The Cryptid Keeper

by Lija Fisher

  Clivo heard frantic tapping on a keyboard. “No problem, dude. Operation Exit Egypt under way.”

  VI

  Two days later, after hiking back into Naqada, taking an overnight train to Cairo and several planes back to Colorado, riding a bus, and then walking up the dirt road, Clivo was finally home. He arrived with no luggage and was still wearing the loose-fitting robe, which was stained with sand and sweat.

  Clivo hobbled toward the front door, his legs aching from both sitting and walking, and cursed Douglas for his new no-taxis-at-home rule. It was early in the morning, the sun just peeking over the tall pine trees. The forest was cool and smelled like fresh morning dew, which was a welcome relief from the oppressive heat of the desert.

  After the panic of the other day, Clivo was finally able to relax and not worry that someone was about to attack him.

  But just as he reached the front porch, Jerry came running out of the house, his arms flailing wildly.

  “Don’t take another step! Freeze! Freeze!”

  Clivo froze, all the relaxed muscles in his body suddenly seizing tight.

  Jerry ran down the steps and brushed a few leaves from a spot on the ground, revealing what looked like a lasso. Clivo relaxed again, as much as he could anyway, because since becoming a cryptid catcher, he’d felt like he might never be able to fully relax again.

  “Jerry, it’s not a snake, it’s just a rope. And what are you doing here? It’s, like, eight in the morning.”

  “Just a rope? I hardly think so,” Jerry said. “This is phase one of my booby-trap plan! Remember, you said I could come over and secure your home with my skills?”

  “Oh, yeah, sorry. I’ve been kinda busy and totally forgot,” Clivo replied, already regretting his decision to let Jerry rig up his house with traps.

  Adam bounded out the front door, pointing an accusing finger at Jerry. “Clivo, this dude isn’t part of the team! He just came storming in here like he owned the joint!”

  “I am part of the team! Clivo said so!” Jerry spat back.

  Adam’s voice rose several pitches. “How is that possible? You haven’t even gone through an initiation yet!”

  Clivo rubbed his hands over his face, his exhaustion threatening to overtake him. “Guys, can we please deal with this later? There’s more important stuff to talk about right now.”

  “Fine, dude, but this issue needs to be dealt with in a timely manner,” Adam warned.

  They entered the house and the two cats instantly sprang up, their claws clinging to Clivo’s robe as if he were a scratching post. He was too tired to even brush them off, so he waddled toward the kitchen with the creatures swinging from his clothes, following the delightful smell of waffles coming through the doorway. He poked his head in and discovered a disaster. A frazzled-looking Pearl was at the sink washing a mound of dirty dishes, a bit of waffle batter dangling from her hair.

  Pearl looked up, relief crossing her face when she saw Clivo, but it was quickly replaced by a look of confusion when she noticed what he was wearing. She scooped off one cat with each arm and deposited them on the floor, then gave Clivo a big hug. “Hi, sweetie, I didn’t realize you were going to Zanzibar for the science fair.”

  Clivo kissed her on the cheek and behaved as if everything was normal. “The airline lost my luggage and this was all I could buy at the airport.”

  “Oh, that makes sense. Well, your friend Jeff came by this morning,” Pearl said, looking a bit concerned. “He was fiddling in the yard and told me to use the back door only.”

  “Oh, Jerry?” Clivo corrected, picking up some dishes from the kitchen table and bringing them to the sink. “I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you that he’s going to be doing some, um, experiments outside. I hope that’s okay?”

  “Oh, sure,” Pearl said, though she sounded uncertain. “Are there going to be any more teenagers showing up? I hate to be a nag, but I haven’t been able to get out dancing much, what with all the cooking and cleaning and washing and such.”

  Clivo rubbed his hands over his face again. He had been so concerned with finding the immortal that he had forgotten about how everything might be affecting Pearl. “I’m sorry, Aunt Pearl. No, there’s no more teenagers coming. And please don’t do all these dishes, the other kids need to help.”

  Pearl breathed a sigh of relief and wiped her hands with a towel. “Oh, you are such a good little rascal.” She kissed his cheek, taking a moment to sniff him—he knew he must smell horrible—and pranced off, the cats padding behind her. “I can just make it to a dancing class if I leave right now!”

