“There’s a nice one of Logan in here,” Zoe said to her. “He’d been playing with the griffins and looks all funny and happy.”
“I’m so glad you guys are friends,” Abigail said. “Wait—go back. What was that?”
Zoe slipped her thumb across the screen. A picture of a foreign-looking word popped up, and it took her a minute to remember it was the photo Jasmin had sent her, from one of the papers in her dad’s office. K-N-O-H in Russian-looking letters.
Abigail tilted her head, frowning at it. “Zoe,” she said, “why do you have a picture of the Russian word for ‘clone’ on your phone?”
Before she could answer, her phone buzzed with an incoming text. “Oh, Logan says they just saw Mrs. Sterling go by. She’ll be here any second.” Zoe leaped to her feet, feeling like every inch of her skin was trying to jump off her.
What are we doing? What are we doing? This is so dangerous. . . .
“I’m going to sit right here,” Abigail said, plunking herself down on the edge of the bed. She studied the perfect bedspread for a moment, then knocked a few of the pillows to the floor. “Yeah, take that,” she said.
Zoe stationed herself behind the bedroom door, and her mom stepped into the master bathroom. Nira stayed where she was, magnificent and regal, as if she were in a throne room awaiting her supplicants.
A few long, awful minutes passed. And then, suddenly, Zoe heard the front door below them open and close, followed by the jingling of keys as Mrs. Sterling set her purse down on the table in the hall. The sound of heels clopped across the floor and began coming up the stairs toward them.
Zoe could barely breathe. Across the room, Abigail caught her eye and made a face like, Look scarier! But Zoe couldn’t get her facial muscles to obey her. They seemed very intent on staying within the lines of terrified.
Footsteps at the top of the staircase.
Closer.
Closer . . .
Mrs. Sterling stepped into the room. Her eyes were trained down on her iPhone. She tapped out something, then looked up, spotted Nira and Abigail, and froze.
“Hello,” Abigail said pleasantly.
This was the most terrifying part. They had never, ever taken a mythical creature outside the walls and showed it to someone before. But as Logan had pointed out, if they didn’t have to worry about secrecy, then something as tall as a grizzly bear and nine thousand times as scary could perhaps be useful in this situation.
Mrs. Sterling’s eyes were fixed on Nira, and there was an awful gleam in them, as though she were calculating how much money she could make off her. Slowly, carefully, she started to lift up her iPhone.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Zoe’s mom said, stepping out of the bathroom and snagging the phone from Mrs. Sterling’s hand. “Flash photography sends her into a violent rage.”
Doesn’t look delicious, Nira grumped, ad-libbing. I thought you said she’d be my best meal in weeks.
Mrs. Sterling blanched, but before she could take a step back, Zoe closed the door and planted herself in front of it with her arms crossed.
“We’re here to talk,” she said.
“But if we have to feed our hungry griffin while we’re here,” Abigail said, “then that just means one less thing on our to-do list. I bet one of your ears would make a good snack.”
Mrs. Sterling’s hands jumped to her ears. “What are you doing in here?” she managed at last, shrilly. “You broke into my house! I could call the police!”
“True, but I don’t think you want to,” said Zoe’s mom.
“Nira could definitely eat you before they got here,” said Abigail.
The griffin clacked her beak menacingly. She looked as if she’d swelled up to twice her size, somehow, all outraged feathers and wickedly sharp talons.
“You wouldn’t—you wouldn’t actually—” Mrs. Sterling said.
“We’re here for the pearl,” said Abigail. She pointed to the gleaming chain around Mrs. Sterling’s neck, where a pearl the size of a grape glowed softly in a gold-and-silver setting. “Hand it over and we’ll go. Hand it over right now, and we’ll even let you keep all your fingers.”
But I love fingers, Nira said plaintively. Can’t I have just a little one? Maybe a thumb? Those don’t look important.
Zoe had to steel her face to look stern. Nira would never in a million years eat any part of a human, but she was acting the part of slightly unhinged deadly griffin to perfection.
Mrs. Sterling’s face went blank, as though she was calculating something rapidly behind those sharp brown eyes. After a moment, she reached up and began to undo the clasp.
