Creature Keepers and the Perilous Pyro-Paws

by Peter Nelson

  “Jordan, those abducted cryptids were snatched from nearly every corner of the globe,” Eldon said. “Quisling barely crawled out of that jungle alive less than a month ago. He could never pull off something like that.”

  “Not unless he had help again,” Jordan said.

  “So who’s he working for?” Abbie said. “And what are the Face Chompers?”

  Doris nodded in the direction of the retirement home. “All I know is his last boss is frozen in a block of ice under that house, locked in a cryogenic cell behind a thick steel door. So it sure as cinnamon sticks ain’t Chupacabra.”

  Abbie thought for a moment. “What about the fourth elemental power?” She turned to Jordan. “You overheard the two of them planning to find it and steal it, but we caught Chupacabra before they could try. If there’s a fourth special power, there’s bound to be a fourth special creature who controls it. Could Quisling be working for that creature now?”

  “I never did find out which cryptid it was,” Jordan said. But it’s possible Harvey could have known.”

  “What if it’s a new creature?” Abbie said. “One that’s never been discovered?”

  “An undiscovered cryptid?” Eldon said. “No way, unless its special power was invisibility. It would have to have somehow kept itself hidden all these years from humans, from Creature Keepers, even from George Grimsley himself!”

  “We all know the powers the other three have,” Jordan said. “Nessie can move oceans with the flick of her tail. Sasquatch can split the earth open with one big foot. The Yeti can cover an entire continent with snow in a single breath. If there is a fourth special creature, who knows what its power could be.”

  “Whatever it is, it very well could be snatching up other cryptids,” Eldon said. “And possibly transforming them into something called Face Chompers.”

  “And Harvey Quisling could be helping it,” Jordan added.

  “But where in the world is it?” Abbie said. “Did they mention any clues?”

  Jordan shook his head. “Harvey may be the only one who knows.”

  “He and one other,” Doris said. “Let’s go downstairs and ask him, shall we?”

  A loud noise suddenly startled all of them as one end of the metal greenhouse floor began to lower, forming a ramp. They all looked up at Doris standing on a safe edge at the top of the ramp, smiling at them, holding a remote control. “I told you I needed a new entrance to move that frozen Chupacasicle into central command! So I installed a secret back door!”

  The floor opened at an extreme angle to a gaping black space below, swallowing them up. Doris slid down behind them, disappearing into the darkness.

  6

  Jordan, Abbie, Eldon, and Doris tumbled onto the cool, white, polished floor of the underground Creature Keepers command center, slamming into boxes, chairs, and desks stacked up in the center of the large room.

  “Sorry about the clutter,” Doris said as Eldon helped her to her feet. “We should start putting this place back together.”

  “How about you start putting some stairs in that entrance?” Abbie said.

  “It’s really more for equipment than people,” Doris said. “And of course it serves as a nice bunny door when Peggy needs to do her business—”

  BOING-BOING-FWOOSH! Before Doris could finish her sentence, a bus-sized blur of white fluff bounced past them and bounded up the ramp, out into the swamp.

  “Boy,” Jordan said. “I guess when a giant Texas Jackalope needs to go, she needs to go.”

  Ed, a bald and bookish old man, stepped out of a side chamber holding an enormous pooper scooper and a large shovel. “You have no idea,” he said. “Welcome back.”

  Eldon stood before a short row of personalized lockers lined against a wall. “Okay, everyone. Safety first.” He was wearing goggles and a yellow hard hat and slammed closed the door to a locker marked Pecone, E. He opened the one beside it, marked Grimsley, A.

  Abbie took out her goggles and hard hat. “Now you give us these? Where were they when we went down the carrot garden slide of death?”

  “Just be sure each of you returns your own equipment to your designated locker before leaving,” Eldon said. “This is Creature Keeper property.”

  Creature Keeper central command was the hub of the entire cryptid protection operation. Thanks in small part to the technological know-how of Jordan and in large part to the small fortune left behind by his grandfather, the secret underground station was crammed full of state-of-the art equipment. Grampa Grimsley had left all of his estate to be managed by a lawyer named C. E. Noodlepen. This mysterious gatekeeper originally notified the Grimsleys they were the legal benefactors of the old house and was also the one from whom Jordan and Abbie’s parents could request Grampa Grimlsey’s resources as needed for home improvement.

