Traps and Specters (6 page)

P-Dog crawled beneath the fence surrounding the exhibit and dove inside. He landed less than perfectly, his stomach smacking the ground. Several nearby prairie dogs sniffed his bad leg with concern, then led him to a tunnel hole, where he climbed inside and disappeared.

Ella grabbed her backpack and headed up the path. “C'mon—let's get our superhero costumes on.”

On the day Mr. Darby, the leader of the Secret Zoo, had welcomed the scouts into the Secret Society as Crossers, Tank—Mr. Darby's right-hand man, a lead security guard at the Clarksville Zoo, and a good friend to the scouts—had given each of them a zoo uniform: an ugly shirt with oversized pockets and a long, stiff collar. The shirts disguised them as zoo volunteers. When the scouts cross-trained during the week, they changed in either their school bathroom or in BathZOOm, the nicest restroom in the Clarksville Zoo.

Everyone fell in line behind Ella. The day was cold, wet, and gray. A steady wind stripped leaves from half-barren trees and swept them off the ground into piles. With their necks and chins buried in their jackets, the scouts looked like turtles trying to duck into their shells.

“You know,” Richie said, “some days it would be nice just to go home from school and plop down on the couch.”

After a few minutes, Ella turned onto the sidewalk leading to BathZOOm. Richie, his thoughts apparently more on getting out of the cold than on where he was going, followed Ella and Megan into the women's bathroom. As the door banged closed, Noah shook his head and began to count in his head:
One … two …

“Richie!”
screamed Ella and Megan.

The bathroom door flung open and out spilled Richie, saying, “Sorry, sorry, sorry!”

“Nice work,” Noah teased.

The two boys headed into the proper bathroom, where they tossed their backpacks onto a bench and unpacked their shirts. Standing in front of the mirror, they dressed, Richie not bothering to take off his winter hat. Noah stared into the mirror and noticed again how the points of his collar reached his shoulders.

“Do the Descenders really hate us this much?” he asked. The teenagers who trained the scouts every week were the ones who had chosen the shirts.

Richie shrugged. “They must.”

The boys gathered up their stuff and headed outside, where Megan and Ella were already waiting. They soon reached Koala Kastle. The building looked like a real castle, a tower with battlements in each corner. A fake drawbridge crossed a wimpy moat and led to a pair of glass doors, the exhibit's entrance. A nearby sign read “Closed for Construction!” Noah pulled out his special zoo key, glanced over his shoulders to ensure no one was around, then unlocked one door. Just as the scouts started to head inside, a voice rose behind him.

“You kids be careful in there.”

Noah stuffed the key back into his pocket and allowed the door to ease shut. The scouts spun around and came face-to-face with Charlie Red.

“Charlie!” Megan said. “Where did you …”

On the drawbridge, Charlie stood perfectly still, leaves spinning around his feet and falling into the moat. His hair, as red as a cooked lobster, whipped back and forth on top of his head, and his big dark freckles stood out on his otherwise pale skin. Behind him the zoo was desolate and gray. Noah couldn't figure out how the security guard had walked up behind them so quickly.

Ella said, “Red—you are
such
a freak. You trying to give us a heart attack or something?”

“You kids be careful in there,” Charlie said, echoing himself.

“Ummm …
weirdo
…” Ella spoke up. “You just said that.”

There was a strange emptiness in Charlie's eyes. When he forced a smile, Noah saw how chapped and cracked and swollen his lips were.

“Charlie?” Noah said. “You okay, man?”

Charlie widened his smile a bit more, revealing yellow gunk wedged between his teeth. Something about his smile reminded Noah of a jack-o'-lantern's.

Ella said, “Red—you lose your toothbrush or something?”

Charlie only continued to stare at the scouts, his wind-tossed hair swatting his brow and curling around his ears. “I'm watching you,” he uttered at last. “I see
everything
you do.”

With that, he dropped his smile, scanned the scouts a final time, then turned. As he walked across the drawbridge, the scouts watched him go. A minute later, he took a path headed toward Penguin Palace and disappeared behind a row of trees.

“Talk about a creep show,” Richie said.

Ella said, “We need him getting weirder like we need Richie getting smarter.”

“Forget it,” Noah said. “We've got DeGraff to worry about.” He abruptly turned, fitted his key back into the keyhole, and pulled on the handle.

The building consisted of an open courtyard surrounded by stone walls. Noah led the scouts down the first hall, which was lined on one side with arched windows. The friends turned to a window and looked out into the yard—a neat, grassy plain covered by a gabled glass roof. It had six sides, each a different length. The open space was crowded with eucalyptus trees, their slender leaves dangling above an assortment of stone benches, fountains, and two wells with short circular walls.

Ten koalas lived in the courtyard. With dark snouts and fuzzy Mickey Mouse–like ears, they sat nestled in the crooks of tree branches, sometimes sleeping, other times staring out at the world. A few strolled around, sniffing interesting spots on the ground and gobbling up freshly fallen eucalyptus leaves. Noah watched as one hopped onto a stone bench, stood on its hind legs, and took a sniff of the air, its black snout wriggling.

From around the corner came Solana. She was wearing her usual outfit: ripped jeans, a blue leather jacket, and fingerless gloves. She had dark eyes, high cheekbones, and long hair that trailed down her back and shoulders. Seeing her now, Noah could hardly believe she could raise quills all along her arms and torso, shooting them out through holes in her clothes. As she approached, Ella called out, “DeGraff—did you get him?”

