Riddles and Danger

by Bryan Chick

  In groups of a hundred or more, some birds carried large nets in their tiny talons. Seconds after flying into the building, one group dropped its net on a sasquatch, which thrashed its arms, entangled itself, and fell to the ground. The same pack of chickadess then swooped down and drew in the edges of the net, bundling and twisting their captive, leaving it snarling and biting at the cords.

  A second group of chickadees released their net over another sasquatch and repeated the same process. Within seconds, the beast was left growling and writhing on the floor.

  Richie looked again at the girls. Covered in chickadee feathers, Ella and Megan were sitting on their knees, cheering. Solana was leaning forward with her forehead pressed against the floor, as if in thankful prayer. Hannah burst a bubble against a broad smile.

  The chickadees continued to stream in through the open wall. Down the length of the hall, flashlight fish revealed the action: birds swarming, nets dropping, sasquatches being caught.

  As Richie and Tank watched, Tank asked, “Ever dream you’d see chickadees catching something as big and ugly as a sasquatch?”

  Richie met his friend’s stare. “Nuh-uh. No way.”

  “Well, that’s how we roll, bub.” Tank smiled. “That’s how we roll in the Secret Zoo.”

  Richie thought about this. “That’s great. But next time, you think you could roll a little more quickly?”

  The big man bellowed with laughter and swatted Richie’s shoulder, nearly knocking him down.

  Richie straightened and looked around. Things weren’t over, not yet. Alligators were still escaping. And the gateway to the Secret Creepy Critters needed to be closed.

  Thinking of the latter, Richie peered over at the middle waterfall in Gator Falls. There was still no sign of Noah or Podgy.

  Chapter 41

  A Pendulum Between Two Worlds

  Noah, his hands clutching the curtain, swung back into the Secret Creepy Critters, the world blurring on both of his sides. At his rearward peak, a sasquatch swiped at him, but its claws whooshed over Noah’s head as he dropped back down. The curtain’s tassels pulled through the mud, and Noah portaled again in Gator Falls. He swung out and up, then slowed to a stop in the air. An alligator lunged at him, its jaws snapping shut on emptiness just as Noah was pulled back toward the sector. The curtain had become a pendulum between two worlds.

  As he passed beneath the rod, he peered up. A single ring was all that held the curtain.

  For Noah, the cave again became the sector. As the curtain swung out, a sasquatch moved in front of the portal, a snarl on its face. Having to think fast, Noah kicked his legs forward as he came down, crashing his feet against the monster and sending it with him back into Gator Falls.

  In the tunnel, several alligators had turned back. The sasquatch stepped on the snout of one and fell to the ground. As the confused alligator sprang open its jaws, Noah spread-eagled his legs to avoid its bite. The curtain lifted him high, then down again. As he fell, he bounced his heels on the reptile’s snout, driving it into the mud.

  Noah couldn’t keep this up. The curtain had to come down. But it needed to happen while he was in Gator Falls. If it didn’t, he’d be trapped in the Secret Zoo.

  He portaled out of the Clarksville Zoo again and up into the air. As the curtain dropped from its highest reach, he peered over his shoulder and saw a sasquatch charging on all fours. Noah heaved his weight forward and passed across the magical threshold in front of the reaching arms of the sasquatch. As he swung upward in the tunnel, the alligator that he’d just kicked into the mud poked up its snout, only to land it in the clutches of the sasquatch, which seemed to confuse it for Noah.

  Seeing his chance, Noah pulled against the velvet folds with all his might. The final ring snapped, the curtain fell, and Noah splashed into the mud. He stared back at where the portal had been and saw a solid wall. In it, the sasquatch’s arms were trapped, its powerful hands clenching the snout of the alligator, which was thrashing from side to side, trying to free itself.

  In the corners of his eyes, Noah saw something move. A sasquatch—the one that he’d kicked through the gateway. On its hands and knees, it shook the confusion out of its head, then lifted its gaze. Spotting Noah, it dropped its eyebrows, then slammed its boulderlike fists against the ground. It howled, sending thin streams of spit into the air.

