by Peter Nelson
Mrs. Grimsley hopped into the copilot’s seat. “Master Ranger Bernie!” she said. “You saved us!”
“Please, ma’am, call me Bernard.”
Mr. Grimsley put a hand on his shoulder. “Skunk Ape or no Skunk Ape, you make a great Badger Ranger in my book.”
“We’re not out of this yet,” Jordan said. He and Abbie were glued to the side windows, searching the water for any sign of Chupacabra.
“Heavens! What is that?” Everyone rushed to Mrs. Grimsley’s copilot window. A bright orange light flashed at the surface of the water. Something streaked into the sky.
“Bernard, prepare to do some fancy flying,” Jordan said.
The streak of flame and thick smoke shot across the sky, high overhead, then zoomed directly toward them. Chupacabra’s Pyro-Paws were at his sides, blasting him forward like twin rocket engines.
WHUMP! There was a violent jerk as something hit the Heli-Jet, sending everyone tumbling. Bernard struggled to right the aircraft. “Something’s wrong!”
Out the cockpit window, the Okeeyuckachokee was getting closer. “We’re almost there!” Jordan yelled. “You’ve got to keep us in the air, Bernard!” The Heli-Jet jerked again as a red light began blinking and buzzing in the cockpit.
“It’s our thrusters!” Bernard hollered back. “They’ve been disabled! I’m switching to the rotors, but we’re losing altitude and power!”
“I need to get out there,” Jordan said. “If he takes out the rotors, we’re toast! Bernard, you just make sure you get us to that shoreline up ahead! If you can, take us over the Puddle of Ripeness!”
WHOOSH! The Heli-Jet suddenly dropped and slowed, slamming Jordan against the roof and dropping him to the floor. He got up, grabbed a parachute, ran to the cargo door, slid it open, and climbed outside.
The wind was tearing him as he struggled to hold on to the ladder and climb along the side runners. As he approached the rear of the aircraft, he saw Chupacabra. The cryptid was clutching the tail end of the craft, blowing icy cold air directly into the jet thrusters, freezing them solid. Overhead, the rotors whined and whirred, struggling to keep the Heli-Jet airborne. The chopper dropped as they reached the shoreline. The boathouse flew by below, then the runners crashed through the thick treetops of the swamp. Jordan scrambled up the side of the Heli-Jet to avoid getting smacked by the treetops, ducking beneath the rotors slicing just above his head.
Chupacabra gave Jordan a devilish grin, then blasted a fireball at him. Jordan slid back down onto the runners as the blast hit the rotor. The entire aircraft let out a piercing whine as a burst of smoke blew out of the rotor engine. The smoke enveloped Chupacabra, who let go of the tail and went tumbling into the trees.
The Heli-Jet skimmed across the thick cypress treetops. Jordan spotted and recognized a perfectly round, oddly dense circle of them, below and dead ahead. “The Puddle of Ripeness,” he said to himself. “Way to go, Bernard!”
He leaped from the chopper and yanked the rip cord on his parachute. It immediately jerked him backward as the Heli-Jet plowed through the trees, skidding into the thick brush somewhere in the distance.
Jordan tumbled into one of the concentric circles of the cypress fortress, coming to a violent halt as his parachute got tangled up inside the thick grove.
Scratched, scraped, but mostly unharmed, Jordan swung there for a moment, suspended in the trees and mesmerized by the sudden silence. He slipped out of the parachute and dropped into the path leading to the Puddle of Ripeness—and hopefully his friend Eldon Pecone.
41
Jordan wandered toward the light of a small campfire dancing near the edge of the Puddle of Ripeness. Flickering all around on the ground were flashes of pink. Small silk parachutes littered the area like an exotic, rumpled carpet, giving the grove a cozy, dreamlike feeling. There was also a strange abundance of half-eaten carrots.
Eldon’s voice came from the shadows. “Like what I did with the place?” He stepped toward Jordan. He was still wearing nothing but his boxer shorts, and in the dim light his face looked sickly and tired. “Care for a carrot?”
Jordan scanned the dark treetops for any signs of Chupacabra. “Eldon. There’s no time to explain, but you need to get out of here, now.”
