Krakens and Lies

by Tui T. Sutherland

  “Uh-oh,” Zoe said suddenly. “Dad, has anyone checked Pelly’s nest in the last couple of days?”

  “We cleaned it up after SNAPA got all their evidence,” her dad said. “Don’t worry, all the blood and feathers should be long gone.”

  “But have you checked on whether anyone’s been using it?” Zoe whispered. “It’s the nicest creature home in the whole Menagerie. What if the alicanto decided to move in, thinking she was gone?”

  “Or worse—” her dad said, but he was cut off by a shriek of fury.

  “GET OUT OF MY NEST!” Pelly howled. “THIS IS THE LAST STRAW! I AM GOING TO PLUCK YOU BALD, YOU GAUDY TRESPASSER!”

  They burst through the vines to find Pelly chasing Nero, the only phoenix in the world, around and around her nest. He flapped his stunning red-gold wings furiously, yelping with alarm. He was still wearing the small dark-blue hooded sweatshirt that had materialized after Logan tried to put out the bird’s resurrection flames with his own jacket.

  “Why?” Nero yelled. “Why is she back? Why didn’t anyone warn me? Why doesn’t anyone care about me at all? Oh, I am so beleaguered! So neglected! So unloved!”

  Pelly lunged at him, snapping her beak, and nearly caught one of the phoenix’s long flowing tail feathers.

  Nero’s voice rose to a wail. “Help! She’s going to murder me! Birdslaughter! Murder in the goose degree! Phoenixcide!”

  “He’s right!” Pelly yelled. “I am!”

  “Now stop this,” Mr. Kahn said. He stepped forward and scooped up Nero; at the same time, Zoe’s mom jumped (very bravely, Zoe thought) in Pelly’s path and blocked her way. Nero whimpered as pitifully as he could and buried his head in Mr. Kahn’s shirt.

  “Everyone calm down,” Zoe’s mom said.

  “Calm!” Pelly squawked. She spread her wings at her nest, hopping from one foot to the other. Zoe had never seen her so animated. “That fire starter has been in my nest! He’s SLEPT in it! He’s breathed all over it! He’s REARRANGED THE PILLOWS! It’s RUINED!” She started kicking and biting at the enormous nest, pulling out bits of straw and silk and fluff.

  “Hmm,” Agent Runcible said disapprovingly. His fingers twitched toward his case, as if he was dying to report this new evidence of Menagerie incompetence.

  “Pelly, it is not the end of the world,” said Zoe’s dad. “Really. I’m sure Nero will stay as far away from your nest as you like, now that you’re back.”

  “Oh yes,” Nero said, poking his head out to frown at Pelly. “I’ll just rearrange my flight patterns completely for a mentally unstable farmyard bird.”

  “Nero!” Zoe’s mom yelled as Pelly let out a crazy-eyed honk. “Don’t make things worse!”

  “Right,” her dad said. “Don’t add fuel to the fire. Heh, get it?” He caught the look from Zoe’s mom and shook his head. “Not the time, okay.”

  “I could just DIE,” the phoenix muttered, flopping sideways in Dad’s arms. “And no one would even CARE. No one would even NOTICE.”

  “Do not set yourself on fire while I’m holding you, please,” said Zoe’s dad. “Let’s find you a safe spot for the time being, until everyone’s feathers are less ruffled.”

  “That is enough terrible puns out of you,” Zoe’s mom said.

  Agent Runcible cleared his throat. “Perhaps up by the roc,” he said. “Rocs are traditionally fairly calm about unusual circumstances.”

  “Good idea, thanks,” said Zoe’s dad. He left the clearing with Nero, and a minute later they heard him climbing the spiral staircase toward the roc’s platform.

  “Well,” said Runcible, “I think we’re done here. Now we must focus on the potential exposure problem.”

  Zoe thought guiltily of how she’d let Jasmin go home knowing the truth. But if she hadn’t let Jasmin in on everything, they wouldn’t know about the Sterlings’ Election Day plans.

  Pelly eyed them all beadily. “Oh, sure,” she said. “By all means, go. I’ll just stay here and contemplate the wreckage of my home.”

  “Great,” said Zoe’s mom, evidently deciding not to play Pelly’s game anymore today. “We’ll check in on you again once you’re a little more settled.” She put an arm around Zoe’s shoulder and steered her toward the exit with the SNAPA agents close behind them.