  A loud hiss sounded behind Noah. He jerked around and stared directly into two nostrils. The dark holes lifted as an alligator spread its jaws, revealing crooked fangs and a bulging tongue. Noah threw himself aside and tried to get away. But this time, there was no narrow escape. This time, the alligator clamped down on Noah, sinking its sharp teeth into his body.

  Chapter 42

  P-Dog Sets the Trap

  P-Dog poked his head up from the secret tunnel beside Little Dogs of the Prairie. He glanced in every direction, then leaped out with a squeaky grunt. He turned back, rose onto his haunches, and yipped once. From the tunnel emerged his companions, one after another, more than a hundred trampling onto the snowy lawn of the Clarksville Zoo. P-Dog charged off, leading the prairie dogs toward their destination—Creepy Critters.

  At the exhibit, the animals bounded up the staircase to the front entrance, stepping around shards of glass and metal. P-Dog gave the air an investigative sniff and moved inside. Alligators covered the floor as they crawled for the open doorway, their fangs gleaming in the hall’s magic light.

  P-Dog swung his head back and yipped wildly. The prairie dogs, massed together, stormed into the building. Growling and hissing, the alligators parted their jaws and prepared to strike.

  When the two groups collided, P-Dog slipped into the open mouth of an alligator. As it chomped down, he sprang off its spongy tongue and landed on the back of a second alligator. By the time this one swung around to attack, P-Dog had already jumped to the back of a third. Then he cleared the space to a fourth, a fifth, crossing their knobby backs like stepping-stones.

  Yipping and squealing, the other prairie dogs scampered across the alligators, crossing their tails and backs like the rugged terrain of a familiar savanna. The alligators thrashed and bucked and bit, their jaws closing far behind the rodents’ rumps. As one prairie dog reached an about-facing alligator, he ran across its back and leaped from its inclined snout as if from a diving board.

  The flashlight fish continued to shine. Darkness seemed huddled in corners, fearful of their magic.

  As P-Dog veered into the Creepy Core, he came upon the open jaws of three alligators, all in a row. He darted through them, hurdling their teeth. The mouths snapped shut one after another, missing him each time.

  P-Dog led the prairie dogs down the hall toward Gator Falls. The alligators continued to turn back to chase them, having no idea they were heading into a trap.

  Richie pointed down the hallway beneath the chickadees and rolled his head toward Tank, saying, “Is that . . . is that P-Dog?”

  Tank roared laughter. “Yep.”

  “But won’t he . . . like . . . get eaten?”

  “Not if he’s fast.”

  Richie watched a new group of chickadees release their net—this time, over a grouping of alligators. The alligators thrashed about, entangling themselves. Unable to move, they simply lay there, their legs meshed in the rope. The chickadees then descended and dragged the edges of the net forward, scooping it around their captives and pulling it tight.

  Prairie dogs leaped out of the way as another wave of chickadees dropped a second net. Then came a third net, a fourth, a fifth, like bombs from airplanes. More and more alligators become snarled, twisted, and trapped.

  It took only minutes for the alligators in the hall to be contained. The chickadees then went to work on the ones escaping from the tunnel to the Secret Zoo.

  Ella called out, “Guys—look!” She pointed toward Gator Falls, where Podgy had just punched through the middle waterfall. One thing stopped Richie from feeling good about this.

  Noah wasn’t on his back.<
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  Chapter 43

  Collateral Magic

  Noah was picked up by the alligator and whipped from side to side. He felt its tongue shift and roll and heat radiate from its throat.

  He realized something. Though his torso was being squeezed, he couldn’t feel any pain. He glanced down and saw he was wrapped in the curtain. After stripping it from the rod, he’d become entangled in it. Now, somehow, its magic was protecting him from being mauled to pieces.

  The alligator knew nothing of this. It continued to thrash Noah about, trying to snap his spine. One of the alligator’s dark eyes was inches from Noah’s face. The size of a golf ball, it blinked once . . . twice. It was watching Noah, waiting to see the life escape him.

  Beside them, the sasquatch swiped mud from its eyes and growled. It prowled toward Noah, ready to strike. As the alligator snapped its head around, Noah swept his legs beneath the sasquatch’s feet, dropping it back to the ground.

  Knowing he had to do something, Noah threw a desperate punch against the alligator’s fleshy throat. Its jaws opened, and Noah fell to the ground and rolled aside, shedding the curtain in the process. He jumped to his feet, and the alligator lurched forward and snapped at him, just missing.