“We’ve been over this. I’m not going anywhere. Not ever again.” Eldon held out a handful of paper. “Look. Letters, from the Creature Keepers. They’ve been floating down to me all day. Thanking me for all I’ve done, for keeping your grandfather’s legacy alive.”
“That’s great,” Jordan said. “Take them with you. But you have to go, now!”
“They’re meant to make me feel better. So I’ll come out of hiding. But they’ve only made me want to hide in here forever. I failed, Jordan. I failed the Creature Keepers. It’s all over, and it’s all my fault.”
A rustling erupted in the treetops overhead. Eldon seemed not to notice. Jordan began to panic. “Listen to me, Eldon. You didn’t fail. The creatures you kept safe and sheltered from the world and from each other—yes, many of them want to be free. But you have to know that when it counted, they worked together. As a team. As a family. They’re stronger together, Eldon. Because of you, because of all the Creature Keepers, those cryptids found the confidence to step out, stand up for themselves, and to fight—against Chupacabra!”
“The cryptids—defeated Chupacabra?”
Jordan deflated a bit. “Uh, well, not exactly. In fact, not at all, no.”
A loud cracking of a branch in the distance startled them both. “Okay, you stubborn squirrel,” Jordan said. “You win, and we’re out of time. So it looks like you and I are just gonna have to team up, too. One more time, whether you like it or not.”
CRACK!
Finally, Eldon looked up. “Wait. What’s going on?”
“Chupacabra’s what’s going on. I led him here, away from the others. Away from innocent people. But mostly I led him here . . . for my grandfather’s ring.”
The rustling and cracking of branches were getting louder—and closer. “What good is the ring going to do?” Eldon said.
“Nothing by itself,” Jordan explained quickly. “But you taught me sacrifice gives the ring its power. And I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Morris the Kappa sacrificed himself for Abbie, and the elixir in that ring brought him back to life!”
“Oh, Jordan. I’m afraid this plan can’t work.”
“It will! We’ve all sacrificed something to get to this point! Abbie gave up Chunk. The three special cryptids sacrificed their elemental gifts, and I— Well, I have an idea I haven’t told anyone about that will put an end to this, once and for all.”
“Wait. Go back. The three special cryptids sacrificed what, now?”
“Their elemental gifts. They gave them to Chupacabra.”
“Why did they do that?”
“Because I asked them to.”
“Boy, I retire for just one day, and look what happens.”
“Listen to me, Eldon. I have a plan. Chupacabra is the fourth special. And now he has all four elemental gifts. The power of the Perfect Storm. He aims to use it to create a cataclysmic event that will make him the single supreme cryptid ruling over the earth. But before he can do any of that, Chupacabra has vowed to deal one final blow to the Creature Keepers—by killing George Grimsley. Don’t you see? He still thinks I’m my grandfather. So the final sacrifice . . . will be mine.”
Eldon’s face went white. “Jordan, no. You can’t do this. I—I can’t let you.”
“It’s okay! Once you give me the ring, I’ll have it on when I let him try to kill me. With an ultimate sacrifice like that, the ring will have to gain enough power to stop him! That’s my plan!” Jordan thought a moment. “This is the first time I’ve said it out loud. Now that I hear it, I sure hope it works.”
CRACK! A branch came crashing down into the center of the grove. A violent rustling descended from directly above. Jordan held out his hand. “Eldon. There’s no more time. Give me the ring. Let me finish what my gra
ndfather started.”
Eldon stared back at him. “I told you, I can’t do that, Jordan.”
CRASH! An entire tree suddenly gave way as a large dark figure fell into the clearing. Chupacabra hit the ground, his Soil-Soles shaking the grove with a thundering BOOM! He stared across the Puddle of Ripeness at Jordan and Eldon.
“Nowhere left to run, Georgie. Now I believe you and I have a date with destiny.”
BOOM! Bernard, Abbie, and her parents stumbled as the ground shook beneath them. They continued running from the crash-landed Heli-Jet, making their way through the dark swamp. Bernard led them to the thick cluster of cypress trees protecting the Puddle of Ripeness. They stopped short at what they saw there.
The retired Keepers stood in a semicircle, reunited with their Face Chomper creatures. Standing in front of them were Doris and Hap. Behind were the residents of Eternal Acres. A worried hush had fallen over everyone as they stared up at the wall of tree trunks reaching for the night sky. They were listening for some indication of what was happening within.