  Luckily for Jordan and the Creature Keepers command center, C. E. Noodlepen was also none other than Eldon Pecone. Even the letters in their names matched up.

  Jordan’s grandfather had left Eldon with final authorization on all his savings and estate. Because Eldon was underage, he used the pseudonym to access his accounts by mail, funding what Jordan and Doris needed to bring the CKCC up to modern standards. This included computers, tracking systems, digital display maps, and a really nice coffee maker. It also included the latest addition and Jordan’s latest design, which Jordan called “The Cooler.” It was a cryonic, vaultlike freezer cell designed to keep its prisoner not only locked up tight but also frozen solid.

  Jordan and Abbie were mesmerized as they stepped away from their lockers and approached the looming Cooler on the opposite side of the room. In the center of the door was a thick-glass portal. In the center of the cold, steel cell was a massive block of ice. And in the center of that ice was a familiar silhouette, belonging to the horrible Chupacabra.

  “Wilford had kept him in a perfect frozen state at the top of the Himalayas,” Eldon said. “Bernard and Kriss flew all the way back to Mt. Kanchenjunga to pick him up.”

  Kriss was the West Virginia Mothman, a cryptid who was a little moody and a lot shy. Which may be why Abbie shared a special kinship with him. “The abominable snowman and the introverted mothman,” she said. “Sounds like quite a party. Where’s Kriss now?”

  “He stayed up on the mountain,” Doris said. “Bernard said he seemed to take a liking to the solitude.”

  “That sounds like Kriss, all right,” Abbie said.

  Doris peeked through the portal, then held up an ice pick. “Well? Let’s wake up Sleeping Beauty and ask him about the fourth special cryptid, shall we?”

  They all huddled around the portal and stared in at the dark, Chupacabra-shaped blob suspended in the center of the ice. A shiver ran through Jordan, which had nothing to do with the freezer in front of him. “Uh, Ed,” he said. “How long to get this place back online?”

  “With your help on the computers? Not long at all, I should think.”

  “Great,” Jordan said. “Then I’d like to propose a plan B. Ed and I will get the tracking computer back up and running so we can immediately begin a scan, pinpointing exactly where the Face Chompers struck and see if there’s a pattern that might lead us to a location of origin for whatever we’re dealing with. Sound good?”

  The others looked in at Chupacabra one more time and quickly agreed that Jordan’s plan B was much better than defrosting the diabolical cryptid.

  Doris tossed her ice pick aside and let out a chuckle. “I knew you’d all chicken out once you saw him again. Ed, if you’re going to help Jordan get all this junk up and running, you’ll need your rest. Who do we have to take your shift on watch tonight?”

  Hap’s voice called out from the bottom of the ramp. “Hap Cooperdock reporting for duty!” The shaggy old Keeper approached them. “Need someone to stay up all night gazing at a freezer door? I could do that in my sleep!”

  7

  The next few days were busy ones as Jordan and Ed worked to get the mapping and tracking system reinstalled
and back online. Abbie helped Doris and Hap put the finishing touches on the new guest rooms, then prepared to move the Keepers from the boathouse into the nicer surroundings of Eternal Acres. Eldon continuously scanned the sky and treetops, watching for any sign of a Face Chomper attack—while also keeping an eager eye out for his creature, Bernard, to return.

  The Skunk Ape had been expected earlier, but Doris reassured the others that there was no need for alarm. “His last distress call came in from eastern Europe,” she said as she, Jordan, Abbie, and Eldon carried the Keepers’ lunch out to the boathouse. “We can’t contact him until we get the system online, but he could reach me if there was an emergency. It’s also possible he picked up a new distress signal on the Heli-Jet radio and went to rescue another Keeper.”

  “That’s my Bernard,” Eldon said, trying to hide the worried tone in his voice. “Always looking to help others.”

  “I’m sure he’ll be here any day now,” Abbie said.

  “Right,” Jordan added. “If there’s one thing I learned about that Skunk Ape of yours, he can take care of himself.”