Solana shook her head and Noah and Ella groaned, Megan banged her fists against her thighs, and Richie kicked at something on the ground.

“Man!” Ella said. “I thought for sure … What happened?”

“We just lost him. So did the tarsiers. He must have gone to the shadows again.”

Noah held his arms out to his sides. “This is
nuts
! How are we supposed to catch someone who can do this!”

Solana kept quiet. Her silence spoke the terrifying truth: No one really knew the answer to Noah's question—not Solana, not the Descenders, not Mr. Darby or the others in the Secret Council.

“Why in the
world
was he at my house?” Ella asked.

Solana shrugged. “I wish I knew. Council's exploring the possibilities.”

Everyone became quiet. After some time, Solana lifted herself onto the ledge of an open window and said, “We can't worry about it now—let's get to work.” She swung her legs around and jumped down to Koala Kourtyard.

Megan was the first to follow. Noah and Ella went next, and last came Richie, the not-so-courageous scout wriggling onto the ledge, his shiny running shoes reflecting light and spotting the ornate halls of Koala Kastle. He fell into the courtyard and jumped to his feet, smiling weakly.

The scouts followed Solana beneath several eucalyptus trees, ducking their lower branches. Toward the middle of the courtyard, a few curious koalas began to trail them. Solana stopped at one of the two wells. Standing as high as her waist, its circular wall had stone blocks fitted together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

Solana placed her hand on the well. “Old castles—they used to have these.” She clapped her palm against the stone. “Take a look.”

Before the scouts could reach the well, a koala did. It jumped on the ledge.

“This is Ko,” Solana said. She reached out and scratched the koala's head between its near-cartoonish ears. “She's female.”

When Ko sniffed Solana's fingers and suddenly jumped into the well, Richie gasped and pressed his hand over his mouth.

“I hope that thing's not as deep as a real well,” Ella said. “If it is, Ko's not going to be so cuddly cute anymore.”

From inside the well, Ko poked up her head and glanced around, her black snout wriggling. The scouts dashed forward and peered over the stone ledge. Ko was standing on a stone spiral staircase that wound its way into the dark depths.

“The Grottoes are just down there,” Solana explained.

“But what about that one?” Richie asked, his finger aimed at the other well.

“Take a look.”

The scouts jogged across the courtyard and peered into the second well. It was full of water. To Solana, Richie said, “Is this one real?”

“Nope. If we want water, we get it from the drinking fountains. That one leads to the Polar Pool, Penguin Palace, the Wotter Park—a bunch of places.”

The scouts stared into the water and considered this. Even after having trained with the Secret Society for a year, Noah still found everything amazing—all the tunnels and the wild way they connected the two zoos.

Ella reached into the well and flicked water at Richie, who stared flatly back at her, his cheeks and glasses spotted.

“Is that supposed to be funny?” Richie asked.

Smiling, Ella apologized. “Sorry—just felt like the thing to do.”

From behind them, Solana said, “C'mon—let's go.”

The scouts hurried back to the first well. As Noah moved in beside Solana, he noticed her again. Her leather jacket, marked with velvet patches, stopped at her narrow waist, and her faded jeans clung to her muscular legs. When Solana unexpectedly met his gaze, Noah felt embarrassed for some reason and quickly looked away.

“Who wants to go first?” Ella asked.

Megan answered by taking a seat on the ledge. She threw her legs over the wall and dropped onto the spiral staircase beside Ko. Then she took a few steps down the stairs to make room for her friends.

Ella climbed over the ledge. With some effort, Richie went next, and Noah and Solana followed. As Megan led them down the stairs, Ko jumped onto Ella's back and gripped her shoulders. Ella turned her head, a puzzled and somewhat frightened look on her face.

“Ummm … excuse me?” Ella said to Ko.

“She likes you,” Solana said with a chuckle. “You should feel honored—she doesn't piggyback on everyone.”

“It must be your ears,” Richie said, referring to Ella's pink earmuffs. “They look like hers, only pink.”

Ella discovered Ko's hand on her left shoulder and said, “Ummm … why does this thing have two thumbs?”

“All koalas do,” Solana said. “It's one of the things that makes them great climbers.”

As Ella followed Megan, she reached behind her and hoisted the koala by her rump into a more comfortable position, saying, “I swear … rip my jacket and I'll rip off your ears.”

Ko simply sniffed at Ella's neck.

The stairs were steep and tough to navigate. As the scouts and Solana left behind the natural light, wall-mounted lamps began to illuminate the deep shaft.

“How deep is this thing?” Megan asked.

“I'm not sure,” Solana said. “A hundred feet, maybe.”

A koala charged toward them from below. He cast the group a curious glance, lamplight gleaming in his dark eyes, and hurried past. As Ko turned her head to watch her companion go, her big ear scooped up Ella's ponytail and flipped it into the air.

The cold air began to smell and taste like the earth. After a few minutes, a velvet curtain appeared in the wall, its bottom edge cut to fit the staircase. Megan stopped in front of it and looked back at Solana.

“This the one?” Megan asked. When Solana nodded, Megan added, “Anyone mind if I go first?”

Everyone answered no except Richie, who answered with his own question: “Anyone mind if I don't go at all?”

With a smile, Megan adjusted her sporty headband, took a deep breath, and stepped from the depths of the well into the Grottoes.

CHAPTER 9