Creature Keepers and the Swindled Soil-Soles

by Peter Nelson

  Jordan remembered. He rushed to his backpack in the den. He filed through the stack of stuff Hap had given him and found a handwritten list: Syd’s Schedule. He read from it. “‘Sleep all day, get up, eat, walk the fault line to prevent global seismic catastrophe, come home, eat, watch TV, go to bed, repeat.’ No, no. See, this is bad. This is so bad.”

  “What?” Abbie said. “Step one, sleep all day. Check. This is gonna be easy. And wait ’til you see outside. It’s awesome. Relax, dude. We’re right on schedule.”

  “Yeah! That’s the problem—it’s a schedule!”

  “So?”

  “So it gives Gusto a perfect opportunity to attack him! You know in the movies when there’s a guy who someone’s after? The good guys always tell that guy to switch up his schedule—take a different way to work every day! Don’t eat lunch in the same place twice! That sorta thing!”

  “Syd lives in a tree, miles away from anyone.”

  Jordan shook the schedule again in her face. “And from five to eight every night he’s scheduled to go out stomping all over a mountain, saving us from seismic catastrophe, whatever that means—”

  “Don’t overthink this. It’s your first day. You’ve got to calm down. Come with me.”

  She opened the door to the deck for Jordan. He stepped outside.

  Syd’s tree house deck felt completely different in the daytime. Nestled in the lush, ancient sequoias, the solid wood structure reminded Jordan of an old sailing ship floating on a sea of green. He stepped to the railing and looked out at the thick tree trunks surrounding the house in all directions, like the outer walls of a secret fortress. It made him feel safe, hidden and protected from the rest of the world.

  He looked up. The towering trees stretched up and away, their branches crisscrossing overhead in an endless patchwork, allowing only broken sunlight to stream down, like a cathedral ceiling formed from stick and sky.

  Jordan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The soft breeze carried the rich, fresh scent of wood, earth . . . and chocolate. He opened his eyes. Abbie set a steaming cup of hot cocoa on the railing. He took a big sip and a deep breath.

  “Okay, I get it,” Jordan said in a much calmer tone. “But I can’t mess this up. Hap has never dealt with Gusto. We have. We know how shrewd and dangerous he is. It’s only a matter of time before he catches on to Syd’s schedule and puts two and two together—”

  “Four,” a voice said from behind them.

  Syd stood behind them, holding up four fingers, looking a little strained at having to add so early in the afternoon. Shoved up around his forehead were makeshift eyeshades like Abbie’s, but these were homemade from an old sock and a strap. Under his arm was a small, furry stuffed animal. On his dinky little feet were fuzzy little bunny rabbit slippers.

  He rubbed his eyes, stretched, and shuffled back inside. “Any hot chocolate left? I’m useless ’til I get my first cup of cocoa in me.”

  Jordan watched him, shot his sister a look, then followed.

  Inside, Syd sat munching from a bowlful of grubs. His little stuffed animal was sitting next to him on the counter.

  “Who’s that little fella, Syd?” Jordan smiled at the fluffy toy.

  “Teddy Squatch. Hap got him for me down at the park. They sell a lot of stuff down where Buck does his TV show.” Syd got up, grabbed Teddy Squatch, and scratched his butt as he shuffled back toward his bedroom. “C’mon, Teddy. Daddy’s gotta go to work.”

  Jordan got up and followed Syd again. “Hold up, Syd. We need to talk.”

  “Okay, but make it quick. I’ve got a schedule to keep. Gotta walk the fault line.”

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. You can’t go outside. Not today.”

  Syd stared at him blankly.

  Jordan stood between Syd and his bedroom doorway, blocking him. “As your Creature Keeper, I’m putting my foot down. We’ll figure out a new schedule, okay?”

  Syd looked at Jordan. “You’re funny.” He turned and grinned at Abbie, standing by the kitchen. “He’s funny.” He lifted Jordan and set him aside like he was a small piece of furniture. Then he entered his bedroom and slammed the door.

  “SYD!” Jordan pounded on the door. “YOU OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!”

  “Somebody needs more deck time, I think,” Abbie said.

  “What I need is for this stubborn Sasquatch to understand that I’m in charge now, he’s my responsibility, and I’m not going to let anything go wrong on my watch!”

