Cry of the Ocelot

by Maya Grace

  As she followed the bobbing light of Rowan’s torch back into the temple, Ella called out. “Jack! Are you here? Help us find you!”

  At first, she heard nothing.

  But then, in the stillness of the night, she heard a faint sound, like the mew of a cat. Had the ocelot followed them?

  She heard the sound again. It wasn’t a cat at all. It was human, like the cry of a small child. Or …

  “Jack!”

  He responded, louder this time. “I’m here!” But where was it coming from? Down below?

  Ella began patting the floor with her hands. Rowan held the torch high so that they could search for cracks in the stones. Even Taiga sniffed the cobblestone, scratching at it with his paws.

  “Where are you?” Ella called, over and over again.

  Every time Jack answered, they moved a little closer to the sound of his voice. Until Ella was quite sure that Jack was nearby—just a few feet below them. She pressed her ear to the stone and asked him again, “Where are you?”

  “In the treasure room!” he cried.

  The treasure room?

  “We have to solve the puzzle—the one with the levers,” cried Rowan, smacking her fist into her hand. “I knew it!”

  “But you don’t know how,” said Ella.

  Then she heard another peep from below. “I do!”

  Of course, Jack knew. That’s how he had gotten into the treasure room to begin with!

  “Tell us, Jack,” she cried. “Tell us how!”

  As he called out instructions to Ella, she relayed them to Rowan, who had headed back downstairs to the wall with the levers.

  “Flip the lever farthest away from the stairs.”

  “Got it!” Rowan shouted.

  “Good. Now flip the lever closest to the stairs.”

  “Done,” Rowan announced.

  “Okay, now put them back where they started,” said Ella. “Wait! Do it in the right order! Flip the lever closest to the stairs. Now flip the lever furthest from the stairs.”

  “Back where they started?” scoffed Rowan. “That can’t be right!”

  Except it was.

  Because Ella suddenly heard a deafening click. The stone beneath her hands began to slide open. She sprang backward so that she wouldn’t fall down into the tiny room below …

  … where Jack’s flushed face was looking up.

  “Jack!”

  Ella slid down through the trapdoor until she was standing beside him. She hugged him close. “Are you okay?” She pushed him away so that she could check him from head to toe, as if he were her wolf-dog and had just set off a tripwire.

  “I’m alright,” he grumbled, pulling himself free.

  Rowan’s face suddenly appeared in the hole above. “Jack!” she half-cried, half-scolded. “Do you know how long we’ve been looking for you?”

  She climbed down through the trapdoor until she was standing on the lid of the chest below. “How could you leave like that?” she said. “In the middle of the night?”

  Jack set his jaw and said simply, “My mother told me to. In her journal.” He pointed toward the backpack that Rowan had slung over her shoulder.

  When she handed it to him, he dug through it—and came back up holding a worn leather book. As he flipped through the pages, Ella caught glimpses of drawings and diagrams. Of potion brewing charts, and scrawled lists of ingredients.

  Then he pulled out a scrap of paper and held it out for Ella to see.

  Dearest Jack,

  There will come a time when you will need to fight, just as I did. You’ll need to fight with your potions—by gathering ingredients from all across the Overworld.

  Gather as much as you can, dear boy. Because there will be another Uprising one day. I need you to be ready—and brave. Don’t wait too long. And know your mother loves you.

  Mom

  Ella’s eyes brimmed with tears.

  What would it be like to get a message from my own mother? she wondered. If she told me to take a journey across the Overworld, would I do it?

  She didn’t even have to think about it. Yes, she knew. I would.

  When Rowan read the note, her face softened too. She wiped her nose and then straightened back up.

  “But wait,” said Ella, questions suddenly filling her mind. “Your mother didn’t mention the ocelot. Or the temple. Or even the jungle. How did you …?”

  Jack’s face spread into a slow smile. “My ocelot told me,” he said. “She brought me here.” Then his face fell. “She’s hurt, though.”

