The Zoo at the Edge of the World (13 page)

26.

T
he path to Father's office was empty. No sweeping workers, no strolling guests. The administrative building was far from the pyramid, no animals nearby. Just the steady drone of the jungle.

Then a window shattered. Or a gun went off, it sounded like both. Glass exploded from a west-facing window, and I heard men shouting. I should have run away from there. Never in my life would I have gone toward the source of a gunshot.

But that was before.

In the reception room, it was quiet again. A large hardwood desk sat opposite the door. A guestbook lay open on the desk, flanked by two bronze sculptures: a chimpanzee in a ferocious pose and a sleeping jaguar. People always asked if we had a jaguar in the zoo when they signed the book. Father hated saying no.

I suppose it's no again.

Men were talking softly in Father's office. The door was ajar.
RONAN RACKHAM, PROPRIETOR
was written on its frosted glass.

I peeked round and felt my heart jump up into my throat. Father was backed against a desk with his hands at his sides. Leedo Flute was pointing a pistol at him.

I spun into the hallway and pressed myself to the wall. My mind flashed to Leedo saying Father might not come back from the hunt. He'd seemed to relish the thought. I'd never seen Father in danger like this before. I didn't know what to do.

“You give me what you owe me, and I will go,” Leedo barked. Was he robbing Father?

“I'll give you your money,” Father said. “But you've got to stay and help me. We need to find out who did this. And we need the men back at their posts.”

Why would Father ask him to stay? The man was pointing a gun at him. I was in such shock at the sight that I struggled to understand what they were saying. I leaned closer to the doorframe and peeked one eye in at them.

“I won't do your dirty work anymore,” Leedo said. He held the gun high, and it shook as he spoke.

Father was still calm. He put his hands out toward Leedo, though he kept his distance. “You're the only one I can trust with something like this. You and I have been through so much already, Leedo. We're in this together.”

“I will not kill for you again.”

I pulled back away from the doorframe, stifling a gasp. I felt light-headed. I gave myself a moment to put what Leedo had said together. But truthfully, I already understood.

“That won't be needed this time,” Father said.

“This time will be worse,” replied Leedo. “And you won't have the jaguar to blame it on.”

I took a breath.

“I won't take another life,” Leedo panted.

“You think I want it to be this way?” Father roared. “We have no choice. We must protect the zoo.”

“There is no zoo. You destroyed it when you brought that jaguar here.” I heard the gun's hammer click. “I will not give another warning.”

“St—St—Stop!” I shouted, jumping into the doorway. Both men turned to me, startled, but stayed where they were: Leedo with the gun pointed at Father, and Father with his hands at his sides.

“Now your son knows what you've done,” Leedo said. “Move!”

He pushed past Father and behind the desk to rifle through the drawers. I looked at Father, but his eyes wouldn't meet mine. He just stared at the floor between us. After a moment, he sat down on the corner of the desk.

Leedo found the drawer he was looking for and pulled out an envelope. He ripped off the flap and took out several dozen bank notes. He counted them and flung about half back on the desk.

“Only what I'm owed,” he said to no one in particular. “I am no cheat.”

Father was still at the desk, not looking at me.

I wanted to run away—not from Leedo and his gun, but from Father and whatever I was about to learn.

“Marlin,” Leedo said, “you get out of here! This place is cursed. And you are cursed if you stay here with him,” he added, pointing the gun at my father.

27.

“W
ha—WHA—wha—whaaa—” My lips puckered, trying to speak.

Father still sat on the desk, frozen. Leedo was gone. We heard the door slam and stood there together, each waiting to see what the other would do.

“WH—WH—wha—WHA—”

I bit my lip. Father slowly perched himself on the edge of the desk, looking solemn. I started again.

“Wh—wh—wha—ah—aht d-d-did Le—le—le—leed—do—”

Father didn't help me finish. His mustache covered his tight lips.

Father was a liar. Rage urged me on. He was a murderer.

Lips, tongue, teeth, air.

“LEE—dd—DO mm—mmm—meee-aan,” I forced myself to say. “A-a-a b-bout N—nnn—Nath-tam?”

Father got up from the edge of the desk and walked behind it. He eyed the money Leedo had thrown back on the table and swiped at it. Some of the notes fell into the desk drawer and some on the floor. Father ignored them. He drew out a pint of gin from the bottom of the drawer, unscrewed the cap, and took a swig.

