Earning My Spots

by Eastburn, Mark;

  All the while, the wolves kept gaining. They probably wouldn’t have caught up if I was running by myself, but I had Balam and Manny to worry about. We’d already gone more than half a mile, and I wondered how much endurance the cats had left.

  Instead of continuing along the road, I pivoted for what looked like an empty lot outside the airport fence.

  “Where are you going?” Balam roared.

  “Away from the street,” I panted. As I’d suspected, this abandoned patch of bare earth had trees on the other side.

  Trees that led to forest. And forest that led to safety.

  That’s what I hoped, at least.

  Balam dropped out soon after. Halfway across the barren patch of soil, he fell from the corner of my eye. I turned in hopes I could save him, except he wouldn’t let me. Swinging his paw forward, he yelled for us to keep going.

  He wasn’t in this just for the money, I finally realized. Maybe he actually cared about us and about helping me find my family.

  Tongues smacking in their mouths, the wolves were less than a hundred feet away. The lions kept gaining, too.

  Letting out a defiant roar, Balam arched his back and stood his ground. Manny and I kept running, and soon we were dodging tree trunks and overgrown vegetation in a partly chopped forest that grew thicker the farther we ran.

  I didn’t want to know what was going to happen to Balam, but I definitely heard it. The jaguar’s roar was swallowed by snarls and howls. They’d gotten him—that much was sure. The chase wasn’t finished, though, because there were other lions and wolves on our trail.

  By this point, the forest looked the same in every direction.

  Where should we run?

  Suddenly, at the edge of my vision, a flash of color dipped down. What was it? After swerving around another tree, I checked to my right.

  To my great surprise, I saw a parrot flying. Not just any parrot, either—this one was red and yellow and blue.

  “Come with me,” she squawked.

  I couldn’t believe my ears.

  “Rosa,” I whooped. “Is that you?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Now, follow me.”

  I nearly crashed into a palm tree covered in spines, skidding around it at the last possible instant.

  “Come on!” I shouted to Manny. “This way! Let’s go!”

  “Which way?” He caught sight of the bird flying over us, which led him to bellow, “You want to follow her?”

  “I can help you,” she assured.

  Manny’s pace slowed. “No way.”

  I scrambled around to face him, coming to a halt. With a panicked glance behind us, where I knew our pursuers were still giving chase, I said, “She’s the only chance we’ve got!”

  “I’m not going,” Manny insisted. “We didn’t come this far to follow some bird.”

  Casting another nervous peek where I heard the approach of lions and wolves, I shouted, “We don’t have any choice!”

  Manny checked behind him, turned to face me, pointed in the opposite direction from where Rosa was leading us, and said, “I’m going that way. Do what you want.”

  “Are you serious?” I yelled. We were only seconds away from certain death.

  Without answering, Manny broke to the left.

  “You need to come with me,” Rosa insisted. “I can take you to a safe place!”

  There was no time to think. My gut told me to follow Rosa. So I did.

  Several wolves and lions went after Manny, while others kept after me. I ran through the forest, dodging vines and more of those spiky palms, while the volume of barks and howls increased. Not long after that, Rosa and I reached the edge of a river, with that same inky black water I’d seen from the air. A cluster of men had gathered where I burst through the vegetation, all of them dressed in white, formal clothes—like tuxedos, only more elegant. Each of them also had a rounded, short-brimmed hat on his head.

  When I peered up at them, they smiled, as if they were expecting me.

  “Jump in,” Rosa ordered. “Jump in the river!”

  With the wolves almost upon me, I had to assume these men already knew Rosa and were going to help us. Were they shape shifters? My built-in detector said they were. But what kind?

  “Jump!” Rosa squawked again.

  One wolf burst through the overgrowth and growled. In response, a white-clad gentleman smacked it with a cane.

  Time to go.

