Traps and Specters (32 page)

The scouts shook their heads.

“And what about you, kid?” The man pointed to Noah. “That bear do anything to you?”

“I'm fine,” Noah said.

“Yeah, well … you came pretty close to getting your heads chewed off. That bear could have—”

Just then, an officer came charging back up the hall. Seeing the frantic look on his face, Jones said, “What's wrong?”

“TV's here!”

Officer Jones threw back his head and muttered something under his breath.

Ella turned to Richie and mouthed,
TV?

“Reporters,” Richie whispered.

Jones waved the man away, saying, “Go! Keep them off the property!”

The officer turned and ran.

Jones turned back to the scouts and said, “No one else?”

“Huh?” said Noah.

“Just the four of you, right? No one else with you?”

“Un-uh,” Noah said. “Just us. We were trick-or-treating and—”

“Yeah, yeah … I got that already.” He became quiet for what seemed a long time. In the silence, Noah could hear faint footsteps as officers searched the halls. “You didn't see anything I should know about?”

They shook their heads.

He seemed to consider something. Then he pulled a small notebook from his jacket pocket, flipped it open, and readied his pen on the page. “Give me your names and addresses.” Once they did, Jones stuffed the notebook back into his pocket and waved them off. “Go—get out of here. I got too much to worry about right now. I know how to find you if I need to.”

The scouts turned to leave. But after only a few steps, Noah swung back, saying, “Sir?” He looked toward the double doors of the gym, where the police baton was wedged between the handles. “The animals … are they going to be okay?”

“The bear … he took a few bullets—you saw that. And Animal Control … it's difficult to know what they'll do. We can't have animals running through the neighborhood, kid. People could get hurt.”

Noah stared at the door a moment longer—it was the closest he could get to seeing his friends. After a few seconds, he said, “People already did.”

Noah watched confusion twist the officer's face. Then he turned and left without another word.

The scouts headed down the hall. They pushed through the main entrance and walked out onto the concrete courtyard to an assault of bright lights, noise, and commotion. At least fifteen police cars were parked around, their roof-mounted light bars flashing red and blue across everything: the grass, the school, even the cops themselves. Several cars had their door-mounted spotlights turned toward the main entrance—bright streams in the still-foggy air. In the street, a crowd was gathered: mothers and fathers, and kids dressed in costumes, some carrying bags full of candy.

The scouts left the scene and headed down Jenkins Street. Noah, staring straight ahead, declared, “We won't let them die.” He paused, then added, “None of them. Blizzard, Little Big, the Descenders … we'll get them all back.”

It wasn't just a remark—it was a vow. And on the dark, foggy street, the other scouts nodded and pledged the same.

CHAPTER 62

W
hen police officers discovered a classroom and two rows of student lockers in ruins, they assumed that Blizzard and Little Bighorn had caused the damage. Had they investigated the school minutes before, they would have learned the truth.

During the confrontation in the gym, a group of six girls had arrived at Clarksville Elementary. They divided into pairs to search the school. Their intent was simple: to discover the bodies of the sasquatches and bury them in the secrecy and magic that literally crawled along the girls.

In the upper-el wing, Evie and Sara found a sasquatch lying on the floor, its long, limp tongue dangling over its slack jaw. As they rushed toward it, they each held open one of their pockets, releasing chameleons from the Portal Place in the Secret Zoo. Hundreds spilled out across the floor and crawled onto the sasquatch, squirming through its mangy fur. Within seconds, the beast seemed to disappear.

In front of the media center, Lee-Lee and Elakshi discovered the body of a second sasquatch and did the same.

Both pairs of Specters then went to work on getting the sasquatches out of Clarksville Elementary. For this, they relied on the chameleons again. Using their massive numbers, the chameleons could lift things many times their size. Countless chameleons squirmed beneath each sasquatch, taking its incredible weight onto their backs. Then they carried each beast in secrecy through the halls and out the broken doors of the lower-el wing.

Outside, the Specters led the chameleons across the foggy stretch of the playground. They secretly crossed Jenkins Street and headed toward the gates on the west side of the zoo. Once behind the cover of the concrete wall, the Specters appeared and flagged down several guards to take over the sasquatches. As the girls rushed back to Clarksville Elementary, the chameleons swarmed up their legs and vanished back through the portals in their pockets.

All six Specters met up on the playground, where six fallen sasquatches lay. They opened their pockets and quickly went to work. The chameleons lifted the sasquatches again and followed the Specters in perfect secrecy across the playground and to the zoo. Then, their work done, the chameleons crawled back into the Specter's pockets, and Evie and her friends fully appeared. Without a word, the six girls turned and headed deeper into the zoo.

Near Metr-APE-olis, a voice called out to them: “Evie, wait!”

Across the zoo grounds, Solana came running. She stopped in front of Evie, took a deep breath, and asked, “How did you know?” When Evie's only response was a blank expression, she added, “How did you know to come to the school?”

Evie considered the question. Then she reached into one ear and plucked out a bone mic. She tossed it to Solana, who instinctively caught it. Solana looked at the mic for a second and then held it out to Evie. “Here,” she said. “You should keep it.”

Evie crossed her arms.

With her hand still reaching out, Solana said, “Things can be different. We can make this work again.”

All the Specters but Evie looked away.

Solana said, “DeGraff—he captured my friends. Sam, Tameron, Hannah—he got them all. Maybe … maybe you could help.”

Seconds passed. Evie started to say something and stopped. Then she turned and walked off, leading her group deeper into the zoo and leaving Solana with the bone mic in her hand.

Solana stood and watched her go. She glanced at the headset. Then she called out, “Evie, hold up!” and charged after the girls.

Hearing Solana, the Specters opened their pockets and invited the chameleons to crawl along their bodies again. Then the six girls escaped Solana by escaping the world.

CHAPTER 63

A
s the Specters disposed of the sasquatches, an officer named David Banks entered a room beside the school cafeteria marked “Maintenance and Electrical.” As he searched with his gun drawn, he noticed an open door and peered through it to see a short flight of steps leading down to an old cellar. Grotesque insects were crawling on the concrete walls: bulbous beetles, thick-legged spiders, and long, slinky centipedes.

He glanced over his shoulder and then softly closed the door. As he realized there was no way to lock it, he saw something on the ground. A broken padlock. He picked it up and turned it over in his hand. The U-shaped shackle had been ripped from its steel body.

He heard footsteps. Another officer was approaching. He quickly fed the broken shackle through the hasp on the door. Then he reached into his jacket, pulled out a small, velvet cloth, and wrapped it around the square piece of steel. He waited a moment and felt his fingers tingle.

“Banks?”

He turned, a bit too abruptly. Standing at the doorway was a fellow officer, Jimmy Thornton. Banks slipped the velvet back into his jacket pocket, hoping Jimmy hadn't noticed.

“Yeah?” Banks said.

“Everything okay in here?”

Banks nodded. “Room's clear.”

Jimmy looked once at Banks's hand, which was now empty. Then he nodded and headed down the hall.

Officer Banks extracted the velvet and wrapped the padlock in it a second time. Once again, the magic of the Secret Zoo went to work.

David Banks—a man who had a wife, three children, and a house and had spent more than fifteen years working for the Clarksville Police—was more than an officer. Like the scouts, he was a Crosser. But he also served the Secret Society as a Constructor, a person specialized in repairing damages to the Clarksville Zoo and its surrounding areas. Sometimes the tools were ordinary. Other times they were not.

Officer Banks silently counted to fifteen and pulled away the velvet. The lock was fully repaired. He stuffed the material into his pocket, turned, and fled the room, certain he had more work to do.

CHAPTER 64