“All right,” she said. “Let’s all be reasonable here. Perhaps we can work out a deal.”
“I think we just did,” Abigail said calmly. She stood up and lifted the necklace out of Mrs. Sterling’s hands, looking tall and imposing and fearless. “Xiang’s pearl in exchange for your fingers. Seems fair to me, what do you think?” she asked Zoe’s mom.
“We know what you’re hiding,” Mrs. Sterling said, smoothing her burgundy suit. “We just want a piece of it.”
Oh, certainly, why not. Like I just want a piece of you, Nira said, swishing her tail. Which would you suggest? A foot? Your nose? I do like noses, very squishy.
“It is not fair to hide what you’re hiding!” Mrs. Sterling protested, stepping hurriedly back until she bumped into the wall. Her dark hair was starting to escape its neat helmet shape.
“Shouldn’t we ink her?” Zoe asked. “While we have a chance?”
Her mom shook her head. “It won’t do any good if her husband immediately reminds her of everything, and we don’t want her to end up like Miss Sameera.” Resistant to kraken ink, Zoe translated in her head. “We have to do them together.”
“It’s not going to work,” Mrs. Sterling hissed. “You can’t keep a secret like that forever.”
“We’ve made it over a hundred years so far,” Zoe’s mom said, bristling. “I don’t think a couple of selfish millionaires are going to bring us down now.” She started for the door. “We’re done here.”
“You’d better stay away from me, the dragon, and my family from now on,” Abigail added. “Or else we’ll invite Nira to visit you in the middle of the night sometime.”
Oooh, can I? growled Nira, flexing her giant lion’s paws. I love midnight snacks. I love biting into something while it’s still asleep. I love sneaking into places after dark, prowling up the stairs, sniffing for fresh meat . . .
“All right!” Mrs. Sterling said, waving her hands frantically in front of her face. “I understand. We’ll leave you and the dragon alone.”
“Great,” said Abigail.
“And stay out of the Menagerie,” Zoe chimed in.
She opened the bedroom door and heard the front door opening downstairs. Quickly she shut the door again and leaned against it, listening.
“Mom?” Jasmin called from downstairs. “Mom, are you home?”
Mrs. Sterling opened her mouth and then looked at the griffin.
Mmmmmm, said Nira. Dessert.
“Act normal,” Abigail said. “Tell her to go to her room.”
Mrs. Sterling cleared her throat. “I’m up here!” she called. “Just getting dressed. Go take a shower and I’ll come help you pick an outfit in a minute.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Jasmin’s voice answered. They could hear her stomping up the stairs. “If I want to look like I’m six and on my way to a pageant, maybe. I can pick my own ‘outfit,’ thanks.”
“Don’t argue with me!” Mrs. Sterling called. “Just do as I say! Your father is waiting for us!”
“I’m not arguing!” Jasmin shouted back. “And I’m not your American Girl doll! You’re so annoying!” Her bedroom door slammed.
There was a pause.
Mrs. Sterling rubbed her forehead and looked at her watch. “That should give you at least ten minutes of sulking to get out without her seeing you.” She held out her elegantly manicured hand. “May
I have my phone back?”
“In a minute,” said Zoe’s mom.
Zoe opened the door and checked the hallway. She knew Jasmin knew not to come out until they were gone, but of course she was nervous anyway. Quickly she sprinted down the stairs, texting Logan as she went.
The van was pulling into the driveway as the others came down, with Nira’s sharp eyes trained on Mrs. Sterling the whole time. Matthew jumped out and opened the back doors.
The griffin paused at the foot of the stairs and regarded Mrs. Sterling for a moment.
It wouldn’t take me long to eat her, she observed. I promise not to make a mess.
“No, Nira,” said Zoe’s mom. “We’re going to leave this one intact.”
For now, mused the griffin.
“If we promised not to expose your secret zoo,” said Mrs. Sterling, “would you promise to leave our memories alone? And keep your wild monsters away from us?”
Nira’s eyes narrowed.
“You would promise that?” Zoe asked. “After everything you’ve done?”
“Of course,” said Mrs. Sterling, smiling with all her teeth. “We understand we can’t end up with every acquisition we try for. You’ll see, we’re very gracious losers.”
