by Ellis Byrd
Peck gritted her teeth and put on an extra burst of speed. She’d worry about Artie later. Right now, there were animals to save.
CHAPTER THREE
Dozens of animals huddled on the outskirts of the ice rink, eyes darting around nervously. A few snow leopards looked up when Peck appeared, followed by Greely, and they hurried over.
“It’s the seals!” one told Peck loud enough for everyone to hear. “They’re trying to cheat!”
Peck raised her paws, and the snow leopard fell silent. “Hold on—let’s not accuse anyone without proof! What happened, exactly?”
The snow leopards led Peck and Greely to the edge of the rink. Peck was relieved to see the pond was still frozen. But after a moment, she saw them: zigzaggy lines forming a pattern across the ice.
“We were in the middle of the ice-dancing competition,” the snow leopard told her. “It started when the penguins were performing their routine. When they finished, one of them noticed what looked like a crack in the ice. But we thought it was just a scratch from their skates.”
Peck took a hesitant step onto the pond, and then another. She hopped up and down and shrugged. “Still feels sturdy to me!”
“That’s what we said at first, too.” The snow leopard pointed to another area of the pond. “Then the koalas danced, and then the raccoons . . . and every time, more cracks appeared.”
“Hmm.” Peck turned to Greely, lowering her voice. “Is it just me, or do those cracks look . . . deliberate? Almost like someone was trying to draw a picture?”
Greely frowned. “Perhaps . . . although it’s difficult to tell from this angle.”
“True.” Peck glanced around, then pointed. “Can you climb up to that ledge? I want to try something.”
She took another step out onto the pond, and Greely put a paw on her shoulder. “Wait. That may not be wise. It feels sturdy, but it is cracked.”
“The ice is still thick,” Peck replied, thumping her foot to demonstrate. “And I’m not heavy enough to break it, even if it’s cracked. I’ll be fine!”
She smiled at Greely, who nodded after a moment’s hesitation. He headed up to the ledge, and Peck made her way slowly to the center of the pond. She felt the eyes of the other animals on her as she inspected every crack.
There was a pattern, but it wasn’t the cracks themselves. Peck leaned closer to the ice, her ears grazing the frosted surface. The points where the cracks began and ended, she realized. That was the pattern.
Pulling out the paintbrush that held her Alpha Stone, Peck half slid, half walked to the first crack on the far-left side of the pond. She touched the paintbrush to the point where the crack began, then traced through the light layer of frost over to the tip of the next crack, straight down. Then a curve up to that point, another curve to that point . . .
She chewed her lip, carefully sliding across the ice, concentrating on the pattern she was beginning to see. Letters. Words.
A message.
Peck was so focused on connecting the dots, she didn’t notice how much darker the ice was the closer she came to the center of the pond. Several animals were cautiously moving back onto the rink, their curious eyes following the bunny Alpha’s progress.
“Greely!” Peck called, glancing up at the wolf Alpha as he watched her from the ledge. “Do you see what I’m seeing?”
Greely nodded, and Peck went back to tracing the last few letters. “H . . . A . . . ,” she mumbled, skidding across a slippery patch of ice to the last dot. “S.”
“Peck . . .”
Peck let out a shaky breath, hoping Greely wouldn’t say the words out loud. If the other animals realized there was a message in the cracks, it might cause another panic. Especially this message.
BEWARE ALPHAS.
“Peck!”
Peck looked up at Greely, surprised at his sharp tone. She barely had time to register the look of fear on his face before a loud crack rang out, and Peck was suddenly airborne.
She flew high above the rink, too shocked even to scream. Below her, dark masses were emerging from beneath the frozen pond, cracking the ice and catapulting the smaller animals into the air, while the larger animals slipped and slid straight into the frigid water.
“It’s the seals!” cried a snow leopard as Peck fell. A penguin screamed, “It’s the Phantoms!”
And then Peck plunged into the icy water.
