what’s going on?”

  The Descenders only hardened their stares.

  “Look,” Noah said. “I messed up. But . . .” He stumbled over his thoughts and added, “Why couldn’t you just tell us about the Grottoes, huh? And why can’t you just tell us who you are? Your jackets . . . your boots . . . they obviously have some kind of purpose. And those velvet patches—that’s the same fabric as the curtains, right?”

  Noah reached out to touch the velvet on Sam’s shoulder, but he pulled away.

  “Descender,” Noah continued. “I looked that word up. A descender can be the part of a letter that drops below the rest of it. Do you know what I’m talking about? In the letter y, the descender would be the little slash”—he made a cutting motion with his fingertip—“that drops down. The descender is the tail on the body of a letter.”

  Hannah stopped chomping her gum and Solana uneasily shifted her stance. Ella, Richie, and Megan stared at Noah, waiting for more.

  “The tail on the body,” Noah repeated. “The tail on the body formed by two converging lines. The definition obviously refers to a line on a piece of paper, but couldn’t the line be something else? A line of defense, maybe—like Tameron talked about. He talked about a line of animals and a line of humans guarding the Secret Zoo.”

  Tameron stepped forward. “Kid, are you nuts? We’re not letters—we’re people! You think you can pick up a dictionary and figure out—”

  “If you guys only give us pieces of information, then we have to put those pieces together!” said Noah. All around him, falling leaves continued to pile on the deck. “It would make it a lot easier if you’d give us the complete picture instead.”

  No response.

  Noah took a step forward. “You know what I think? I think the magic of this place has somehow changed you.”

  At this, Ella and Richie drew back from Noah. Megan gently laid her hand on her brother’s shoulder.

  “C’mon, Noah,” she whispered to him. “You’re getting a bit carried away, don’t you think?”

  Shrugging off his sister’s hand, Noah looked straight at Sam and said, “Tell me I’m not just making this stuff up in my head.”

  Sam kept his stare locked on Noah’s. Each refused to look away. The other scouts silently stood by.

  “Noah,” Megan said, “let it go. This isn’t the time or—”

  “When is the time? Huh? When the sasquatches rip apart the Secret Zoo? When DeGraff gets inside this stupid place? When is it going to be a good time for us to learn what we’re dealing with?”

  Sam took a step toward Noah. “You think we’re just going to stand here and let you destroy us?”

  “Destroy you?”

  Megan squeezed between Sam and Noah. “Listen, bro,” she coaxed. “You need to cool off. This is getting—”

  Noah pulled away from the group and started pacing.

  His face was flushed with anger, and his heart was pounding. Megan was right about one thing—he needed to cool down.

  He walked to the edge of the deck. With his back to everyone, he leaned his forearms against the rail and stared out into the Secret Giraffic Jam. Throughout the sector, the giraffes had craned their long necks toward the commotion.

  To Sam, Megan said, “Look, maybe we should—”

  These were the last words Noah heard. All his attention was suddenly diverted to an intense pain that had sparked in the bottom of his left leg. He looked down to see a beastly hand clutching his ankle. From under the walkway, the yellow eyes of a sasquatch stared up at him.

  The monster pulled Noah’s leg, dragging him under the railing. Noah felt himself hurtling through space, then he thudded against the hard ground. Stars filled his vision. Dazed, he rolled onto his back, stirring the fallen leaves. The sasquatch lunged at him, its bladelike claws spread out like weapons.

  It all happened so fast that Noah didn’t have time to scream.

  Chapter 42

  The Strike of the Sasquatch

  As the sasquatch swung its claws down, Noah threw himself aside. The beast just missed him and ripped open the earth, slinging dirt into the air. Noah jumped up and took off running into the core of the sector. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the sasquatch drop to all fours and chase after him, its rocky knuckles pounding the ground. In its wicked snarl, Noah saw two sets of fangs and a wall of huge square teeth.

  Giraffes scattered. Their hooves kicked leaves into a low cloud of swirling colors that Noah charged through.

  Noah ran upon a stream embedded about three feet in the ground. He jumped down its steep bank and splashed into the water, which came to his knees, deeper than he’d expected. He plowed across it and leaped over the embankment on the opposite side, landing on his stomach. Before he could rise, the earth around him quaked as the legs of the sasquatch slammed down, one on either side of him. The beast had jumped the width of the river and landed directly over Noah.

  With a sideways glance, Noah saw that the monster’s feet were as large as Noah’s entire torso. From its toes sprang claws—claws that reminded Noah of bladed tools used for farming. Curling and yellow, they dug into the earth.

