The Zoo at the Edge of the World (16 page)

33.

I
pressed the duke and duchess to move toward the Great Hall quickly, though they had both been badly shaken. “C—cc—cuh—cu—come on!” I scolded them, and for once they did not smirk at my stutter.

I had to find my father. The fires were getting worse, and the animals still in their cages were terrified. There was no choice now but to let them all out, but he had the keys.

We reached the Great Hall and found the enormous double door barricaded, but not locked, which gave me a sick feeling. It meant no one inside had a key to the door, so my father was not there. I banged on the door and heard screams from within, but it didn't open. The duke strode up beside and called, “It is I, the Duke of Bradshire and my family.” He gave me a quick look. “And Marlin Rackham!” he added.

We heard what sounded like the movement of heavy furniture, and the portal opened. The Great Hall was a mess. Chairs and tables had been turned over and piled by all the doors and windows. A shocked-looking young man greeted us.

“Hello, my lord,” he said. “Please come in quickly!”

I surveyed the gathering of terrified guests and confirmed that my father was not among them. Nor were there any workers; they must have all abandoned the zoo that morning. It was a sad-looking lot. Families were huddled together and fearful. The lady in the red hat was there with her husband. “Close the door!” she demanded.

The young man who had opened it for us swung it shut and moved to push a broken table in front of it again. I touched his arm to stop him.

“Marlin, what are you doing?” Olivia asked me, but I sensed she already knew.

“The bub—bb-b-b-boat . . . ,” I said to her, drawing her close to me.

“Yes, your father said it would come soon,” she agreed. “But you need to wait here with us.”

I shook my head. “I mm-mm-must f-find him.”

“You don't even know where to look! He could be anywhere. Just stay until the boat comes.”

“Kenji,” I called to the little monkey. “Come on!” She hopped onto my shoulder.

Olivia grabbed my torn shirt sleeve. “Does anyone know where Captain Rackham is?” she called to the group.

“I saw him,” said the young man who had let us in through the door.

“Wuh—WH-ww-where?” I spit out.

“He found me in a patch of brush along the path,” the man said. “He told me I needed to follow him. We ran to a shed he said had guns in it. But before we got to the door, a group of chimps attacked. They threw me down.” The man showed me a gash on his forehead. “When I came to, they were far away, dragging him up the steps.”

I locked eyes with Olivia.

“Up?” she said.

I threw a broken table out of the way and marched out the door.

“Marlin, wait!” she cried, and followed me onto the path. “You can't go up there.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me back toward the door. I tried to shake her loose, but she dug in her heels and held firm.

“B—buh—buh-bar the dd—d—door.”

“No!” She shook her head and said, “Stay here.”

She pulled me off-balance and I fell into her arms. She clung to me.

“There's something wonderful about you,” she said. “I knew it when we first met.” She gripped me tightly. “You must promise me you'll be all right.”

“Ah-a—aa—I will,” I managed, pushing away from her.

She grabbed my collar and drew me close again. Our noses touched and her breath was warm on my face. When she closed her eyes, tears streamed out and she kissed me.

I stood there motionless and heat spread across my cheeks. The little hairs stood up on the back of my head.

“Wow!” Kenji gasped. She was still on my shoulder, her face inches from ours.

“Kenji!” Olivia laughed and covered her mouth with her hand. I laughed too.

“I will see you soon,” she said determinedly.

I nodded.

“Be safe, Marlin.”

I reassured her with one last glance, and she retreated back into the Great Hall, closing the door. I heard furniture screeching along the floor to bar it.

Kenji and I left for the Golden Path. I knew where to find Father and the Jaguar.

I was still a Rackham.

Even if I didn't know what that meant anymore.

34.

M
y knees cracked and popped as we climbed the steps of the pyramid up to the Sky Shrine. My head was light. The smoke from burning trees rose up the pyramid in a fog of ash. My eyes watered and my throat was dry. But I did not feel any pain.

Kenji coughed and wheezed. “Kenji can't breathe!” she cried out near the top. I suspected she was overcome half by the smoke and half by the fear of what was waiting.

A gunshot rang out over the cackles of apes.

“You go back, Kenj.” I knelt next to her on the step. “You've helped me enough, I think.”

Kenji looked down. “Why don't you come back too?”

“Because this is my fault.”

A waft of smoke blew into Kenji's eyes and she winced. She was such a small creature.

“I'm sorry, friend.” I held out my hand. She crept into my arms. I held her there for a moment and closed my eyes. In my mind, I returned to the corner behind my bed where I'd whispered to her. We were so far from that place now, but that's where all this had begun. And here was the end of it.