  Noah sidestepped so the alligator stood between him and the sasquatch. The sasquatch climbed to one knee, its back turned to Noah.

  Noah saw an opportunity. He snatched up the curtain in one hand and ran across the alligator’s back. He pitched his arm around, and the curtain opened like a parachute and touched down on the sasquatch, covering its top half. Then he jumped onto the monster’s back and coiled his arms around its neck, cinching the velvet cloth over its head.

  The sasquatch lurched forward, blind and confused. It smashed against the wall, crumbling bricks. Noah stared up the tunnel. Close to two hundred feet ahead, he saw the end of it—a point of light shimmering in the waterfall. As many as fifteen alligators separated him from the exit.

  Noah cupped his mouth around the monster’s ear. “Grraaaahhhhh!”

  The sasquatch spun around, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise.

  “Graaa-OOOHHH!”

  The sasquatch, still crouched, took off running up the tunnel, feeling its way with outstretched arms. It banged against the walls and splashed mud up the bricks. It stepped on alligators, driving their snouts and stomachs to the ground. Noah held on and bounced about, his world blurring back and forth.

  “Rrraaaggghh! Erraahhhh! Ahhh!”

  The spot of light grew bigger and brighter. The vague spill of the waterfall became beaded streams. Hissing alligators snapped at the sasquatch’s feet, some diving against the walls to avoid being trampled.

  “Naarrrggghhh!”

  Through the wavering lens of the waterfall, Noah began to make out the shapes of people. Tank and Blizzard and Little Bighorn. Somehow they’d been pulled into the melee. Above them flew a mass of tiny round birds. Chickadees.

  The sasquatch burst through the wall of water and carried Noah into the exhibit. It splashed through the shallow pool, then staggered into the hallway. Noah let go and thudded onto his back. He blinked his eyes dry and saw the sasquatch throw off the velvet curtain, only to be covered again, this time with a net.

  Feathers rained down on him. Their slow, slicing movements reminded him of leaves falling in the City of Species. The other scouts rushed over and dropped to their knees beside him.

  “Noah!” Megan said. “Are you okay?”

  Too exhausted for words, Noah nodded.

  “The curtain—you got it!”

  “It’s done.” Noah stared into the eyes of his friends. “It’s over.”

  The scouts collapsed across Noah, their arms draped over one another in a collective embrace.

  The chickadees netted the few remaining alligators, then flew down the hall. Tank walked over to Hannah and Solana; together they watched the four friends hold one another.

  “That’s what gives them their strength,” Tank said. “What you’re looking at right there is what makes them the scouts.”

  A voice spoke behind them. “He’s absolutely right.”

  The three Crossers turned to see Mr. Darby. He’d stepped in from the hole in the wall and now stood beside them, his purple trench coat flowing onto the ground. Chickadees were perched along his velvet shoulders.

  Mr. Darby touched Tank’s shoulder. “Their strength has its source in their love. And we’ll need that strength in our battles, I assure you.”

  Tank looked at the old man. He said nothing.

  “Have no doubt. Their power is unique. If victory is ours to be had, it will be their love that helps deliver it.”

  Tank remained silent.

  “Just wait,” Mr. Darby added with a smile. “One day, Mr. Pangbourne, you will see. One day, you will see.”

  Chapter 44

  The Cleanup and the Cover-up

  Sam and Tameron were revived, and work began to clean up the mess. The chickadees left through the broken wall, headed toward the Forest of Flight and its hidden portal to the Secret Zoo. P-Dog led his coterie back to their exhibit. Mr. Darby informed everyone that order had been restored in the City of Species, the sasquatches having fled back into random sectors. There had been damage to the city, but no word yet on casualties.

  Tank nodded. “I’ll call Red . . . have him check on the lights.” He touched his earpiece and said, “Charlie, it’s Tank. Can you get ready with the lights? I don’t know how much longer these flashlight fish can do their thing.” He paused for Charlie’s response, then added, “Roger. We’ll let you know when to throw the switch.”

  Tank turned back to the group—Mr. Darby, the scouts, the Descenders, Blizzard, Podgy, and Little Bighorn. He pointed down the hall to where alligators and sasquatches wriggled in nets. “What do we do with them?”