She thrashed and flailed wildly, her paws groping for anything to hold on to. Her thick fur protected her from the cold for a few seconds, but numbness quickly set in. Peck’s eyes darted around frantically as she tried to figure out which way was up. One of the dark masses floated a few feet away, and Peck kicked over to it as fast as she could. She couldn’t tell if it was a seal or a Phantom, but it was solid, and that was all that mattered. She reached out and grazed the mass with her paw. It was solid and rough, with a strange, porous texture. Peck felt a piece break off, and she snatched it as she drifted through the dark water.
A strong paw grasped her ears and pulled, and a second later, Peck broke the surface of the water. She gasped, shivering, as Greely set her down next to him on a chunk of ice floating on the pond.
Wasting no time, the wolf Alpha quickly leaped to help a struggling penguin escape the frigid waters. A few more of the large, mysterious masses emerged from the pond, breaking the ice into smaller pieces.
Peck looked around at the turmoil in astonishment: A few minutes ago, the peaceful ice rink was full of fun. Now, as Greely helped the final few snow leopards climb out of the pond, all she could see were cold animals shivering and huddled together. She dropped the porous mass onto the slab of ice and looked at it closely.
“Peck!” Greely knelt at her side, his eyes wide with alarm.
“I’m okay,” Peck said, although she was shaking uncontrollably. Her fur was soaked, the water crystallizing around her nose. Greely swept her up and carried her off the ice rink, setting her down once they were near the edge of the pine forest. Before either of them could speak, a hushed but excited voice drifted through the trees.
“Ha! We sure showed them who’s boss around here.”
Another voice responded, this one lower but equally excited. “Sebastian, you were so right!”
Greely and Peck exchanged glances as the chatter grew more distant. The wolf Alpha took a step toward the trees, then hesitated. Gathering all her strength, Peck got to her feet.
“Go,” she whispered. “Follow them. Hurry, before they get away. But Greely?”
He paused, turning to look at her. Peck swallowed nervously, picturing the message in the ice. Beware Alphas.
“Be careful.”
Greely met her gaze and nodded. Then he slipped into the woods, as silent as a shadow. Trembling, Peck began making her way to the rink. She examined the porous chunk of rock, a million questions flooding her mind. How had those rocks cracked the ice? Who had left that warning for the Alphas?
And perhaps most importantly: Who was Sebastian?
CHAPTER FOUR
Greely crept through the forest, his breath visible in the chilly air. He could still hear the voices, but they were too far ahead for him to make out what they were saying. Quickening his pace, Greely mentally mapped out his path so far. The animals he was following had moved west, away from the ice rink, then altered their course northwest to avoid the hot springs, and now they were heading uphill . . .
. . . to the caves, Greely realized. Abruptly changing direction, the wolf Alpha darted between a cluster of juniper bushes and out onto the path before breaking into a sprint. The caves were a maze of secret passageways most animals avoided. Even those who lived near Mt. Shiveer feared getting lost in the dark, icy labyrinth. If Greely was quick, he might be able to cut them off before they reached the caves.
When he rounded a curve in the path, Greely’s eyes narrowed, and he slowed dow
n. A pair of arctic wolves were strolling toward him, deep in discussion. As Greely passed them, one gave him the side-eye.
“That’s him,” he murmured to his friend, who looked at Greely with an expression of deep suspicion. Greely continued down the path without looking back, his lip curling. That’s him? What did they mean by that? Though he didn’t care for it much, Greely had grown accustomed to the respectful attention that the Alphas normally received from other animals. He pictured the mistrustful way the arctic wolves had looked at him and his scowl deepened.
No time to think about that now, Greely told himself. His first priority was to find out who had sabotaged the ice rink—and more importantly—find out why.
Greely reached the caves and cast a glance around before entering. Shaking the snow off his fur, he hurried into the shadows. He would wait here, and as soon as they showed up, he would—
“So what’s next, Sebastian?”
Greely froze, ears perked up. Somehow, they had beaten him here. The mysterious Sebastian and his friend were in the caves already, their voices fading fast. Quickly, Greely moved toward the nearest passageway. But three steps in, he froze again.