“I love you, Kenj,” I whispered into the fur on the top of her head. “And I want you to go back.”

“Okay, Master Marlin,” Kenji chirped, and gave me one last squeeze.

She dropped from my arms to the steps below and hopped down them one by one. The smoke was thickening around the pyramid like a cloud, and after a dozen steps, I couldn't see her anymore.

She disappeared, and I kept climbing.

 

I couldn't see two yards in front of me, but I could tell from the smooth stones beneath my soles that I had reached the peak. It was five paces to the brick stairs leading down into the bowl of the Sky Shrine.

A few steps down and the air cleared. The smoke, lighter than air, still rose up the walls of the pyramid, but didn't sink into the pit. It was like being in a bubble, trapped under-water. The canvas tent was burned away because of my previous visit, but the smoke made its own black ceiling and blotted out the stars. Only a bit of moonlight shone through.

I made out the shapes of chimpanzees roiling in the bleachers. They were hooting at the action down below. I crouched and crept toward the pit.

A gunshot popped and all the chimps went mad laughing. Screecher rose above them all, gripping a rifle. He banged the butt of it on the stone and it went off.

The flash from the muzzle cast light on the pit. And I saw my father down there.

With the Jaguar.

From where I was, they both looked small. The Jaguar stalked my father, who retreated. Without thinking, I was at a run, bounding down the steps of the bleachers toward the pit. The apes' fur and filth brushed against me as I ran. I leaped off the edge toward my father and the Jaguar.

Then I was in the dust of the pit.

The Jaguar's teeth caught the moonlight. They got bigger as he approached me.

“Marlin,” he purred. To his cat eyes, I was clear as day.

I could hear Father's heavy breathing off to my right. A brief opening in the smoke ceiling shed some light, and I saw him collapsed in the center of the pit.

He was the ringmaster there two days ago.

He glanced up in a panic and saw me, the Jungle Look stretched across his face. He stumbled toward me, tripping over his torn-up boots.

“Marlin,” he gasped, though it was barely a word.

Both my father and the Jaguar approached, but Father caught me first. His thick, hairy arm scooped me up. I felt both embraced and ensnared. He held me close, pressed against his chest, the Jaguar several paces away.

“We have to stay together,” he whispered.

I struggled in his grip. My arm was clamped awkwardly against my face, and I could smell his awful breath and feel his ragged heartbeat.

“La-le—laa—let g-gg—ah—go!” I stammered. This isn't how I wanted things to be. I'd come to save him.

The Jaguar stopped a few feet in front of us, looking amused.

“Marlin,” Father gasped. “We'll get past him, make it out the big doors.” He stared straight ahead at the Jaguar.

“L—l—listen!” I cried, struggling. But he wouldn't let go. He started to back away toward the doors, dragging me by my feet. He was stronger than me and he wouldn't stop.

“Nnn-NN—no!” I reared back my head and knocked him in the nose. I felt it crack against the back of my skull. His grip came apart and he covered his face. I managed to escape him and ran toward the Jaguar. Behind me he tried to choke out a warning but could make only a gurgling grunt.

“What are you doing?” I accosted the Jaguar. My face was flushed from my struggle with Father, and blood rushed through my body. I was shaking.

The beast considered me as coolly as ever, but beneath his expression I could sense unease.

“I'm doing the same as your father has done all these years,” the Jaguar pronounced. “Whatever pleases me.”

“And that means torturing him?” I said, stepping up, face-to-face, inches from his snout. “You going to kill him too? You and these mad apes!”

The chimps, whose night vision was as bad as mine, must have recognized me then. I heard them hoot and shout, but I didn't care. They rushed up to the inward edge of the bleachers, enjoying the show. But I stayed focused on the Jaguar.

“I do what I believe to be right,” the Jaguar said, heat entering his voice. “This is punishment.”

“I thought there was no punishment in the jungle,” I barked. “I thought there was no revenge, no torture.”

“There's no law in the jungle,” the Jaguar growled. “And above all, no creatures lording their laws above others.”

“Then what do you call this?” I said, “These apes made war on the zoo. They're burning it to the ground.”

“I'm not responsible for what they do.”

“You are—when you let someone out of a cage, you are responsible.” Every night he'd lectured me on the ways of the world, and I'd listened to him. But now he was wrong.

The Jaguar laughed. “Is that why you've come here?”

“Among other reasons. Why do you have my father?”

The Jaguar didn't answer. He only blinked.

“To kill him?” I said. “I won't let you.”

A twitch sparked across the Jaguar's face. His muzzle dropped an inch.

“After everything you've seen,” he said, voice low, “you side with him?”