  “I know,” said Ella, squeezing his shoulder. “We saw. She led us to you.” She glanced up through the trapdoor, wondering if the ocelot was still outside. Was she waiting for Jack the way Taiga was waiting above the trapdoor for her?

  As if reading her mind, the wolf-dog barked. He paced the cobblestone floor and stuck his snout through the trapdoor opening, trying to lick her hand.

  “It’s okay, buddy,” Ella called to him. “We’ll be right out.”

  Then Jack asked the question Ella had been dreading. “Where’s Gran?”

  Ella looked to Rowan, wondering how to tell him that Gran had been taken. That Gran was being held in the jungle, by villagers who thought she was a witch.

  Rowan shook her head, as if to say, “Don’t say a word.”

  But how can we not? Ella wondered. I have to tell him something!

  She cleared her throat. But just as she opened her mouth to speak, she heard a click.

  And the trapdoor above slid shut.

  CHAPTER 11

  “Let us out!”

  As Rowan pounded on the trapdoor overhead, Ella heard Taiga barking wildly from up above. He wanted into the treasure room just as much as they wanted out.

  “Did someone lock us in?” cried Ella. “Or did we just … wait too long?” She didn’t know what to hope for. The thought of someone locking them in was terrifying. But if no one was up there—if the trapdoor had closed all on its own—then … who would get them out?

  Rowan stopped pounding, as if she’d just had the same realization. She pulled her hand back to nurse her sore knuckles.

  “Are we trapped again?” asked Jack, his voice rising with panic.

  Ella sank down beside him. “It’s okay,” she said. “At least we’re together now. We’ll find our way out.”

  His face suddenly brightened. “Gran’s out there! She’ll save us!”

  Ella looked away before Jack could spot the truth in her eyes. Gran wasn’t out there. Gran was probably locked in a jail cell herself. So we’ll have to save ourselves, thought Ella.

  She began to search the room for weapons, tools—anything they could use to mine their way out. “Do you have your pickaxe?” she asked Jack.

  He nodded and reached into his backpack.

  When Rowan heard the question, she laid out her own weapons on the floor below. And Ella did too. Then they took stock.

  One sword, enchanted with Fire Aspect.

  One sword, enchanted with Smite.

  A trident, with no enchantment at all.

  And Jack’s tiny pickaxe.

  Ella sighed and reached for the pickaxe. It was the only thing here that might break through the cobblestone wall.

  She began tapping—first on one wall, and then the opposite wall. But both walls were solid stone. There was no way she could hack her way through!

  “Let me try,” said Rowan, reaching for the axe. But instead of hitting it against the wall, she whacked it against the dirt floor. And a hunk of dirt crumbled beneath their feet.

  “That’s it!” cried Ella. “That’s our way out!”

  Rowan struck the floor again and again, until she had tunneled a narrow path downward. Then she got on her hands and knees and began using the axe like a shovel, digging deeper.

  When the bottom of the tunnel gave way, opening up to darkness, Rowan lurched forward—and braced herself with her hands just in time.

  “Careful!” cried Ella.

&nbs
p; Together, they watched the dirt tunnel collapse. The dirt and gravel fell away, and landed below with a splash.

  Ella’s stomach sank. She met Rowan’s gaze.

  They were above water, not land.

  Which meant there was no way out.

  * * *

  “What are we waiting for?” asked Jack.

  He’d been silent for so long, Ella thought he had given up. Just like me, she thought wearily.

  But Jack pointed downward through the dirt tunnel. “What are we waiting for?” he asked again.

  “It’s water,” said Ella. “Didn’t you hear the splash? We don’t know how deep it is, or how long we’d have to swim before we could come up for air.”

  “So?” said Jack with a shrug.

  “So we’ll drown,” said Rowan, sounding exasperated.

  “No we won’t,” said Jack. He reached deep into his backpack and sorted through a few glass bottles. When he pulled his hand back out, he held a vial of sea-blue potion. He splashed it side to side. “Potion of water breathing,” he announced proudly.

  “Jack!” Ella cried with relief. “You didn’t use it yet?”