There was a fork in the path. A fork that had most definitely not been here the last time Greely had visited the caves. Were there new secret passageways?
Listening intently, he crept down the tunnel to the left, following the fading voices. Greely could sense something else was off, too. The air felt physically heavier than usual in here, as if the forces of gravity were stronger, somehow. Greely didn’t know what was going on, but he was going to get to the bottom of it.
Inside Alphas Hollow, Cosmo set a mug of steaming herbal tea in front of a still-shivering Peck.
“Elder flower and ginger,” he told her kindly. “To help ward off a cold. We don’t need you getting sick when the Winter Games have only just started.”
“Thank you!” Peck smiled at him gratefully before taking a sip.
“Beware Alphas,” Graham murmured, drumming his fingers on the table. “And you’re sure there were no seals in the water?”
Peck shook her head vehemently. “No way,” she replied. “There were these weird rocks. I can see why the snow leopards thought so—from the surface, the way they were moving looked like seals. Like they were swimming to the surface. Look, I grabbed a piece from one.”
She showed them the porous chunk of rock. Cosmo’s eyes brightened.
“Oh, that’s a pumice stone!” he cried, picking it up. “It’s formed from volcano explosions. This bumpy texture is because of bubbles trapped inside. That’s what causes them to float!”
“Floating rocks?” Peck repeated, and Cosmo nodded.
“They must have bobbed to the surface and cracked the ice.”
“But what are volcanic rocks doing in a pond at Mt. Shiveer?” Graham wondered.
Peck sighed heavily. “I think I know. Someone put them there on purpose.”
“How can you be sure?” Cosmo asked.
“Because, well . . .” Peck pulled the blanket Graham had given her tighter around her shoulders. “When Greely pulled me out of the pond, we overheard voices in the forest. They sounded excited about the ice breaking—like they’d planned it. And one of them is named Sebastian.” Peck looked from Graham to Cosmo, her expression hopeful. “Do either of you know anyone named Sebastian?”
Both Alphas shook their heads, and Peck’s face fell.
“I just don’t understand,” she whispered. “Who in Jamaa would want to do something like this? I know Greely said we need to keep an eye on Artie, but I can’t imagine he’d put so many animals in danger like that. We’re lucky nobody was hurt!”
“Oh no, it wasn’t luck,” Graham reminded her. “You and Greely saved everyone. Something fishy is indeed going on here, but we’ll figure out what’s up.”
“And we can talk to everyone who was there, too,” Cosmo added. “Ask them about what you and Greely overheard. Surely someone knows who Sebastian is, right?”
“Of course!” Graham agreed. “Maybe we should visit the hot springs and chat with the animals taking a break in between activities.”
“Great idea!” Peck shot to her feet, but Cosmo placed a paw on her shoulder.
“You need to rest,” he said firmly. “Have another cup of tea.”
“I can’t rest now!” Peck told him, her eyes wide. “What if something else happens? What if—”
“Sir Gilbert and Liza are out supervising the games,” Cosmo reminded her. “And Greely will find Sebastian—no one is a better tracker than him.”
Graham patted the coconut walkie-talkie. “And if anything does come up, we’ll be in touch.”
After a moment, Peck sighed and sat back down. “Okay. But be careful,” she added, and Cosmo smiled at her.
“Of course!”
Bidding Peck goodbye, Cosmo and Graham hurried to the hot springs. “Do you really think Artie might be behind all this?” Cosmo asked, glancing at his friend. “This is his home, his friends are all here at the games—it’s hard to believe he’d put them at risk like that.”
Graham frowned thoughtfully. “That’s the thing,” he mused. “Maybe it’s not Artie, but it is someone. Several someones, in fact—Greely and Peck overheard a few animals, including this mysterious Sebastian. The real question is why. Why would any animal want to—egads!”
Arms flailing, Graham slipped and fell, landing hard on his backside.
“Graham! Are you okay?” Cosmo exclaimed, helping the monkey Alpha to his feet. A gleam of something bright blue in the snow caught his eye, and he picked it up. “Ah, looks like you slipped on one of the pom-poms from the opening celebrations,” he said. “Someone must have dropped it by accident.”