  “Remember to use the back door!” Clivo called after her.

  Clivo took the stairs to the basement, where the noise of everyone yelling was causing a cacophony of epic proportions.

  “Adam, he doesn’t have to do one of your dumb initiations!” Amelia yelled. “Just let him be!”

  “Yeah, I don’t have to prove anything to you! Wrenmaster and I go way back, so if anything, you’re the intruder around here!” Jerry said, poking a finger in Adam’s chest.

  Adam rubbed his bony sternum. “It’s part of the code, dude! Nobody’s part of the team until we initiate them!”

  “It is part of the code,” Hernando agreed apologetically.

  “Even Clivo went through an initiation,” Charles added. “Everyone has to prove that they’re worthy.”

  Jerry laughed. “Worthy? I’m more worthy than all you nerds put together!”

  Adam laughed loudly in Jerry’s face. “As IF!”

  “Guys!” Clivo yelled. The room fell silent and everyone looked at him.

  Adam pushed his bottle-sized glasses up his nose. “Nice djellaba, by the way. Looks comfortable. Would you mind if I borrowed it?”

  Clivo ignored him. “Listen, Jerry stole secret satellite codes for us that could have gotten him sent to a military academy if he was caught. Can’t we consider that an example of his worth?”

  Charles stroked his chin in deep thought. “It does appear that he already went out on a limb for us.”

  Adam shook his head. “I still think he should do some kind of obstacle course or something.”

  Amelia rolled her eyes. “It’s fine, Clivo. Jerry’s your best friend, and that’s good enough for me.”

  Stephanie gave Jerry a big hug. “Welcome to the team, Jerry. It’s great seeing you again.”

  Jerry took Stephanie’s hand and kissed the back of it like a gentleman. “Your kindness is only surpassed by your intelligence.”

  Charles made a vomiting sound. “Oh, give me a BREAK!”

  Amelia turned to Clivo. “Now that that’s settled, I believe you have a lot to tell us.”

  They all sat down at the table, a bit of jostling going on over who sat where now that Jerry had joined the group. But everyone eventually settled in and Clivo told them everything that had happened in Egypt, with the Blasters hanging on his every word.

  “So, all in all, I guess everything went pretty well,” Clivo said, which was funny to say considering he had faced down three men with swords. “I got the blood sample, but I didn’t have to bother the cryptid or anger the god of chaos, which was a bonus.”

  “The fact that the Wasi can communicate with the cryptid is super cool,” Charles said. “I’d love to have a conversation with the Yeti. I bet that dude has got some stories!”

  “It really is interesting,” Stephanie added. “We’ve always looked at cryptids as being so separate from us and our world. I’d totally forgotten that they live right alongside us.”

  “Speaking of which,” Clivo said, “I promised the Wasi that I would do my best to keep people away from the Salawa. Is there a way that you can spread word on the chat rooms that the Salawa is a hoax? I know it won’t keep every person away from searching for it, but it might help.”

  Amelia wrote a note on a piece of paper. “No problem, I’ll find a way to debunk the legend. A promise is a promise.”

  “And about the chat rooms,” Clivo continue
d, “any reported sightings of the cryptids I’ve caught?”

  Amelia looked at him and shook her head, her face dropping with concern.

  “Enough chitchat. Let’s see the blood!” Adam exclaimed eagerly.

  Clivo pulled the vial out of his robe, and everyone looked at it in awe.

  Amelia was the first to speak, her voice reverent. “So that could be the elixir of life right there.”

  “Do you really think it’s possible that this one is it?” Clivo asked.

  Stephanie’s blue eyes watched the vial as it swung gently from the chain held by Clivo’s fingers. “Right now it’s just an educated guess based on the clues we have—the languages your father taught you and the fact that the cryptid has been around since the time of Nostradamus. That’s really all we have to go on.”

  Clivo watched everyone’s eyes following the swinging vial, as if they were being hypnotized. He quickly pocketed the blood, breaking the spell. “Douglas is going to be here shortly to drop off a new blood sampler as well as a tranquilizer gun and darts, though he was not happy about me losing all my supplies.”