  He cocked his head at her. “Why would I?” he asked. “I didn’t need it until now.”

  Ella flushed warm with relief, and a twinge of guilt. She’d doubted Jack all along—believed he would do something foolish instead of saving his potion for just the right time.

  But here he was, holding a full bottle of the very potion they needed most.

  When Jack pulled the cork out, Ella quickly reached for the bottle. “Let me drink it,” she said. As terrified as she was of dropping down a dirt tunnel into an unknown body of water, she was even more terrified of letting Jack do it.

  But he tugged right back on the bottle. “It’s my potion,” he said. “I want to use it.”

  Ella looked to Rowan for help, but Jack had already made up his mind.

  Rowan shrugged and pointed toward the helmet on Ella’s head. “So go with him,” she said.

  Ella reached up and touched her leather helmet. She’d forgotten—with the Respiration enchantment, she too could breathe underwater! At least for a while.

  She stared hard at Rowan. “Do you think it will work?” she asked. What she really wanted to ask was, Will Jack and I survive this? Will we ever see you again?

  Rowan nodded—and forced a smile. “It’ll work. But you two had better not forget about me in here, okay? You’d better come back for me!”

  Jack grinned. “Okay. We will.” Then he raised the bottle, tilted his head back, and guzzled the blue liquid. He gave Ella a thumbs-up, and then he slid through the hole feet first.

  When Ella heard the splash below, her stomach dropped. But there was no time to waste. Jack was down there all by himself—and she couldn’t get to him fast enough.

  She tightened her helmet, gave Rowan one last look, and then slid through the hole. As she broke free of the earth and began to fall, she heard Taiga bark from up above.

  She had just enough time for a single thought: I didn’t say goodbye to Taiga!

  Then she hit the ice-cold water and plunged into darkness.

  CHAPTER 12

  Ella’s lungs felt as if they would burst. She desperately needed to breathe!

  Then she remembered—she could breathe, even underwater. Slowly at first, she inhaled through her nose, waiting to cough or choke. But she didn’t. The water flowed into her lungs and back out again, as if she were a pufferfish in Gran’s pond.

  But this was no pond. This was a river.

  And the current was so strong, Ella could barely swim. She gave over control and let the water take her, hoping she wouldn’t crash into the wall—or go over some sort of falls.

  As the current pulled her forward through the cave, she squinted into the dark water, searching for Jack. She wished for a speck of light—from a lit torch or glowstone or anything that would allow her to find Jack in the swirling water.

  Suddenly, the rocky ceiling gave way, and Ella saw the moon through the rippling water overhead. She swam up, up, up until her head burst through the surface.

  She spit out the water that had filled her lungs, and then took a breath of cool night air. “Jack!” she cried. “Where are you?”

  “Over here!”

  He was so close, she nearly ran right into him. He clung to a fallen tree that was strewn across the stream like a bridge.

  “Hang on!” she cried, searching for her own handle or foothold on the tree trunk. But the current was so strong. It tugged on her legs, threatening to pull her under again. And the tree was so slippery. “Hang on!” she said again, but this time, she was talking to herself.

  Then someone yanked on her cape, pulling her upward. “Rowan?” she cried, struggling to turn around.

  No. It was Taiga. The wolf lifted her backward with his powerful jaws, just enough for her to climb up onto the fallen log.

  “Good boy,” she cried, nuzzling his wet fur. “Now help Jack!”

  Together, they pulled Jack out of the swirling water. Then Ella helped him half-crawl, half-walk across the log toward shore.

  Once they’d reached solid ground, Taiga licked Ella’s face until she laughed, pushing him away. “Enough!” she said. “I missed you too.”

  Jack was already on his feet, heading toward the trees.

  “Jack, wait!” cried Ella. “We need to go get Rowan!”

  But Jack had dropped to his knees. He held out his hand.

  For what? Ella wondered.

  Then she saw the shadow of the ocelot, creeping toward Jack. She sniffed his outstretched hand and rubbed her head against it. Even from a few yards away, Ella could hear the loud purr.