  When I leaped for the river’s surface, everyone with white clothes dove in with me. Next thing I knew, I was pulled under. Bubbles swirled all around. I opened my eyes, but couldn’t see clearly. Shapes flitted about, changing from humans to something else. They became more fishlike, except they had long snouts and their tails moved up and down.

  What were they? I wondered. Dolphins? In a river more than a thousand miles from the ocean? That didn’t seem likely. Then again, I might’ve read something about dolphins in the Amazon before.

  Pink dolphins, I thought.

  But I didn’t have time to think about the dolphins. My lungs had lost most of their oxygen. I couldn’t get back to the surface. …

  And if I didn’t get up there soon, I’d drown.

  I AWOKE WITH A JUMP, AS IF I’D SUFFERED FROM A BAD DREAM. Upon opening my eyes, the sight of a rainbow greeted me. It was broad and brilliant and stretched out in many directions.

  “Where am I?” I asked. It felt like I was lying on a flat stretch of grass, although it was softer than any grass I’d ever lain on before.

  “You are in El Encante,” said a voice. I knew it belonged to Rosa. But what about Manny? I raised my head to check.

  No sign of him. No sign of Rosa, either. Where was she?

  “I am over here,” her voice said.

  Whoa. She was in the opposite direction from where I thought she’d be, in human form, and sitting with her legs crossed. It was as if her image was reflected in a mirror.

  Rosa and I were both wearing sheets—that’s what they looked like, at least. There were holes for my arms and another for my head, and the fabric went down past my knees. Around my waist was a belt, and wide, strange-looking shoes protected my feet. Rosa had shoes on as well, and they appeared too large for her smallish frame.

  “This place is enchanted,” said Rosa. “Magic is in everything.”

  Gazing out over the scenery, I gathered that we were in some sort of park, rimmed with fruit trees and white flowers, which was then surrounded by a gleaming city that had a river running through its center. The buildings were impossibly tall and appeared to be made from gold and silver, alongside smaller houses with roofs that sparkled with diamonds. One edge of the park was bordered by the river, and instead of mud or sand on the riverbanks, colorful gems lined each side of the water. Everything smelled nice, too—like flowers and freshly washed clothing.

  “How’d we get here?” I asked.

  “The botos brought us,” she told me.

  “Huh?”

  “They are like … pink dolphins, who live in the river.”

  “That is correct,” said a man’s voice, which came from the right of where I sat.

  But when I looked to my right, he wasn’t there. Suddenly, he spoke again and appeared on my left-hand side.

  “Welcome to El Encante,” the man said with outstretched hands. He had a funny accent that I couldn’t identify, and he was dressed in a white suit with golden flowers sewn into the fabric.

  The strangeness of this place was overwhelming, and I couldn’t help but glance around. Everywhere was peaceful, yet active, with brilliant birds and butterflies flitting this way and that.

  “Are we still on Earth?” I finally asked. It felt as if we’d been transported to another dimension.

  The man laughed. “Yes, you are still on Earth,” he assured. “Or under it, rather.”

  “What?”

  “We’re beneath the river,” the man explained. “This is where we live.” Placing a hand to his chest, he said, “My name is Thiago.”<
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  “And I am Flavio,” said another man, who was dressed in a suit with a red vest and yellow sleeves. He wore a straw hat, just like Thiago’s, and was carrying a stringed instrument that resembled a guitar.

  “And you are Sam,” Thiago added with a smile. His teeth were slightly pointed.

  “So, we’re … underwater?” I asked him.

  Flavio laughed with a high-pitched squeal.

  “We are under the river,” Thiago told me again. He removed his hat and pointed to a blowhole on top of his head. “But we botos are mammals, like you, and we cannot breathe water like fish. This is why El Encante has air.”

  I stared at the opening on Thiago’s bald scalp, even though I knew it wasn’t polite. To distract myself, I tossed a glance in Rosa’s direction and asked, “How’d you find this place?”

  “Oh, I didn’t find it,” she answered. “These men found me.”

  “It is true,” Thiago said. “When she came to the river for a drink.”