  Syd swung open his door and stepped out. He’d removed his bunny slippers and left Teddy Squatch in his room. His eyeshades were still shoved up over his enormous forehead. “You’re throwing me off, messing up my schedule,” he said. “Not cool.”

  “Hey,” Jordan said. “Where do you think you’re going?” He followed Syd outside.

  Syd spun around to face him. “Look. I’ve been doing this a long time. I don’t need someone to watch over me. Hap knew that. He stayed out of my way. He trusted me to stick to my schedule.”

  “Well, Hap doesn’t know what we know. And what we know is there’s someone out there, looking for you. His name is Gusto, and he’s no good. We’ve dealt with him before. He’s dangerous, Syd.”

  “You don’t have to worry about me getting spotted or caught. I want nothing to do with the outside world, and I know how to stay out of it.”

  “Well, you sure have a nice collection of proof that the world knows you’re in it.” Abbie pushed a framed photo at Syd’s belly as she stepped outside to join them.

  Syd looked down at the photograph. “Yeah, okay. So I keep this stuff around. But only as a reminder of how curious people are. Humans are super curious. Stuff like this keeps me one step ahead of humans. See?” He turned the picture around. Jordan and Abbie had seen it before. Everyone had seen it before. Syd struck the famous pose for them. “See? One-Step-Ahead Syd. That’s me.”

  “But you’re not stepping at all—you’re stomping around,” Jordan exclaimed. “And you’re doing it less than twenty miles from a park that’s named after you, where a guy dedicated to hunting you down films his live television show, which by the way is titled Buck Wilde: Squatch-Seeker!”

  Syd thought about this for a second. “Okay, I’ll give you that. But see, by searching for me, Buck Wilde is my best protection from being seen.”

  Jordan put his hand over his face. “That’s so insane, on so many levels.”

  “Think about it! Thanks to Buck and his show, anyone who’s curious about me only has to flip on their TVs. I mean, why get off your butt and hike up some big ol’ mountain to try to get a glimpse of little ol’ me when you can sit at home on your couch and watch Buck Wilde every night! I know what I would do!”

  Jordan looked confused. Either he was going crazy, or Syd was starting to make sense.

  “Look,” Abbie said. “As fun as this is to watch you two, here’s a suggestion. What if Syd sticks to his schedule for now, but we tag along, keep an eye out for Gusto, and make sure everything’s cool. Cool?”

  Jordan and Syd stared at each other. Syd shrugged. “I guess that’s cool.”

  “All right,” Jordan said. He suddenly thought of something. “Wait. Where’s your GCPS tracking device? You should’ve had a custom wristband delivered to you, from headquarters. Didn’t Hap give it to you to wear?”

  “Oh, you mean this thing.” Syd pulled the homemade eyeshade off his head and held it up. It was the homing bracelet, taped to an old sock. “It works great.”

  Jordan grabbed it. “It’s not a headband, Syd! It’s an advanced technological tracking device, so the CKCC can know where you are at all times.” He checked that it worked, turned it on, and clicked it around Syd’s wrist. “In case anything happens to you, or if Gusto ever got up here and tried to get ahold of you.”

  Syd looked at his wrist. “Okay. But I told you guys, nobody sets a pinkie toe on this rock without me feeling it, so long as I have my Soil-Soles. Also, this pinches.”

 
; “Your what?” Jordan said.

  “Soil-Soles. You must’ve noticed my feet don’t exactly live up to the legend.”

  “I so wanted to ask,” Abbie said. “But we were told you’re sensitive.”

  “The Soil-Soles are my version of technology,” Syd said. “They’re an alarm system, intruder tracker, weapon, and world saver, all rolled into one. Or two, really. Comes in pairs. Let me show you.”

  10

  Syd stood with his soft little feet facing the backs of the Soil-Soles, which sat docked on the deck like a pair of giant empty vessels—with toes. He looked back at Jordan and Abbie, and smiled. “Ready?” he said. “This is so cool.” Then he stepped up and into them, slipping his feet inside.