  “That’s just fine,” they could hear Pelly grumbling behind them. “Everything SMELLS LIKE PHOENIX. I’m going to have nasty phoenix dreams all night.”

  Zoe pushed through the outer Aviary door, trying to think positive. Pelly was back, and alive, most importantly. Scratch was safe. Maybe SNAPA would be able to solve their Sterling problem. Maybe in a few days, everything would be back to normal.

  They emerged into the cold gray afternoon.

  “MERFOLK OF THE WORLD, UNITE!” somebody screamed.

  “SAFETY FOR ALL FINS!” shouted someone else.

  “WE DEMAND OUR RIGHTS!”

  “AND HAWAII!”

  “HAWAII! HAWAII! HAWAII!”

  Agent Runcible’s eyebrows shot up. Just offshore, in the lake, a crowd of mermaids and mermen was bobbing up and down waving enormous waterproof signs.

  How did they manage THAT so fast? Zoe wondered. She’d already forgotten about Cobalt’s threats from that morning.

  “What on earth?” Zoe’s mother said, coming to a startled halt. “Cobalt! What’s going on?”

  “THE MERFOLK ARE ON STRIKE!” the king bellowed across the water. “UNTIL OUR DEMANDS ARE MET!”

  “Oh my,” Delia said in a low, bewildered voice.

  “What?” said her mom. “Why—”

  “Um,” Zoe said. “Right. A few things happened while you were gone.”

  “I see,” said Agent Runcible. His eyes glittered coldly at Zoe and her mother. “It appears that we are not quite finished with you yet.”

  TEN

  “They kraken inked Miss Sameera already?” Logan said in dismay.

  “I know,” Zoe said. “I’m so mad.” She rubbed her arms, her eyes fixed on the lake below them, where Mr. and Mrs. Kahn were arguing with King Cobalt. Agent Dantes was listening with her arms folded, and Agent Runcible was on his phone, which didn’t seem like a good sign.

  Logan hadn’t realized how many merfolk lived in the lake. From here he could see at least thirty, all of them shouting and splashing their signs around. It was enough noise that the zaratan was clearly displeased; the mossy green mound of its shell had moved to the farthest north corner of the lake. At one point Logan even saw the giant turtle’s head poke out to stare at the mermaids.

  “Maybe it won’t work,” Logan said. “They gave her kraken ink when she exposed the Menagerie in Parkville, too, right? And she still remembered it.”

  “True,” said Zoe. “But that’s not really a best-case scenario. Because then what do we do with her, if we can’t wipe her memories?”

  Blue and Marco came out of the sliding doors behind them. Marco offered Logan the sandwich he was holding. Logan shook his head with a shudder, so Marco shrugged and started eating it himself.

  “Man,” Blue said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I can’t stand it when my dad gets mad like this. Good thing my mom’s not—”

  Melissa Merevy came storming out through the garage door and strode down the hill toward the argument at the lake.

  “Awesome,” said Blue. He hunched his shoulders. “I think I’ll go read in my room for a bit.”

  “Oh, no you don’t,” Zoe said. She grabbed his wrist before he could escape. “You need to help us with this problem, Blue.”

  “There’s not really anything I can do,” Blue protested. “I should just stay out of it.”

  “You can help me figure out which merfolk chores are the most urgent,” Zoe said, pulling out her notepad. “And how we’re going to do them. The lake is the one habitat I don’t know how to cover.”

  Blue wrinkled his nose, looking deeply uncomfortable. “I’m not sure Dad would like that.”

  “Well, nobody is going to like a grumpy zarata
n or a hungry kelpie,” Zoe said. “Just tell me what the mermaids usually do, please.”

  “Normal stuff,” Blue said, edging toward the house. “Feed the kelpie, feed the zaratan, check on the kraken.”

  “Which is still not hibernating, by the way,” Logan said. “It pulled me into the lake earlier, right before I ran into the basilisk. I—I think it was trying to tell me something.”

  Zoe rubbed her forehead. “What is up with her? She’s always asleep by November.” She gave him a rueful smile. “Too bad you don’t magically speak kraken, too. BLUE, GET BACK HERE.”

  Blue had darted inside; he poked his head back out, leaning on the glass door. “And keeping the lake clean and checking the river grates and harvesting kraken ink and then regular castle duties. That’s all. Can I go?”