  “Are you going to let him sit in while we sample the blood?” Amelia asked.

  Clivo looked down at the table. “I’m actually not sure. I didn’t tell him about the blood sample.”

  “Why not?” Stephanie asked, leaning her cheek on her palm. “Do you not trust him?”

  Clivo shook his head. “No, I totally trust him. It’s just … I don’t know. He’s never told me exactly what he’s going to do with the immortal. And none of us have ever discussed it together, either. I feel like we should know what we’ll do before we’re holding the most powerful thing known to man.”

  “Geez, that’s a good point,” Amelia said, chewing her bottom lip. “We had all decided to keep the immortal away from the bad guys, but we never really talked about what the good guys should do with it.”

  Charles slowly raised his hand. “If we need a test subject to see what immortality is like, I happily volunteer.”

  “Charles, don’t be dumb,” Amelia said, rolling her eyes.

  “What?” Charles retorted. “I said, if we need a test subject!”

  A car door slammed and Clivo looked out the basement window. “Okay! Douglas is here! Listen, guys, how about I just get the supplies and then we can figure out what to do?”

  “Should we meet him?” Stephanie asked, standing up.

  Clivo considered it. He didn’t see what harm it would cause, but he didn’t see what good it would do, either. Things had been running pretty smoothly with Douglas, so he thought maybe it was best to just keep things as they were.

  “Let’s keep you guys a secret for now. Douglas can get pretty feisty, so it’s best if I do what I can to keep him calm.”

  The words were no sooner out of Clivo’s mouth than he heard some kind of a snap and a yell of surprise followed by a string of loud curse words.

  Everyone ran to the window and gasped at the sight of Douglas hanging upside down off the ground, dangling from a rope wrapped around his ankle.

  Jerry shot his arm into the air. “Booby trap number one is a success, ladies and gentlemen!”

  Clivo threw Jerry a side-eye and headed upstairs. “Stay here, everyone! This isn’t going to be pretty.”

  Clivo ran upstairs, grateful that Pearl was already gone. Having an angry upside-down man in her yard would probably confirm her fears that teenagers were troublemakers.

  He opened the front door and put on a cheery front. “Good morning, Mr. Chancery! I see you’ve triggered our security alarm!”

  Douglas swung around until his bright red face was angled toward Clivo. His crazy gray hair stuck out in every direction. “If you don’t get me down from here immediately, you twit, I’m tranquilizing you!”

  “Of course, just let me see how I do that.” Clivo followed the rope to some kind of pulley system and began to lower Douglas.

  “Carefully!” Douglas bellowed.

  Clivo slowly lowered Douglas, who rolled on the ground for a few seconds while getting his ankle free from the rope and then stood, his tweed jacket covered with leaves.

  Clivo chuckled sheepishly. “Sorry about that, Mr. Chancery, just trying to keep the fortress safe.”

  Douglas glared at Clivo and mumbled a few choice words, but fortunately didn’t go off on a tirade. He picked up a silver metal briefcase that had fallen to the ground and shoved it into Clivo’s hands. “There’s your supplies. Try not to lose them this time. And I included some more petty cash, but remember to give me receipts. You spent too much on food last time.”

  “Thanks, Mr. Chancery, I’ll do my best.”

  Douglas took out a handkerchief and wiped his face. “And what happened in Egypt? It’s not like you to fail on a mission. Are you losing your touch already?”

  Clivo shifted the briefcase in his arms. “Um, I actually didn’t fail, Mr. Chancery. I was able to get some cryptid blood without actually catching the cryptid.”

  Douglas stared at him. He seemed uncertain about what to say, which was a rarity for him. “And why would you do that? Your job is to tranquilize the cryptid, not just get its blood.”

  “Well, it was kind of my only option at the time, Mr. Chancery.”

  Douglas wiped his face with his handkerchief again, his face turning from red to purple in frustration, which confused Clivo. If he got the blood, what did it matter if he actually caught the cryptid or not?