  Noah somehow threw his weight forward, jumping low over the ground like a frog. At the same moment, the sasquatch swiped its claws at him, just missing Noah but shred
ding his jacket. A cloud of insulated padding swirled out into the air. Noah jumped to his feet and once again ran as fast as he could, his heart pounding.

  Around him, giraffes continued to scramble. One darted in front of Noah, accidentally tripping him with its long leg. Noah fell headfirst and slid through the leaves. Turning onto his back, he found the sasquatch once again towering over him. The beast threw back its head and roared, exposing the piercing points of its fangs. Then it balled its knuckles and hammered them against its chest, roaring, raining spit everywhere. Then, abruptly, it fell silent and stood still, staring directly at Noah. Its intention was clear.

  Destruction.

  Was this payback? Revenge? Did the sasquatch know who Noah was? Did it understand how the scouts had thwarted the sasquatches’ escape from the Dark Lands on their first trip to the Secret Zoo?

  It didn’t matter. Not really. In seconds, the claws of the sasquatch would come down and end his life. Poised over Noah, the beast roared mightily once more and cocked an arm. Its outspread claws glinted in the sunlight. Just as Noah became certain he’d be ripped apart, the ground shook. Around him, four astounding creatures had dropped in. Noah stared. First they looked like people. Then animals. Then something in-between.

  Chapter 43

  The Descent

  The sasquatch snapped its stare to the four beings surrounding it. Noah watched from the ground, more than once attempting to blink away his disbelief.

  The Descenders. But they had changed.

  Behind the sasquatch stood Sam, his long, unruly bangs across his eyes like a mask. He held his arms out to his sides, and from his leather sleeves hung layers of great silver feathers. Wings. They sprouted from his arms and across his back, extending far beyond his normal reach. Noah could only guess at their span. Twelve feet? Fifteen feet? Twenty feet? More? Draped around him, they blotted out the light, casting a single shadow across Noah and the sasquatch. Sunlight burst on their edges, making the Descender appear to glow.

  On one side of the sasquatch was Tameron—or what had once been Tameron, anyway. Now his head, arms, and torso were covered in layered bands of armor, like those of an armadillo. His hat with the low brim had turned into a helmet, one that covered his entire head except for his eyes and jaw. None of these traits astonished Noah more than the one that lay partially coiled on the ground beside the Descender: a tail. As long as fifteen feet, it was covered in armored plates and studded with a jumble of spikes, their concentration heaviest at the end of the tail. It had dropped from inside Tameron’s backpack, and was surely the thing Noah had seen moving inside the big canvas bag in Butterfly Nets.

  Standing on the other side of the sasquatch was Hannah. She was as much as a foot taller than before. The soles of her boots, once only an inch or two thick, were now at least ten inches high. As she shifted her weight to one side, her rubbery-looking soles bulged outward and then sprang back into shape. The leather sides of the boots had thickened, giving additional support to her lower legs. Noah’s gaze lifted to Hannah’s face. Almost incredibly, she was still chomping her gum.

  Last, Noah saw Solana standing just beyond his head.

  Her jacket was covered in quills at least twelve inches long. They lay flat, their bottom halves black, their top halves ivory white. They were longest on the backs of her gloves, fifteen inches or more. As she stood there with her arms hanging down, the quills on her gloves reached beyond her knees like long claws.

  The sasquatch, now on all fours, turned in a slow circle, studying its adversaries. It rolled back its head and let loose the call of a beast the Secret Society had come to fear. It pounded its fists against the ground, sending waves rippling through its long, mangy hair.

  The Descenders braced themselves. Sam beat his long silver wings, stirring the air. Tameron huddled into the protection of his armor. Hannah rocked on the springy soles of her boots. Solana raised her quill-covered fists. The Descenders were ready to lunge forward—ready to “pounce upon . . . to attack with violence and suddenness.”

  Ready to descend.

  Just then, Ella’s voice rang out. “Noah! Move!”

  Ella’s cry startled the sasquatch long enough for Noah to squirm out from under it and crawl between Tameron and Solana. Realizing that its captive was escaping, the sasquatch swung at Noah. As its arm swept through the air, Solana lunged forward and sank her quills into it. The sasquatch threw back its head and howled.