  He really doesn’t like watching his parents fight, Logan guessed. Cobalt and Melissa were now screaming at each other loud enough to drown out the protesting merfolk. Fighting with each other was just about the only thing Logan had ever seen them do. His own parents never fought, or at least, they’d never done it in front of him.

  “There are CONTRACTS!” Melissa was yelling. “There are LAWS!”

  “I am the king!” Cobalt bellowed. “I MAKE the laws! I’m making a law RIGHT NOW! Oh look, it says that my subjects and I should live in Hawaii! SO IT IS DECREED!”

  “You signed a contract with SNAMHP!” Melissa shouted. “And with this Menagerie! And with ME!”

  “Contracts are for landwalkers!”

  “Blue, come back,” Zoe said. “When do all these things usually happen? Like, how soon will the animals be hungry?”

  “I don’t really pay attention,” Blue said. “I’m not allowed to help, remember? Royalty and stuff?”

  “Don’t even try that with me,” Zoe said.

  He sighed. “Noon for the zaratan,” he said. “And then when he’s finished, the kelpie, and after her, the kraken, if it’s awake. You’ll need the shaker for the zaratan and the sticks for all three of them. The food is usually prepared in the castle kitchens early in the morning, so it’s probably ready for today, at least.”

  “That means they’re hungry now! It’s after noon!” Zoe said. “Blue—”

  “No, no, no,” he said, shaking his head vigorously. “I cannot help you. Dad will kill me. I refuse to pick sides. Uh-oh, here she comes.” He fled into the house without even closing the door behind him.

  Logan turned and saw Melissa Merevy coming up the hill. It looked like the merfolk had gotten angry and splashed her; her dark-blue wool coat, pearl-gray skirt, and gray tights all had wet patches on them, and her usually perfect blond bun was a tiny bit disheveled.

  “Hi, Melissa,” Zoe said. “Any chance they’re going to feed the lake creatures today?”

  “It certainly doesn’t seem like it,” Melissa said grimly. “I have never seen him behave so childishly, not even when we were married. Someone has filled his head with nonsense.” She stalked past and into the house.

  Logan glanced at Zoe, wondering if she was thinking what he was thinking. Had the saboteur somehow been talking to the mermaids? Did they get their ideas about the Hawaii menagerie from someone who was trying to cause trouble?

  That couldn’t be my dad, he thought again. He wouldn’t do anything like that.

  “I guess we’re suiting up,” Zoe said to Logan. “You can swim, right?”

  “Um,” he said. “If I have to.” His two experiences with the Menagerie lake had not exactly made it his favorite place in the Menagerie. Mythical creatures were still exciting, yes, but he was definitely less excited about the kinds that tried to kill him. What if the kelpie or the kraken grabbed him again? But he didn’t want to look scared in front of Zoe, and he did want to help. If this was part of being involved with the Menagerie, he’d do it, whatever it was.

  “In November in Wyoming?” Marco said. “Sounds AWESOME. I will stand right here and cheer very loudly. That is my plan. Unless—do you think Keiko would be impressed if I went in with you? Would she think I’m EVEN MORE amazing?”

  “I highly doubt she’d notice,” Logan admitted.

  “Then I will be useful from here,” said Marco. “With my coat on. Hey, I can hold towels for you! I am excellent at holding towels.”

  Logan trailed Zoe into the garage, where they found Matthew going through a large trunk of what looked like snorkel gear.

  “Uh-oh,” Logan said.

  “This one might fit you,” Matthew said, holding up a wet suit and eyeing it critically.

  “I think Ruby should have to help with this,” Zoe said. “As part of her punishment.” She dragged out a wet suit and flippers with her name on them.

  “Maybe tomorrow, if the strike is still going on then,” Matthew said. “Right now we don’t have time for a snotty temper tantrum.”

  Logan took the wet suit and went to change. It was as uncomfortable and weird looking as he’d feared, but he managed to struggle into it by thinking about his mom, and how she had traveled the world and done a million braver and crazier things than this. One day he might be a Tracker like her. A Tracker who didn’t care how cold the lake was going to be, or how close he’d have to get to a murderous water horse, or how much Marco was going to laugh at him.

  On the plus side, Zoe and Matthew looked extremely silly as well. Zoe had a snorkel mask perched on her head, and she handed one to him as he stepped out of the warm living room into the chilly afternoon. Matthew was carrying a big metal box shaped kind of like a saxophone case, but lime green.