  “Listen, kid, don’t start changing up the game on me. Don’t get all fancy and creative with how you get the cryptid blood. Just do what your dad did—tranquilize the cryptid, check its blood. There, simple, two easy steps. Can your brain handle that?”

  “Yes, Mr. Chancery, I can handle that,” Clivo said, knowing it was usually best to just agree with the man.

  Douglas looked Clivo up and down, as if seeing him for the first time, and let out a raspy laugh. “And what in the heck are you wearing? Is this some new style you kids are trying nowadays?”

  Clivo’s tension was released and he laughed along with the cranky man. “No, sir. I was trying to blend in with the Egyptian locals and haven’t had time to shower yet.”

  Douglas laughed again and patted Clivo on the shoulder. “Whatever works, kid. Just be safe out there. And take a shower, you smell like a camel.”

  “I will, Mr. Chancery. Thank you. I’ll let you know when I’ve completed my next catch.” Clivo picked up Douglas’s cane and helped the man hobble back to his fancy black car, waving as he drove down the driveway.

  As Clivo walked back inside, he knew he should feel elated by how well that had gone, but something was bugging him. Something Douglas had said, or rather hadn’t said.

  Why hadn’t Douglas wanted to stay to see if the Salawa was the immortal? He had seemed more concerned about the fact that Clivo didn’t actually catch the cryptid—but the whole goal was to identify which one was the immortal. Wasn’t it?

  As Clivo walked back inside, his mind whirling with questions, he realized he needed to focus on the more important task at hand: checking the Salawa’s blood.

  “That didn’t go so bad!” Jerry said with a wide grin when Clivo got back downstairs. “Dude took pretty well to being hog-tied!”

  Clivo shot his friend another look, but didn’t say anything.

  He put the briefcase down on the table and opened it to find a new gun, ten darts, and a blood sampler. He put the blood sampler on the table and laid the vial of Salawa blood next to it. “Okay, guys, moment of truth. If this cryptid turns out to be the immortal, what do we do?”

  Everyone looked at one another, as if waiting for someone else to speak first.

  Finally, Amelia cleared her throat. “The proper way to approach a question is to consider all possible answers, regardless of whether you agree with them or not.”

  Stephanie nodded in agreement. “Only by seeing the full map can you properly choose which road to go down.”

  “Okay, then,” Clivo sa
id, spreading his hands on the table. “Let’s talk about all the possible answers.”

  “The first one is obvious,” Amelia began, folding her hands in front of her. “Let Douglas know and he’ll handle it. He must have thought this through already.”

  “But we don’t know what his plan is,” Stephanie added.

  “True,” Amelia agreed.

  “So,” Clivo offered, “if we don’t tell Douglas, and we handle it, what then?”

  “We make ourselves immortal and don’t tell anybody else,” Charles said. Everyone stared at him. “What? You said all possibilities!”

  Hernando raised his hand. “But wouldn’t we want to make others immortal, too? I don’t think I’d like to spend my life making friends only to see them die before me over and over again. It sounds sad.”

  “Yeah,” Jerry said, “and I’d like an immortal girlfriend at some point, too. No offense, but you guys aren’t the only people I’d want to spend eternity with.”

  “It’s a good point,” Amelia said. “If we wield the gift of immortality, who do we decide to bestow it upon?”

  Charles interlaced his hands behind his head. “In a certain way, we’d become gods. People would kneel before us, begging us for the gift.” Again everybody stared at him. He threw his hands up and yelled, “Do you want all the possibilities or not?”

  Adam had remained oddly quiet during the conversation. When he spoke, his voice was uncharacteristically soft. “Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.”

  Amelia nodded solemnly. “Nietzsche.”

  “What’s that?” Clivo asked.

  “Who’s that, you mean.” Adam stood up and paced around the room, grabbing an apple and slowly chewing it, deep in thought. “A German philosopher from the 1800s. He basically said that even the strongest-willed humans will risk their lives for more power, and even enjoy wielding its cruelty over others.”

  Hernando shook his head. “I don’t like being cruel to others.”

  “Adam is right,” Stephanie said, her face blushing pink. “We’re fighting people who want power. We have to be careful about taking that power for ourselves, or we’re no better than them.”