  The beast turned and ran, directly at Hannah. She pushed off on her boots and leaped high into the air—five feet, ten feet, fifteen feet, more. As the creature passed beneath her, Tameron dropped his shoulder and charged, plowing into its back and slamming it to the ground. Without breaking his stride, Tameron swung his massive tail high in the air. Its heavy, multispiked tip flew around in a perfect arc and landed on the sasquatch, crushing it. Immediately, the beast went still. The Descenders had killed it.

  The scouts rushed to Noah, who lay in the spill of leaves. Everything was completely surreal to him.

  The Descenders eased up. Hannah popped her gum; Sam swept his bangs out of his eyes; Solana dropped her arms and relaxed her stance. Across the heights of the sector, giraffes craned their necks over the winding decks to stare down on the scene.

  Noah stood. The four scouts huddled close together and stared with wide-eyed apprehension at the Descenders.

  “You’re . . .” Noah searched the fog of his confusion for the right words. “You’re animals.”

  “Not hardly.” Sam stepped forward, his long wings trailing behind him like a cape. “We’re human.” He pointed to Hannah’s boots. “And when have you ever seen an animal with feet like that?”

  “But your wings.” Noah pointed to Tameron. “And his tail.”

  “We carry their abilities, the things that make them great. We don’t —”

  Sam swung his head back. A growl had come from behind him. Through the trees stepped another sasquatch. Then a second. A third, and a fourth. They crept forward with their shoulders slouched, their mangy hair swaying. Goopy lines of spit clung to their fangs.

  All four Descenders turned. Then they spread out and prepared to fight.

  Chapter 44

  The Descenders

  When the sasquatches closed to within thirty feet of the Descenders, Tameron jumped forward and turned in a circle. His tail swung low to the ground and swept the first sasquatch off its feet, slamming it to the ground and sending tremors through the earth. Tameron’s tail continued to swing, but the other sasquatches jumped to avoid it.

  Hannah sprang out of a crouched position and her boots shot her forward and up. More than ten feet in the air, she rolled her legs beneath her and landed her boot soles on the chest of a sasquatch. The beast sailed backward and slammed into a tall tree, bursting the trunk. The tree creaked and groaned and finally toppled to one side, smashing through a deck before slamming to the ground. The dazed sasquatch staggered to its feet, shook the confusion out of its head, then charged forward.

  Solana struck next. She reached across her back, plucked a handful of quills from her jacket, and then pitched her arm around. The black-and-white barbs sailed through the air like a cluster of deadly blades and then peppered the front of a sasquatch. The beast roared and stumbled backward, clutching at its chest and tearing the barbs from its flesh.

  Sam stroked his wings and launched into the air. He tightly circled a sasquatch and kicked its back, driving it to the ground.

  The scouts stayed huddled close on their hands and knees. Noah looked up and saw countless giraffes staring down from the weave of sprawling decks. A sasquatch took a hit from Hannah’s right boot, struck the ground, then slid up to the scouts on its stomach. It stopped just inches from their knees and looked up at them. Then it angrily spread its lips, revealing the fullness of its yellow fangs.

  Noah saw that Hannah was battling another sasquatch, and the other Descenders didn’t seem aware of the danger the scouts now faced.

  “Guys,” Noa
h said. “Run!”

  The scouts jumped to their feet and took off toward the middle of the sector. The sasquatch tore after them on all fours, throwing its body forward like an ape.

  “Faster!” Noah called out.

  The four of them charged beneath a low deck and burst out on the other side. The sasquatch followed, its head skimming the overhead planks. As the scouts made a sharp turn around a tree, Richie lost his balance and tumbled to the ground. Noah, being the only one to see what had happened, stopped and turned back for his friend. He wrapped his arms around Richie and hoisted him to his feet.

  “Go!” Noah said, snapping his arm toward the girls.

  As Richie took off, Noah stood his ground and faced the sasquatch, which was less than ten feet away. He had to lure it away from Ritchie, who was too slow and clumsy to escape it.

  The sasquatch dove at Noah, who jumped aside, narrowly eluding the deadly points of its claws. They both struck the ground, rolled, then jumped to their feet. Then they turned and faced each other, less than fifteen feet dividing them.

  “Hey, ugly,” Noah said.

  The sasquatch growled and peeled back its lips. It hunkered low and rolled back its shoulders. Noah turned in the direction opposite his friends and ran.

  He ran as fast as he could.

  Chapter 45

  The Chase

  Noah turned left, then right. He jumped a bush and dodged a tree. A giraffe bolted across his path, just missing him, but swatting his shoulder with the bushy tip of its tail. Noah looked back. The sasquatch, on all fours, was closing in again.