  Bernard was the first cryptid Jordan had ever met. The two of them had been through a lot together, and Jordan thought of him as sort of a great-uncle—a big hairy, stinky great-uncle. In addition to looking forward to seeing Bernard again, both Jordan and Abbie were eager to find out everything he’d seen and heard while out collecting abandoned Keepers. If there were any sign of Harvey Quisling, or any clues to an undiscovered special cryptid kidnapping other creatures and brainwashing them into becoming Face Chompers, Bernard was just the Skunk Ape to pick up on them and report back.

  They all arrived at the boathouse to find Hap staring down at the box of elixir. “Weird,” he said. “I could’ve sworn there were more bottles here.” He turned to the elderly Keepers. “Did any of you coots raid my supply? We seem a little short.”

  “Of course they didn’t,” Doris said as she set down the basket of food. “The only thing that’s short is your memory, Cooperdock. I’m sure you just miscounted how much you brought with you. Now let them eat their lunch. We have some exciting news: you’re all moving out of this drafty boathouse today and into your new rooms at Eternal Acres!”

  After the celebratory meal, the Keepers gathered up their things and were led out of the boathouse by Abbie and Doris. They were offered fresh pairs of pajamas, but they all refused to change out of their pink Face Chompers garments.

  “We will continue to wear these in solidarity,” Mike said, “until our creatures are safely returned to us.”

  “Well, at least let us wash them when we get to the house,” Abbie said. “They’re getting a little ripe.”

  Jordan and Eldon followed Hap toward the boathouse door. He was carrying the wooden crate of elixir with his head down and lips moving, silently recounting the bottles in the box.

  “Hap, look where you’re going!” Jordan shouted. Hap looked up just in time to walk into the wall beside the doorway. He fumbled with the box, nearly dumping all the tiny bottles onto the floor.

  “Sorry,” he said. “That was a close one.”

  “Give me that,” Eldon said, taking the box. “Now that everyone’s moved out of here, I’ll keep them safe in my tent.”

  “Your tent?” Jordan said. “Eldon, the Keepers are going to be living in the house now. You don’t have to camp out here anymore.”

  “I prefer it,” Eldon said. “Besides, out here I can keep an ear to the ground and my eyes on the skies—for Face Chompers or anything else.” Eldon saluted, then disappeared inside his tent.

  Jordan and Hap made their way back toward Eternal Acres, and came across Doris’s finished greenhouse. Its iron frame had been attached to the stone foundation and held up its glass walls and ceiling.

  “This came out really sweet.” Hap stepped inside the open door. Bunches of carrots lay on shelves mounted along the walls. Beneath the shelves, long, deep boxes of soil lined the inside perimeter of the little glass house, where new carrot tops sprouted out of the dirt. The center of the floor was empty except for a few crates of even more fresh carrots. Jordan picked one up and took a bite.

  “Hey, check this out.” Hap reached for one of two buttons mounted on the wall beside the door. “Doris told me the roof opens up!”

  CLACK! GRRRR!

  “Hap! That’s the wrong button!”

  The floor beneath them began to lower as before. Jordan leaped to grab the edge of the shelf. Hap was frantically hitting the button, trying to reverse the ramp. It continued to open, sending the crates of carrots tumbling into the darkness below. Hap pulled Jordan up to the secure section of the floor, and they both froze as they heard a stirring sound rise beneath them, followed by an echoing MUNCH-MUNCH-CRUNCH! Something down there was chowing carrots.

  “Peggy,” Jordan whispered as the munching sound suddenly stopped. A loud SNIFF! SNIFF-SNIFF! echoed up in its place.

  “Well, better her than the other critter that’s down there,” Hap said.

  “Shh!” Jordan glanced at the shelves surrounding them and saw the bunches of carrots. Then he heard a loud THUMP! THUMP! It was getting louder. And faster. “Oh, no,” he said. “The ceiling! She’s gonna crash straight through it! She’ll be cut to ribbons! Hap! Hit the other button!”

  Hap slammed the second button, and a whirring sound began grinding overhead as the glass ceiling began to slowly retract. Beneath them, the THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-ing grew closer as Peggy charged up the ramp.