  Ella said, “The apes. From Metr-APE-olis. They’re strong and coordinated—trust me, I know. Maybe the apes could take them back to the Secret Zoo through Giraffic Jam. That exhibit’s just around the corner. You guys must have a big truck, right? Have the apes load them into a truck and then someone drive them over to Giraffic Jam.”

  A smile stole across Mr. Darby’s face. The old man turned to the Descenders and said, “You see . . . already they’re thinking like Crossers.”

  Sam acknowledged this with a nod.

  “I’ll pull the apes,” Tank said. “On my way back, I’ll pick up some wheels. And we’ll need some Constructors, too.”

  Though Noah had no idea what a Constructor was, apparently Mr. Darby did. The old man nodded. “Your walkie-talkie, Mr. Pangbourne. I’ll call Mr. Gordon on the south perimeter and have him gather a crew.”

  Noah couldn’t believe how prepared the Secret Society was.

  Tank unclipped his walkie-talkie and let it fly. Before it landed in Mr. Darby’s hands, he turned and headed for Metr-APE-olis.

  Mr. Darby snagged the walkie-talkie out of the air and pressed its button. “Mr. Gordon? Mr. Gordon, are you there?”

  A staticky voice arose from the speaker: “Gordon here.”

  “Mr. Gordon, we need the services of Constructors at Creepy Critters. Can you work on gathering a crew?”

  “Roger that. When do you need them?”

  “As soon as possible.”

  “Got it. Give me ten minutes.”

  A small burst of static sounded, and Mr. Gordon was gone.

  “What are Constructors?” Ella asked.

  Mr. Darby peered down the hall. “Ohhh . . . they fix things.”

  For a while, there was nothing to do but wait. At one point, Marlo appeared from nowhere and touched down on Noah’s shoulder. At another, Blizzard padded up to the scouts and lovingly nudged Noah with his big head. Noah smiled and leaned into the bear, half disappearing into his deep white fur. Richie and Ella stood on either side of Little Bighorn, patting him. Megan waited beside Podgy.

  After ten minutes had passed, Tank came through the busted wall leading a group of apes,
as many as twenty. The apes grunted and snorted and sniffed the air with upturned nostrils. A large truck backed its semitrailer up against the building. In a cloud of exhaust, Tank jumped to the bumper and kicked a latch, opening the big rear door. He pulled out the loading ramp and dropped one end to the ground.

  “Okay,” Tank said. “Let’s do this.”

  The apes went to work. They moved in groups on the alligators, not-so-gently dragging the nets across the floor and up the ramp. The scouts stood back and watched. The Descenders gathered the smaller animals that had got out—crabs and snakes and frogs and turtles—and returned them to their tanks, where they promptly escaped into the hidden passages leading to the Secret Zoo. The Descenders even collected the bugs they could find—beetles and spiders and anything else.

  As the groups worked, four men with huge backpacks walked up behind Mr. Darby. To get his attention, one man said, “Nice mess—who made it?”

  Mr. Darby spun around and smiled. “I’m not certain whom to blame, but I trust you can clean it up.”

  The men scanned the area. Noah realized they were the Constructors Mr. Darby had referred to.

  “How much time we got?”

  “Can you beat the sun?” Mr. Darby asked.

  “Shouldn’t be a problem. Most of the damage is superficial.”

  Noah scanned the surroundings: the shattered aquariums, the mounds of debris, the busted tiles. He turned to Richie and mouthed, Superficial?

  Richie shrugged. Apparently the damage didn’t seem superficial to him, either.

  The Constructors walked down the hall and opened a door marked “Employees Only.” They wheeled out a flatbed cart with a stack of thick glass panes. They pulled it down the hall and stopped at a spot that held the remains of at least ten busted aquariums. They slipped off their backpacks and rummaged through the contents.

  To the scouts, Tank said, “Watch this.”

  One man worked a pry bar to reshape the twisted framework of an aquarium. Another man used a sharp-bladed tool to clean the edges. A third man then lifted a plate of glass to the place they were working, and the fourth man wiped a velvet towel across it. The magic moved a rectangular piece of the pane into the face of the aquarium.