  So Jack had found his animal—finally! The ocelot had called to him, led Ella and Rowan to his side, and waited for him to be freed from the trap in the jungle temple.

  Ella tiptoed across the grass and rested her hand on Jack’s shoulder. “I’m going to get Rowan,” she whispered, trying not to scare the ocelot. Then she turned and hurried toward the temple, with Taiga close behind.

  The temple seemed darker now than before. A single torch lit the entrance. Ella hurried down the cobblestone steps, hoping she would remember how to solve the puzzle and open the trapdoor.

  When she reached the wall of switches, she began flipping them, remembering Jack’s instructions in her head.

  Flip the lever farthest away from the stairs.

  Now flip the lever closest to the stairs.

  Okay, now reverse that—put them back where they started.

  As she flipped the last lever, she held her breath. Click! She heard the trapdoor slide open, and Rowan’s cheer of relief.

  Ella raced back up the stairs and found Rowan, standing on the chest in the treasure room and waving through the trapdoor above.

  “Crawl out!” cried Ella. “Before the door closes again!”

  But Rowan didn’t. Instead, she squatted down and patted the chest she’d been standing on. “Do you know what this is?” she asked.

  Ella shook her head.

  “A treasure chest,” said Rowan. She crossed her arms and grinned, as if she’d just discovered a brand-new biome in the Overworld.

  Ella leaned down through the trapdoor, eager to see what was inside the chest. But time was running out. “The door will close, Rowan,” she reminded her. “And I don’t know if I’m strong enough to keep it open.”

  Rowan nodded. “Well, this is strong enough—for sure.” She reached into the treasure chest and pulled out an iron ingot. “Wedge the trapdoor open with it,” she said.

  So Ella did.

  Only then did she lower herself into the treasure room to see what else Rowan had found in the chest.

  The first thing she saw were more iron ingots, stacked in a tidy row. And beneath them? A gold ingot, shining brightly in the light of the torch.

  “The gold one’s mine!” Jack suddenly cried from above. “I found that! I’m bringing it home to make glister
ing melon for potions.”

  Rowan laughed. “Alright, alright,” she said. “Finders keepers.” But as she dug deeper, she found more treasures.

  “Is that a skeleton bone?” asked Ella. She pulled it from the chest with her fingertips.

  From up above, Taiga began to whine and drool.

  “Yes, you can have it, buddy,” said Ella, handing it up to her dog. “No one’s going to fight you for that slimy old thing.”

  Then Rowan pulled out the most amazing treasure of all. A book. But it wasn’t just any book.

  In the darkness of the room, Ella caught the faint purple glow. It was an enchanted book! She reached for it and carefully opened its cover, inhaling the smell of dust—and possibility.

  “Loyalty,” she whispered, as soon as she recognized the enchantment. “This is exactly what we needed, Rowan, to enchant your trident!”

  She waited for Rowan to say something—to sound at least a wee bit excited. But Rowan had fallen silent. She was staring into the bottom of the chest.

  “What is it?” asked Ella. “More bones?”

  Rowan shook her head. She reached deep into the chest and lifted something out. Something large, and made of leather.

  A horse saddle.

  Rowan lowered her head and sniffed it, the way Ella had sniffed her book.

  “You can’t bring that home!” cried Jack. “It’s too big!”

  “No bigger than your ocelot,” Rowan snapped. She hugged the saddle to her chest.

  “But—” Jack began to protest.

  “Shh,” said Ella, raising her finger to her lips. “It’s okay.”

  I have my wolf, she realized. Jack has his ocelot. But Rowan is still waiting for her horse.

  And maybe this saddle was a step toward finding it.

  “Let’s get out of here,” said Ella. “Before the iron ingot gives way.” She helped Rowan gather all of their weapons. Their backpacks. And their newfound treasures.

  When everything had been lifted out of the treasure room, Ella pulled the iron ingot from where it was braced.

  Instantly, the treasure door slid shut.

  “Let’s go,” said Rowan. “Gran’s waiting for us.”

  CHAPTER 13