Zoe glanced at Abigail, who looked frankly disbelieving.
“I’ll consult my husband and the agency,” said Mrs. Kahn. “We’ll get back to you.”
Nira stood up, arching her back like a cat. This is very disappointing, she pointed out. I’d better really get to eat the next one. She marched out the door and climbed gracefully into the back of the van, folding her wings and circling before settling down. Matthew closed up the doors as Zoe went around to get in.
“Something doesn’t feel right,” Zoe said to Logan, who was crouched on the floor so Mrs. Sterling wouldn’t see him through the window. The dragon was perched on his knees, its nose and whiskers twitching eagerly. “It’s like she gave up just a little too easily.”
“Wouldn’t you agree to pretty much anything if Nira was snapping her beak at you?” Logan asked. “Maybe they didn’t really think through that these are wild animals. Maybe she’s realized that turning the Menagerie into an amusement park would be a lot more dangerous and difficult than they thought.”
“Hmmm,” Zoe said, twisting to look out the window. Mrs. Sterling was smiling and waving from her front steps as though they’d just dropped off a six-figure campaign donation.
Abigail hopped in the front and hung over the seat to pass the pearl to Xiang. The dragon reached up reverently to take it in his front claws. He snapped it out of the setting and then, with a happy murmuring sound, he tucked it under his chin and beamed around the van at everyone. The pearl seemed to shine a little brighter and a little more golden against his shimmering scales.
“We did it,” Logan said, stroking the dragon’s head between its horns. “We saved my mom and got Xiang’s pearl back. Everything’s going to be okay, Zoe. The Sterlings have nothing to show at the news conference tomorrow. They can’t expose the Menagerie. You guys are safe.”
Are we? Zoe wondered as they drove down the street toward home. Was it really over? She couldn’t remember what it felt like not to be worried all the time. Imagine, she’d have time for homework and hanging out with Jasmin and maybe even watching TV with Captain Fuzzbutt. It sounded impossible.
They turned up the long driveway to Zoe’s house.
Abigail leaned forward in her seat. “Did you guys change your front door?” she asked.
“No, what . . .” Zoe’s mom trailed off.
Zoe lurched up to see out the front window.
The door to her house was hanging open, half off its hinges. The frame was cracked as though someone had smashed it with a sledgehammer—or as though something large had been squashed through the opening.
“Oh no,” Zoe whispered. “Oh no, oh no—”
She didn’t remember getting out of the van. It felt like the world was tumbling around her as she ran inside.
The house was a wreck. Side tables were overturned, books were knocked everywhere, vases were smashed, and one of the tapestries had been ripped right off the wall. The pillows in the living room had been trampled flat, some of them split so that feathers drifted out of them.
Lying unconscious on the living room floor was Miss Sameera, with a thin trail of blood trickling down her forehead.
He might be out in the Menagerie, Zoe thought frantically as she ran to the librarian. Maybe he was with Mooncrusher. Maybe he was visiting the baku.
But she knew. All the dread that had been lurking inside her, coiling and coiling like a snake, suddenly sprang up and grabbed onto her lungs so she couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t see straight. She couldn’t think anything but one thought, over and over like a boulder thumping down into a dark ravine.
Captain Fuzzbutt was gone.
TWENTY-TWO
Logan remembered the first time he’d spoken to Zoe, the day he nearly ran into her with his bike. She’d told him she’d lost her dog—which turned out to be Menagerie code for “six missing griffin cubs”—and he’d wanted to do anything to help, to erase that devastated look from her face.
This was a million billion times worse. Of all the things that had happened in the last two weeks, nothing had crushed Zoe as badly as someone stealing Captain Fuzzbutt.
“What are they going to do to him?” she sobbed into her hands, crumpled on the edge of the couch. “What if they hurt him?”
“Let’s not panic until we know exactly what happened,” said Mrs. Kahn, but the tone of her voice was as close to panic as Logan had ever heard her. “Is Sameera all right?”
“She’s coming around,” Abigail said from where she was kneeling beside the librarian. Mrs. Kahn had propped a pillow under Miss Sameera’s head and cleaned her cut with a damp washcloth; the wound was shallow and didn’t look too serious.