A soft, husky voice got Abbie’s attention. “I considered flying in there,” Kriss said. “But this is the secret, sacred place of the Skunk Ape. I would never be so bold without his permission.”
Abbie stared at the Mothman. It was the first time she’d heard him speak above a whisper.
Doris stepped forward. “I told him it was okay, that the secret was pretty much out now. But he wouldn’t listen. Not until you got here.”
Abbie smiled at Kriss. The Mothman hid behind his hair and looked away shyly.
“Well, I’m here now, too,” Bernard said. “And I know the way in.”
“Good.” Abbie addressed Kriss, Doris, and Hap. “You all stay here. If the plan goes wrong, your priority is to get the older folks to safety.”
Kriss nodded. Hap gave a thumbs-up. Doris smiled. “Good luck, dearie.”
Bernard led Abbie and her parents around the circular grove to a shallow entryway. It looked like a cutout doorframe, formed in one of the thick trunks. He reached up and placed his paw on an oddly shaped knot just above the archway and pushed. The knot sank into the bark, and the outer circle of the cypress trees rotated one way while the inner layer of trees rotated another. Abbie and the Grimsleys watched in amazement as multiple inner doorways lined up, creating a short tunnel. The tunnel led to a winding path spiraling farther inward.
“C’mon,” Bernard said.
In the center of the grove, Jordan faced Chupacabra, with only the Puddle of Ripeness between them. Eldon stood just behind Jordan.
“A deal is a deal,” Chupacabra said. “Time to die, George Grimsley.”
“Wait.” Eldon tapped Jordan’s shoulder. “You made a deal with this hothead?”
“Who is this?” Chupacabra said. “And why isn’t he wearing pants?”
“Forget him,” Jordan said to the super-cryptid. “This is between you and me.” He then muttered to Eldon out of the side of his mouth. “I told you, I made a deal that he could get the other elemental powers, but in return he had to chase me down and kill me. Smart, right?”
“Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“Trust me, this will work. All I need is the ring.” He held his hand open behind his back. “Just slip it to me, and my whole plan comes together perfectly.”
“For the last time, Jordan, I can’t,” Eldon whispered.
“What do you mean you can’t? Why can’t you?”
“Because I don’t have it! You threw it in the Puddle of Ripeness, remember?”
Jordan froze. He grinned at Chupacabra. “Can you give us a second, please?”
Jordan spun around. “What?”
“You heard me! It’s not here! You threw it away!”
“I threw it right to you!” Jordan said. “It was a perfectly catchable toss! You just didn’t catch it!”
“Look, we can argue about the quality of the throw all day long,” Eldon said.
“You were going to fish it out! What have you been doing, just sitting around in your underwear, eating carrots, and reading fan mail?”
“I didn’t know you were going to come back for it! Never mind with the worst plan in the history of plans!”
“It was a great plan. I just forgot I couldn’t count on you to help me.”
“Well, I’m sorry,” Eldon said. “Maybe I can still help. What’s your plan B?”
Jordan stared blankly at his friend.
“Please tell me you have a plan B,” Eldon said. “Who doesn’t have a plan B? It’s, like, Badger Ranger Rule number one! Be prepared!”
“I guess my plan B,” Jordan said softly, “is true sacrifice.”
42
Abbie, Bernard, and Mr. and Mrs. Grimsley entered the clearing and immediately stopped short at what they saw. Standing in the center on one side of the Puddle of Ripeness was Chupacabra. On the other side of the dank goo stood Jordan, with Eldon still close behind him.
“We have to help them!” Bernard said.
“No,” Abbie said. “Jordan said he had a plan. And I trust my little brother knows what he’s doing.” She could barely believe what she’d just said.
“So do I,” Mrs. Grimsley said. “But if that monster touches a hair on his head . . .”
“What is that smelly gunk between them?” Mr. Grimsley said.
“The Puddle of Ripeness,” Bernard said. “It reverses the effects of the Fountain of Youth. For years I and I alone kept its secret sacred. I guess that’s over.”
“The Fountain of Youth.” Mr. Grimsley shrugged. “Okay. At this point, why not?”