  Jordan grabbed a bunch of carrots and flung them into the dark, empty space in the center of the greenhouse. As he did, a large white, fluffy head emerged like a breaching whale swallowing them. Peggy leaped straight up just as the ceiling finished retracting, soaring over their heads and landing outside, a hundred feet from the greenhouse. She sat up and sniffed the air for more to eat. Relieved, Jordan and Hap ran outside and tossed more carrots to Peggy.

  A voice shouted out from the house. “Jordan! Are you out here, son?” Jordan froze. It was his father. Mr. and Mrs. Grimsley were just inside the back-porch door.

  “Oh, no.” Thinking quickly, Jordan shoved the last bunch of carrots in Hap’s arms. “My parents! They can’t see Peggy! Get her out of here!”

  “No problemo!” Hap whistled, then flung the carrots in the air toward the swamp. But Peggy was too fast and dived at them. The bunch caught on her antlers, dangling just in front of her nose. “Uh-oh,” Hap said. “That’s not good.”

  Peggy burst forward to get the carrots she was dangling in front of herself. Luckily, the direction she was facing took her away from the house, into the swamp.

  “Don’t just stand there,” Jordan said. “She could run for days! Go get her!”

  Hap tore off after Peggy. Jordan ran toward the house.

  Up on the deck, Abbie and Doris spotted Peggy and quickly stepped in front of Mr. and Mrs. Grimsley. Doris called to the group of Keepers behind them, and within seconds, the Grimsleys were surrounded by pink-clad retirees blocking their view of the cotton-tailed fanny Hap was chasing through the cypress trees.

  8

  “Surprise! Are you surprised? We wanted to surprise you!” Mrs. Grimsley loved surprises.

  “Super surprised, Mom.” Jordan nervously eyed the swamp behind him.

  “We met our wonderful new tenants,” Mr. Grimsley said, patting Mike on his balding head. “Such nice folks, so happy to have them staying here!”

  Mrs. Grimsley leaned in close. “Although their matching pajamas are a little odd,” she whispered.

  A sudden rustling sound from the swamp got everyone’s attention. The top of a distant cypress tree began to shake and shudder. “Looks like the wind is picking up out here,” Doris said quickly. “Storm might be coming. Best to get inside before it rains!”

  They all shoved Mr. and Mrs. Grimsley back into the house. Jordan slammed the door and shut the curtain, then peeked out. His stomach dropped.

  The giant Jackalope crashed through the trees, hopped o
ver the greenhouse, and landed in the backyard with a thump. Hanging off her neck, holding on for dear life, Eldon was trying to reach for the carrots still dangling from her antlers. Hap was bear-hugging her fluffy tail, riding it like a rodeo cowboy. Peggy lunged for the carrots, leaping around the side of the house.

  Inside, Mrs. Grimsley turned pale. “What was that? The whole house shook!”

  “Doris is right,” Abbie said. “Thunderstorm coming! Why don’t we all go sit in the living room before we get any more, uh, surprises?”

  They made their procession down the long hallway, away from the back of the house, past the bedrooms, and toward the great room near the front door.

  “The renovations are something,” Mr. Grimsley said. “Great work, Doris.”

  “Thank you,” Doris said. “But I couldn’t have done it without the help of Jordan and Abbie.” She turned her smile from Mr. and Mrs. Grimsley and shot a secret glare at Jordan. “They really are good at tackling big challenges.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Mrs. Grimsley said, smiling proudly at her children. “And it makes our wonderful news for the two of you all the more wonderfuller!”

  “Well,” Doris said. “Then I’ll excuse myself and take our new guests to their bedrooms, and let you have your family time.”

  The Grimsleys made their way into the great room, leaving Doris and the Keepers. As soon as the coast was clear, Doris and the Keepers ran down the hallway and out into the backyard.

  In the great room, Jordan immediately began pulling down the window curtains. As he did, he spotted Peggy running in circles alongside the house, like a giant dog chasing its tail, trying to get at the carrots hanging from her antlers. Eldon hung off the other antler and finally grabbed the carrots. As soon as he did, Peggy stopped short, sending Eldon flying into a nearby hedge.