  Instantly, the massive foot-boots added two or three feet to Syd’s height. Syd shifted his feet inside, undoubtedly wiggling his tiny toes, too, as he settled in. Jordan noticed that as he did, the Soil-Soles began to pulse, like they were waking up or coming to life. Either way, they seemed to be breathing. Syd turned around and grinned again at him and his sister. “This part tickles a little,” he said.

  Jordan and Abbie watched in amazement as the toes, arch, and heel of the Soil-Soles began to shift their shape very slightly, as if searching for Syd’s matching features within and melding with them. All at once they seemed to lock in, as the pulsing material seized up, tightening around his feet. Syd looked down at the giant tennis-ball-sized toes, watching them wiggle. The way he was smiling, Jordan could tell he was controlling them.

  As the lower part of Syd’s new feet tightened and solidified, the upper-ankle part gripped and wrapped itself around Syd’s actual ankles, meshing with his thick, furry calves, completely sealing his feet within the Soil-Soles.

  Syd turned and stepped carefully to face Jordan and Abbie. His feet were completely natural-looking, as if he’d always been a size-ninety-seven shoe. He smiled at them and lifted one foot up on its tippy-toes with a flourish. He grinned at them. “Instant Soil-Soles. All the technology I need.”

  “Okay, I have to admit,” Jordan said. “That’s a pretty cool upgrade.”

  Getting down from Syd’s tree house was almost as dangerous as getting up to it, but slightly less terrifying, and therefore a little more fun.

  A trapdoor in the floor of the deck opened to reveal a very long rope ladder, coiled up like a garden hose on a large wheel attached to the underside of the tree house. “This is what Hap always used to get up and down,” Syd said. “I think you just spin this thingy, here.” He spun the wheel, and the rope ladder whizzed down, hundreds of feet to the forest floor below. “Yeah, there you go.”

  Syd took his own way down, by stepping off the deck and grabbing hold of a pair of sequoia trees. These two younger trees grew about five feet apart and were oddly bare of any bark on the sides that faced each other. Syd jammed a foot against each tree, wedging himself in a spread-eagle pose. He grinned as he slid down the trees feetfirst, crossing his arms as patiently as if he were riding in an elevator.

  Jordan and Abbie watched him as he reached the ground far below. He waved up to them to join him. Jordan peered down at the flimsy ladder swinging and swaying beneath him. He looked at his sister. “Ladies first,” he said.

  As the sun began to set, the giant sequoias cast long, dark shadows across the forest floor. Jordan and Abbie watched the woods carefully as they followed Syd. The Sasquatch plodded along over the ground with his massive feet, then suddenly stopped, planted them firmly in the dirt, closed his eyes, and stood perfectly still.

  Jordan had remembered Eldon telling him that of all the cryptids, three of them were given special gifts that allowed them some control over the earth’s elements. Nessie’s sparkling green Hydro-Hide controlled water. The Yeti (whom, like nearly all humans, Jordan had not yet had the pleasure of meeting) had some way of controlling the wind and weather. And Syd, he recalled, used his great feet to manipulate the earth. He wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but it looked at that moment like he was just standing in the dirt, dozing off.

  Abbie rolled her eyes. She had little patience for this kind of “one with the earth” meditation stuff. On top of that, she and Jordan both felt vulnerable standing outside as the sun went down, watching Syd nap standing up.

  “Okay, Syd,” Jordan said. “C’mon, that’s enough. We should really get back.”

  Syd took a deep breath. “Shhhhhhh . . .”

  “Dude, what are you even doing?” Abbie said.

  “I’m feeling the earth,” Syd said, his eyes still closed. “Listening to it.”

  “Oh, brother.” Abbie sat down on a log. Jordan approached Syd and tapped him on the shoulder. “It’s getting dark. Being outside like this might not be safe.”

  “We’re safe. There’s no one around us for miles. Fourteen point two miles, to be exact. Female, hundred-ten pounds, hiking due south of here. With a slight limp.”

  Jordan looked down at Syd’s foot in the soil. “You can feel all that?”

  “And a lot more,” Syd said. “The underlying rock formations that run through Mount Breakenridge are unique—they run deep into the earth’s upper crust, touching the plates below this area, picking up and transferring any low-wave vibrations, like a giant tuning fork.”

  “Dude, if you’re about to say the earth sings to you, I swear . . . ,” Abbie said.