  “And how’d you find us?” I asked Rosa. “How’d you know we were coming to South America?” She seemed to know exactly the spot to save us from trouble, but I hadn’t told her where we were headed, had I?

  “They say that Manaus is where all the people who change into animals were going, so I think that maybe you’d come down here, too.” She smiled. “I was right, no?”

  “I guess so,” I said. My heart sank when I recalled our escape from the airport and my fight with Manny in the jungle. “What about Manny? What happened to him?”

  “Your friend has been captured,” said Thiago. “But he is alive.”

  I gulped, steeling myself for bad news. “And what about Balam? Was he killed?”

  “No, the other jaguar was also captured,” said Flavio, who took a seat on the pillowy grass and positioned his guitar across his lap. “The wolves and lions took him prisoner, along with your other jaguar friend.”

  “How do you know all of this?” I asked. “Did you see it?”

  “They have magic,” said Rosa. “Magic that can see things everywhere.”

  Thiago added, “But we cannot travel far from the river, which is why we could not save the jaguars in your group.”

  A third man arrived suddenly, and I flinched when I realized he was standing next to me. Actually, though, when I peered at him more closely, I realized that the newcomer wasn’t much of a man. If I had to guess, I’d say he was a boy around the age of fourteen.

  The boy reached down and took Rosa by the hand. After she stood and he kissed her on the cheek, he stretched out a hand toward me.

  Now to be honest, I didn’t like this new guy as soon as he’d approached Rosa. It churned up a feeling I’d never felt before, as if Rosa’s closeness to another boy bothered me. Yet at the same time, I knew I shouldn’t be rude, so I reached up and clasped his hand. He squeezed hard—probably trying to act tough—which was another reason for me not to like him. After so many years spent dealing with those werewolves in Vermont (not to mention my own sister), I didn’t appreciate shape shifters who enjoyed showing off their strength.

  “You must be the hyena,” he said. “Rosa has told me about you.”

  “She did?” My eyebrows arched with surprise.

  “Of course I told them about you,” Rosa said. “That is why they let you in.”

  Thiago pointed upward and said, “We do not let many from your world into El Encante.”

  “Only the best may enter,” the dolphin boy said.

  “We’re the best?” I heard myself blurt.

  “You must be,” said Flavio. “You’ve come to face Kunturi, have you not?”

  “Who?” I shot back.

  Thiago said, “Kunturi is the condor king.”

  I recalled that Queen Ayaba wanted me to go to “the land of the condor,” so I had to be in the right place.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I think that’s what I’m supposed to do. What do you know about him?”

  “Let us show you.” With a wave of his muscular arm, Thiago changed the scenery over our heads. Instead of flashes and swirls of color alongside the rainbow in the rectangular patch above us, half of the sky opened into what appeared to be a gigantic movie screen.

  An image of a mighty bird blazed on it. The bird wore feathers of black, white, and gray, although its head was bald, exposing a lump of flesh at the top.

  “That’s a condor?” I asked.

  “And a shape shifter.” Thiago nodded. “That is Kunturi.” With another flick of his hand, he showed the bird’s human form. As I’d expected, his appearance was formidable, with a bare, muscular chest, a cape of feathers, a crested helmet over his square jaw, and arms and legs that could’ve been chiseled from granite. Covering his private areas, he had underwear made from metal plates.

  The only surprise was his feet—they remained three-toed and birdlike.

  “His feet are like mine,” Rosa said.

  “Huh?” I turned to look at her.

  Slipping off one shoe, Rosa revealed the strangest foot I’d ever seen. Two toes stuck forward like a regular person’s, but two toes projected back from the heel. Now it made sense why she’d kept them covered when I first met her and why her shoes seemed too big for her.

  “They, uh, look like a bird’s feet.” I made sure not to recoil from the sight. She’d flown all this distance to help me, and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings by showing that I was a little grossed out by the sight of her mismatched toes.