I looked at Father. He'd pressed himself against the walls of the pit, clutching his nose. The filthy apes jeered at him from above, the zoo in flames behind them. Screecher dangled the gun over Father's head, laughing.

“There are no sides in this, Jaguar,” I said, turning back. “I don't know what kind of a man my father is, but he is my father and that will not change. I will protect him.”

“We kill man or they kill us,” said the Jaguar, growing agitated. “Look around! That is the way.”

“I am a man,” I said. “Do you kill me?”

“You are not a man,” the Jaguar answered.

“I am.”

“You are like me.” The Jaguar growled. He breathed heavily through his teeth.

“Maybe I am,” I said. “But I'll still protect him. The same as I would you.”

The Jaguar's eyes widened in horror. His lips pulled back and showed his teeth. Behind me, I heard a shot and a scream.

Father had wrestled the gun from Screecher and fired into the chimp horde. They scattered up the benches of the Sky Shrine in all directions.

“Move, boy!” Father shouted—the barrel of the gun pointed toward the Jaguar beside me.

“Nn—NN—NO!” I screamed. But the Jaguar tossed me aside with his powerful head and I fell on my back in the dust. With every desire I willed myself to leap up, but my body would not respond. I heaved helplessly for breath. The Jaguar crouched down in anticipation and quaked suddenly.

I didn't hear the gunshot. I only saw the Jaguar's forelegs tense together and his haunches shift uselessly. A great exhalation of breath issued from his snout, and the Jaguar slumped to the ground.

Then I heard it.

My eyes were torn away from my friend as I was hauled up onto Father's shoulder. I cried incoherently, kicking and writhing, but he gripped me tight.

“Be still!” he commanded, brandishing the gun in one hand. “There are no more bullets. We have to go.”

I grabbed his hair and pulled with all my strength. I kicked at his stomach and his arm holding the gun and bashed my palm into his broken nose. He gasped and dropped me to the ground.

“Marlin!” he commanded, but I scrambled away from him. The apes had regained their courage and were dropping down the walls into the pit. Trébone led their charge to the center, “He has killed the jaguar!” he shouted.

I ran to meet the apes as they circled his body. The Jaguar lay there in the dust, struggling to breathe.

“Marlin!” Father called to me. “Come now!” I turned to him and saw that he didn't dare come any nearer to the angry horde of chimps that surrounded me. “I won't leave without you!”

I turned back to the Jaguar. “He's dying,” Trébone said to no one in particular. The dark circle of apes was transfixed by his heavy breathing, but they gave him space. I stepped forward and knelt.

“Oh, Jaguar,” I said, laying my hand on his head. His neck was an open wound, and his black hair was slick with blood. “Jaguar,” I said, putting my face to his. My nose was tickled by the soft hair of his ears.

There was a gurgle in his throat. The apes around me leaned in closer. The Jaguar's eyes were as narrow as slits and stared ahead of him, unfocused.

“Marlin,” he managed in a soft wet voice.

“My friend,” I said, stroking his head. Tears streamed down my dirty face. I tasted bitter dust in my mouth.

The slit of his eye grew narrower, but I saw the pupil swing around to me. When he saw I was there, he exhaled.

With great labor he drew another breath. I felt the tremor in his chest as he tried desperately to take in air.

“Use your gift,” he said. His face relaxed. Clear fluid drained from his mouth and formed a small lake across the dirt of the pit.

“Jaguar,” I moaned, collapsing over him. My tears mingled with his blood and my face was wet. It had been for nothing.

Great waves of pain whipped up through my chest and threw wails from my mouth. My eyes and my face squeezed a torrent through their tiny spaces.

I lay over him. How could I use my gift now? It had caused all this. The zoo was destroyed, the animals endangered, the Jaguar killed. My father would snatch me up again and take me back to the world where I couldn't speak, where I had no friends. And the Jaguar was dead.

The pain was unbearable. It pressed through my every pore. My right palm seared and throbbed. I cried out and cradled it to my chest. The new, fresh skin writhed and shuddered and crimped. It was horrific to see. The skin bounced and pulled away from my skeleton like it wanted to escape.

Use your gift,
the Jaguar had said. He had given me the gift of animal speech, but that first night when I cut my hand, wasn't there another?

The apes were creeping closer now, crowding over the Jaguar's body, and I rose up and shoved them back. “Marlin!” Trébone called as I pushed him away.

“Back!” I screamed, raising my right hand in the air. I pressed my palm to the Jaguar's neck. It came down on the wound with a wet smack, and I felt the skin tear away from me. My blood changed currents within my body, draining away from my legs and my head, all rushing toward the palm of my hand.

I felt myself falling. My vision went blurry, and then all was black.