Down in the center of the clearing, Chupacabra’s eyes glowed a deep red, reminding Jordan of the blaststones he’d packed up in his small room in the city. It all felt like a million miles and a million years away.
“Time’s up, George Grimsley. And by that I mean yours.”
Jordan swallowed hard. He took one last look at Eldon and turned to face Chupacabra. “That’s right,” he said. “Because this is between us. It always has been. It was me, and only me, who caused your pain and suffering. One man, not all of mankind. So go ahead—unleash your vengeance on me and be done with it. You will have won. There is no need for you to wipe out any species after that, be it human or creature. Rule over them all, but let them live. Show them mercy, so they can see your greatness.”
Chupacabra burst out laughing. “Ah, but don’t you see? Wiping out humans and creatures has been part of the master plan since the beginning! Your three hero cryptids—you think they came into this world without destruction? You think they acquired their powers with mercy? Each was created from an extinction event, killing millions! Only by violent disruption to this planet were they born with their elemental gifts. And so now, it’s my turn.”
“But you had your horrible event!” Abbie shouted. “That asteroid that created the Chicxulub crater wiped out the dinosaurs, and replaced them with the ultimate monster—you!”
Chupacabra glared back at her. “The only monsters born from that asteroid were those of the human race. Hunting me and my kind. Killing us. Then enslaving us and keeping us hidden. But no more. Operation Pangaea will wipe them out in one great extinction event. And I shall be reborn. The ultimate super-cryptid, ruler over all that I—”
“Oh, shut your piehole already, will ya?”
Eldon stepped forward. “Jeez Louise, do you ever listen to yourself? It’s ‘rule over this’ and ‘bring about the end to that’!” Eldon turned to the Grimsleys. “Hey, do you guys know that when I first met this blowhard, he couldn’t speak? That’s right, not a word! Now he never stops!”
“Okay, Eldon,” Jordan said gently. “I think you may have gone cuckoo-pants. Time for a carrot break. Go and sit down. I got this.”
Eldon ignored Jordan. “That’s another thing!” Eldon took one more step closer to the puddle that separated the two of them from Chupacabra. “For all your blabbing, you still don’t understand basic English! How many times has Jordan to
ld you HE ISN’T GEORGE GRIMSLEY? He’s his grandson, you loony old labradoodle!”
“Not true!” Jordan shouted to Chupacabra. “George Grimsley here, in the flesh!” He whispered frantically to Eldon. “You have to stop. You’re ruining my plan B!”
“Jordan, there’s something I need to tell you.” Eldon put a hand on Jordan’s shoulder and looked into his eyes. “Your plan B is a real stinker. What were you going to do, let him kill you, then hope he’ll spare mankind? You heard him—he won’t show mercy on anyone. It’s a terrible plan. But I must say, you were right about one thing. There is a reason that ring kept coming back to me. It’s because I’m the one who has to sacrifice, not you.”
Jordan shook his head. “No. Eldon, you don’t understand. It’s George Grimsley he wants.”
“I know. And it’s well past time that old George Grimsley finally stops hiding and shows himself.”
“Eldon, what are you talking about?”
“You’re very smart and very brave,” the former Master Badger Ranger said. “From the first day we met, I knew you’d make an exceptional Creature Keeper. But you’re no George Grimsley. Wanna know why?” He leaned in and whispered, “Because you’re better than I ever was.”
Jordan’s eyes grew wide. Eldon pulled back and winked at him. “Except at one thing—CANNONBALL!”
Eldon leaped into the air, pulled his knees to his chest, and plunged into the Puddle of Ripeness, disappearing beneath the thick glop.
“Eldon!” Jordan nearly fell in behind him. Abbie, Mr. and Mrs. Grimsley, and Bernard rushed to his side and held him back. Even Chupacabra was stunned by what was happening. The thick puddle churned and roiled. Then it went completely calm. A large green bubble popped at the surface, releasing a nasty-smelling vapor. And then there was nothing.
“Let me go!” Jordan said. “I’ve got to get him out of there!”
“Jordan, you can’t,” Bernard said. “It’s too dangerous. It could kill you.” Realizing what this meant, the Skunk Ape let go of Jordan and lowered his head. Jordan stopped struggling, then turned and buried his face in Bernard’s furry chest.