  “Not sings, just vibrates. Thermal energy beneath the rock builds up seismic pressure, causing the vibrations to get louder and higher. And that’s when it gets bad.” He stepped over to another area, a few feet from his first spot. “Right . . . here.”

  BOOM! CRACK! RUMMMMMBLE! He stomped on the ground, which shook beneath the three of them. Under the soil, a large slab of rock cracked open. HISSSSSSS . . . Steam seeped out, and Syd smiled. “Oh, yeah. That was a good one.”

  Abbie stood up. “Wait. All that steam was in the rocks?”

  “Not in the rocks. Deep beneath them, near the earth’s upper crust. The rocks are kinda bottling it. When there’s a dangerous buildup of pressure, I crack ’em, and release a bit of it.”

  “Okay,” she said. “That’s kinda cool.”

  “I read that little earthquakes are common in this area,” Jordan said. “Is that you?”

  “Better a bunch of little ones than one big one.” Syd walked a few yards. Jordan and Abbie followed. He stopped and smushed his big foot into the soil. They watched him, waiting eagerly with eyes wide. “Nope, all clear,” he said, walking on. “That last crack cleared out this area pretty good.” He continued walking. Jordan looked down at the perfect Sasquatch print left behind and immediately began kicking dirt in it, filling it up.

  “Hey!” He ran to catch up. “You’ve gotta be more careful about leaving your footprints lying around. People find these, y’know!”

  “I know,” Syd said. “People collect the weirdest stuff. I say let ’em. Doesn’t mean anything to me.”

  “Right,” Abbie said. Jordan and Syd turned to look at her. She shrugged. “I’m sorry, I don’t buy it. I think you kinda like being famous.”

  BOOM! CRACK! HISSSSSSSSS! Syd slammed his foot down. A burst of steam rose out of the ground and shot into the air in front of Abbie. The earth rumbled for a second. “Another good one,” he said, smiling at her. Then he looked up at the sky. “Uh-oh, getting late. Almost time for my show. Let’s keep moving.”

  As it grew darker, Jordan grew more nervous. “Syd, listen. I get that your job is important. But earthquakes are natural things that happen. Would it be so bad if you took some time off, even if pressure did build up? Let the earth blow off steam on its own. How bad could that be?”

  “Have you guys ever heard of Pangaea?”

  “They’re a hard-rock metal band,” Abbie said. “From Cucamonga, I think.”

  “You’re right on the hard rock part,” Syd said. “It’s the name of the supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras, when all the continents were smushed together as one. It formed a
pproximately three hundred million years ago and then began to break apart after about one hundred million years.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Abbie said. “It’s also that.”

  “Continental drift,” Jordan said. “We learned about it in science. Pangaea split up into the seven continents we know today, right?”

  “Six if you count Europe and Asia as one,” Syd said. “Anyway, they drifted apart, until they each came to rest.”

  “Rest?” Abbie asked. “Rest on what?”

  “Well,” Syd said. “The continent you’re currently standing on rests upon the Pacific Oceanic crust, way beneath our feet.”

  “It isn’t attached?” she said.

  “Nope. Just really heavy,” Syd said. “Take a big disruption to break free.”

  Abbie was beginning to get it. “Like, maybe a super earthquake?”

  “It’s called a megathrust,” Syd said. “Quick. What’s the biggest fault line?”

  “I know this,” Jordan said. “San Andreas Fault, in Southern California.”

  Syd smiled. “Americans always think their stuff’s the biggest. Nope. It’s called the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Biggest earthquake machine in the world. Huge.”

  “I’ve never heard of it,” Jordan said. “Where is it?”

  “Also under your feet. Directly below us, actually.”

  Jordan and Abbie looked down.

  “It starts here,” Syd said, “beneath Harrison Lake and Mount Breakenridge. Then it runs about six hundred miles all the way down the coast to California. It’s where the North American tectonic plate sits atop the Pacific Oceanic crust.”

  Syd started walking again. Jordan and Abbie followed, tiptoeing lightly. “C’mon,” Syd said. “One more stop. I’ve got someone I want you to meet.”

  11

  They made their way to the far side of the flat part of the mountain, where a solid rock floor bigger than the area of Syd’s tree house extended all the way to the edge, forming a cliff overlooking Harrison Lake.