The librarian’s eyelids flickered and she slowly opened them. “The mammoth,” she mumbled immediately. “Is he all right?”
Zoe let out another sob.
“He seems to be gone,” Mrs. Kahn said gently. “I sent Matthew to check the Menagerie. Sameera, who did this?”
“Mr. Sterling,” said Miss Sameera. “And his son. They came with a U-Haul and broke in—they moved so fast—they had a harness all ready for that poor little mammoth. They knew what they were doing.”
“Did they take anything else?” Abigail asked.
Logan clenched his fists. A griffin cub would be a perfect adorable thing to pull out at a news conference to shock the world. If they had touched a hair—or a feather—on Squorp or any of the others—
“I don’t think so.” Miss Sameera shook her head and winced. “They just came through the house—and the mammoth fought them—I don’t think they would have had time to go out into the Menagerie.” She grabbed Mrs. Kahn’s hand. “I tried to stop them,” she said. “I really did.”
“We can see that, don’t worry,” Abigail said.
Miss Sameera seemed to focus on her finally.
“Oh, the lady with the dragon,” she said, managing a smile. “Hello.”
“That’s my mom,” Logan said.
The doors to the Menagerie slid open and they all whirled around.
Ruby shuffled into the room in gold satin pajamas, a long puffy blue coat, and bright green bunny slippers. She stopped mid-yawn and blinked at the chaos around her.
“Sheesh,” she said. “What happened here?”
“Where have you been?” Zoe asked murderously.
“Cleaning up Pelly’s nest,” Ruby said, bristling. “Remember? One of the MILLIONS of new chores I’ve been assigned as part of Mom and Dad’s hideous nineteen-point punishment plan? And then we got talking about how life is so unfair and we’re so misunderstood. Pelly really gets me. Unlike YOU people. Don’t give me that look; I didn’t wreck the house, if that’s what you’re accusing me of now.”
“Captain Fuzzbutt has been kidnapped,” Mrs. Kahn
said. “I assume you didn’t hear anything?”
“The mammoth?” Ruby raised her eyebrows and stifled another yawn. “What? Who would do that?”
“Who do you think?” Zoe yelled. “Your STUPID BOYFRIEND, that’s who!”
“Jonathan was here? And didn’t say hi to me?” Ruby said, and then caught the looks on all their faces. “I mean—that’s very bad. Are you sure it was him?”
“Ruby! He broke in here and stole Captain Fuzzbutt! How can you possibly defend him now?”
“You sound very angry,” Ruby said, waving her hands at Zoe. “I read on the internet that too much negativity in the people around me could be what’s causing my stress headaches. I’m going to go away and clear my chakras and let you calm down.”
She fluttered up the stairs to her room. Zoe grabbed a pillow and screamed into it.
Mrs. Kahn took a walkie-talkie off the table and called Matthew. “I don’t think anything else was stolen,” she said. “I’m going back to the Sterlings’. Mrs. Sterling must know where they took him.”
“I’m coming,” Matthew’s voice crackled through the walkie-talkie.
“I’d better call Robert. And SNAPA.” Zoe’s mom started toward the kitchen, then stopped and scanned the room with a puzzled expression. “Wait—where’s Melissa? Why wasn’t she here?”
“I don’t know,” said Miss Sameera. “She got a call and went out.”
Zoe lifted her head and Logan caught her eyes. Why would she have left the Menagerie essentially unguarded?
“The Sterlings must have known somehow,” Logan said. “They planned this. They must have known you were all gone.”
“That’s why Mrs. Sterling didn’t care that we took the pearl,” Zoe said. “She already knew that her husband had a mammoth to show off instead.”
Matthew came through the door, panting for breath. “Elsie’s been in the lake the whole time,” he reported. “She’s fine. In case anyone else was worrying.”
“Let’s get back over to the Sterlings’ with Nira and find out what we can,” said Mrs. Kahn.
She ran out the door with Matthew and a moment later Logan heard the coughing rumble of the van starting. Zoe half stood up and then sat down again and pulled out her phone. She let out a little gasp.
Krakens and Lies Page 20