  “I do not understand,” said Rosa, “why my feet not change all the way. I think that maybe my magic is not strong enough, but why do they not change in that condor?”

  “We do not understand this, either,” said Thiago. “It would only make sense if his magic were weak.”

  “But he must be powerful,” Flavio said.

  Kunturi’s image included one additional feature. He held a golden staff in his right hand. Thiago zoomed out, exposing the humanlike body of another shape shifter who wore a brown, feathered cape. His posture was stooped, as if he had back problems. In his left hand was a similar staff.

  “Who’s that?” I asked.

  “That’s Anca,” said Flavio. “The condor’s most loyal follower. He’s the one who sent the harpies to take your family. Kunturi and Anca have been gathering wereanimals from every corner of the world.”

  “But … why would they take my family?” I asked.

  “Because your family did not have protection from other hyenas,” Thiago said.

  It all made sense. If those harpy eagles tried to take hyenas in Louisiana, they would’ve had to put up a major fight. My family, on the other hand, didn’t have those same defenses, being the sole werehyenas in all of Vermont.

  “Kunturi wants every type of shape shifter under his authority,” said Thiago. “And Anca is happy to gather all he can.”

  “Why does he want that, though?” I asked. Then I recalled what I’d heard from Balam and those bears in Tennessee. “Is it for the war?”

  Flavio nodded. “That is what we think.”

  “What’s he doing to them?” I really hoped that my family was okay.

  “We cannot be sure,” Thiago admitted. “We see many things, but this condor’s magic has grown so strong that we can no longer look inside his realm. We can’t even send in storms to stop him.”

  Sensing my confusion, Rosa explained, “The job of the botos is to bring rain to the forest.”

  “But where Kunturi rules,” said Flavio, “we can do nothing. No rain falls there anymore.”

  “Where’d Kunturi get his magic from?” I asked. “How’d he get so strong?”

  “There are legends,” said Thiago, “of powerful beings who once ruled on the other side of the mountains.”

  “The Andes?” I asked. I’d seen them on maps of South America.

  Flavio nodded and picked at the strings of the guitar. “From what I have heard, there were ancient people along the coast who worshipped a god that carried two golden staffs.”

>   “But later on,” said Thiago, “the Inca god, Viracocha, carried only one.”

  “What happened to that other staff?” I asked.

  “We do not know. Perhaps it was lost or hidden in a time of struggle.”

  I thought I understood. “So, you think Kunturi and Anca found the staffs?”

  “It might explain their power,” said Thiago. “And why they change form. This Staff God, as they called it, had feet like a bird and the fangs of a snake.”

  “He was a shape shifter?” I asked, my eyes widening at the thought of such a creature.

  “Perhaps,” Thiago said.

  Whoa. I started to tremble a bit, since it appeared I’d have to face creatures with the power of ancient, South American gods. Who was I to challenge their authority? Less than one week ago, I didn’t have anyone’s respect. I couldn’t even hunt for my own food!

  Flavio spoke again. “You might be the one we have been waiting for. The one who will save us from terrible times ahead. The one who will stop a global war.”

  How could this be? My mind struggled to take it all in.

  “What am I supposed to do next?” I asked.

  Thiago clicked from his blowhole and said, “Trust your instincts.”

  Was that enough? I wondered. All of a sudden, this wasn’t just a mission to save two jaguar friends and my family.

  Apparently, I also had to save the world.

  ROSA AGREED TO GO WITH ME, AND I FELT RELIEVED.

  “We have to do something,” she told me. “I do not like what they say about those birds. The animal people are in trouble, but like the botos tell us—that condor just wants to control everyone. He does not want to help.”

  “You could stay here, and avoid all that danger,” the dolphin boy offered. In our earlier conversation, I’d learned that his name was Paulo. He also appeared determined to keep Rosa in El Encante.

  A spark flared inside me, directed straight at Paulo. I really didn’t like him inviting Rosa to stay.