  “We have to go to the merfolk castle first,” Zoe said. “To get the food. That’ll probably be the hardest part, because certain fishbrains aren’t going to be too pleased about it.”

  “A real underwater castle?” Logan said with a grin. He had actually been wondering how and where all those mermaids lived and what Blue did when he was underwater with his dad. He had not expected to ever find out, though. “Okay, now I’m excited.”

  “That’s the attitude we’re looking for,” Matthew said, grinning back.

  “We’ll try sneaking around them, but it’s unlikely to work,” Zoe said. She led the way to the golf cart, where Marco was already sitting with a pile of towels, trying hard not to laugh at the sight of them. Matthew climbed into the driver’s seat and they zipped down the path and turned left to go around the lake.

  “BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” several of the mermaids shouted at them.

  “Scabs!” one of them shouted. “FINLESS SCABS!”

  By the time they pulled up to the shore not far from the griffin enclosure and the river, most of the merfolk had swarmed over to that side of the lake and started vigorously beating their tails. Waves splashed across the sand, immediately soaking Zoe and Logan when they sat down to put their flippers on.

  “Ignore them,” Zoe said to Logan. “They know if they touch us they’ll end up manning the Antarctic outpost. All they can do is splash and yell.” She turned to Matthew, who was snapping open the shiny green case. Nestled inside were four odd-looking devices.

  “Have you ever seen any James Bond movies?” Matthew asked Logan. Logan shook his head. “Well, this is kind of like a gadget he had called a rebreather, which made it possible for him to breathe underwater—sort of like portable gills. Easier than scuba equipment; you just put your mouth over this bit and breathe normally.” He passed one to Logan, who inspected it curiously.

  “What’s this sparkly part?” he asked, pointing at a small disk on either side of the mouthpiece. They were shaped like guitar picks and glimmered like rainbows trapped in silver.

  “Those are hippocamp scales,” Matthew said. “Half-horse, half-fish, if you haven’t gotten that far in the guide. They filter the oxygen in the water so you can breathe it.”

  Something moved out on the lake, and Logan turned to look. Beyond the mermaids, on the one actual island, something was clambering up the rocks where the merfolk often sunned themselves. As the water poured off its mane, Logan reco
gnized the kelpie.

  The dark gray horse gazed menacingly at all of them—Logan, Zoe, Matthew, and the merfolk. Logan couldn’t believe he’d once found it beautiful, although he knew that was its magic. But now he could see the sinister depths in its black eyes, and the way it ground its teeth together made him remember all too clearly that it had once planned to eat him—and gotten very close to succeeding.

  “Are you all right?” Zoe asked him, following his gaze to the kelpie. “You don’t have to do this.”

  “Totally fine,” he said. “Mermaid castle, here we come.” He stuck the hippocamp rebreather in his mouth and started toward the water, his flippered feet sticking out so far he had to lift them extra high to avoid tripping.

  The water along the shoreline continued to surge in waves as the merfolk swarmed close by. Logan waded in, trying to look confident. His mom had joked around with these same people, he reminded himself. Blue’s dad ruled them. Still, it was unnerving being glared at by an angry crowd.

  Matthew and Zoe fell into step next to him. As they approached, the merfolk grudgingly retreated. Matthew gave them a cocky salute before diving under. Zoe raised her eyebrows at Logan.

  He nodded back, adjusting his mask. Rebreather or not, he couldn’t help taking in a big breath before plunging his head under the water.

  Brrrrrr!!! The lake had decidedly not warmed up in the last few hours and his face immediately started stinging from the cold. He glanced down, suddenly grateful for the goofy-looking wet suit. Before he got too far away from the shore, he cautiously drew in an experimental breath. A clean burst of oxygen met his lungs. It was very cool.

  “BBLLLOOOORRRRRBBBB!!!!!!”

  Logan blinked to clear his eyes as a volley of bubbles surrounded him. A disgruntled-looking mermaid with pale hair was shaking her fist at him and screaming what he could only assume were merfolk obscenities.

  “GRRROOOOOOUPER MELLLOOOON!!!”

  Logan raised his shoulders in an apologetic shrug, trying to convey I can’t understand mer-language as well as I know you don’t want me down here doing your job, but if you’re not going to do it, someone has to, because we wouldn’t want the kelpie wandering off to find her own food, now, would we? He kicked off the sandy bottom to follow Matthew and Zoe, who had several mermaids circling them as well. The pale-haired mermaid kept up, shouting furiously.