“Not just that,” Graham said, rubbing his head as he peered around the entrance to the hot springs. “Look, there’s confetti everywhere. Food wrappers, noisemakers . . . Yuck, what a mess!”
Cosmo began picking up trash, his pointed hat slipping every time he bent over. Tigers, cheetahs, and an elephant chatted cheerfully in the bubbling water nearby, and other animals strolled around the hot springs and an ice-pop stand. “Do these animals not realize what they’re doing when they litter?” he said in disbelief. “Pollution like this is how the Phantoms nearly destroyed Jamaa!”
“Well, it’s not nearly as bad as when they poisoned the river water,” Graham reminded him. “When all those crops in the Bunny Burrow were dying.”
“True,” Cosmo admitted, carrying an armload of noisemakers and pom-poms over to a trash can. “And it’s definitely not as bad as when they blocked the reservoir in Kimbara Outback. Remember that vacuum you built to release the clean water?”
“Ah, yes.” Graham smiled fondly. Then he frowned at the food wrappers crumpled at his feet. “Still, this is quite a lot of trash. Although I suppose it’s to be expected with a major event like the Winter Games. Thousands of animals all crowded together in one place, you know?”
“That’s true,” Cosmo agreed. “But it’s no excuse. Once we find this Sebastian and make sure everyone’s safe, we should make an announcement about littering.”
After they’d cleaned up the area, the two Alphas entered the hot springs. A lion and a polar bear sat at a nearby table, deep in discussion over hot-fudge sundaes, while a group of otters and foxes gathered eagerly in front of the ice-pop stand.
Graham and Cosmo stood at the edge of the water, surveying the animals. “Who should we talk to first?” Cosmo asked. But before Graham could respond, a sound caught their attention: hisssssssss.
“Is that a snake?” Graham wondered, pushing his goggles up and squinting around. Cosmo didn’t answer. Something was off; he could sense it. A smell like rotten eggs . . . the lightly trembling holly bushes . . . whispers from the leaves of the surrounding cypress trees, warning him . . .
“L
ook out!” Cosmo grabbed Graham by the shoulders and pulled him away just in time. A geyser erupted right where Graham had been standing, scalding water shooting up into the sky. For a moment, silence fell as every animal turned to stare in disbelief.
Then a second geyser erupted in the center of the springs, and panic ensued.
The tigers and cheetahs scrambled to get out of the water. So did the elephant, nearly trampling his friends in the process. A third geyser erupted, sending the table and hot-fudge sundaes flying through the air. The polar bear pulled the tiger to safety, but backed into the ice-pop stand, knocking it to the ground. Yet another geyser erupted, this one blocking the exit, and now the stench of rotten eggs was overpowering.
Cosmo sprinted to the holly bushes and began whispering to them, circling the springs as quickly as he could. “We need your help getting this under control, my friends,” he said over and over again. “Please absorb as much of this gas as you can without hurting yourselves.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Cosmo noticed Graham frantically digging through the ice-pop stand wreckage. No, not just digging through it—rebuilding it, first the frame, then the motor, then the cooling fan with its giant blades.
After directing the panicked animals to take refuge under the cypress trees, Cosmo hurried over to the monkey Alpha.
“I don’t think rebuilding the ice-pop stand is our top priority right now!” he called over the roar of the spewing geysers. Graham didn’t respond; he was a blur of motion now, throwing ice pops over his shoulder as he put the parts together in a completely different way.
“I need holly leaves!” he cried, and Cosmo didn’t waste a second. He ran back to the bushes and returned a minute later with an armful of the spiny, tough leaves. By now, the freezer was no longer a freezer, but a new contraption entirely, with the fan and thermostat surrounded by tubes and coils. Graham dragged the end of the longest tube over to the water and tossed it in, then grabbed the holly leaves from Cosmo. He shoved them in the contraption and slammed the lid. Then he cranked up the thermostat as high as it would go and flipped the power switch.