“I said this was a lesson in management.” He took another drink. “There are always hard decisions.”

“Mum—m-murder?” I choked out.

“I protect this zoo!” Father slammed his palm on the desk. “My family. My employees. My animals.”

He took a long drink, draining half the bottle.

“I protect it against men like the duke,” Father said. “He's buying all the jungle he can, going to burn it down and raise sugarcane in the ashes.”

Daddy's here to buy land for a sugar forest,
Olivia had said in the carriage when we first met.
He says we might move here!

“He'll destroy this place. Everything that makes it good, everything wild, will be gone. The animals, the people, burned up,” Father said, tears ringing his eyes. “Who will come see us anymore, with the jungle gone and the whole interior a wasteland?”

Father's passion was real; he loved this place. But I couldn't forget.

“Wh—whh—whhhat ah-abah-about Nn—nn—”

“Nathtam,” he said, taking another drink. “I've been fighting the duke at his own game for months. Snatching up the land before he can. But it's an expensive game, Marlin. I've put everything I have in it and borrowed the rest against the value of the zoo. If we miss a payment, the bank could take the zoo from us. The duke knows how thin I'm stretched, and that's why he hired Nathtam.”

I blinked. What would the duke hire Nathtam for? Father was talking too fast. It didn't make sense.

“I made the Sky Shrine into a circus so I could charge the guests more. With more cash flow, I could keep buying land away from the duke. That's why he paid Nathtam to bring up this nonsense about the Sky Shrine being some sacred relic and duping the workers into a strike. We can't afford to get shut down for even a week. It was a terrible thing to have to do, Marlin. But if Nathtam had lived, the zoo would be lost and the jungle would burn.” He looked at me with glistening eyes.

My mind was in revolt, trying to comprehend it all. Father was admitting that he'd ordered Leedo to murder Nathtam. More than that, he was telling me it was justified, that the zoo and the entire jungle were at risk of extinction.

The duke did seem to be trying to sabotage the zoo. When Tim was attacked, he turned it into a crusade to get refunds for all the guests. And when they'd first spoken to Father outside the gatehouse, the duchess had said that strange thing about being delighted we were still in business. Perhaps they had bribed Nathtam to strike.

But Father had killed him. Even if the zoo and the jungle hung in the balance, he was admitting that he'd killed Nathtam.

Questions battled each other in my mind, but it was so hard for me to speak. I had to choose carefully.

“J—ja—jaguar,” I said.

“What?” Father's face screwed up in confusion. “Oh, yes. Well, we couldn't have the men thinking he'd been . . . so I had Leedo prepare the body. Make it look like a jaguar attack. Nathtam was gone, and I knew the men wouldn't stay in the jungle with a man-eater. They were still cross with me about the Sky Shrine, so I went out and caught a jaguar, claiming it was the killer. That way they could feel safe here again. They'd know I was the one who took care of them. I could protect them.”

“Buh—buh—but,” I stuttered. “Ah-ah li—lie.”

Father looked at me sternly. “Not a lie, Marlin. A story. People tell each other stories every day. Who are we? What is our purpose? The duke paid Nathtam to convince our employees that the Sky Shrine was a sacred relic of their people. These are men who have worked on the pyramid for years. They've never cared about this pile of rock. It meant nothing to them. But they were won over by words.

“Remember this, Marlin: actions speak louder. I changed the story. I proved myself as Conqueror and Protector of this jungle.”

There it was again, the phrase from the book. I'd never heard him say it before, but he said it with relish. “I proved it to the duke. I proved it to our guests. And I'll prove it to the world.”

In the space of minutes he had moved from remorse to pride, and it enraged me that he would not stop talking. But still I pressed him—I couldn't help it.

“The j—j—j—j—JA-jaguar!” I shouted.

Father's eyes narrowed.

“The jaguar?” he said. “That bloody thing. I tried to do the best I could, but these natives. He inspired a madness in them.” The corners of Father's mouth tightened, and his voice grew menacing. “I'll kill the savage who let him out.”

I watched his mouth move as he spoke. The words were only sounds, I realized. Sounds I knew the meaning of, but they were of a language that was no longer my own.

Had never been my own.

“It Wa-WAH-Wah muh—muh—me,” I said.

He couldn't understand me.

Lips, tongue, teeth, air.

“I wuh-WUH-was the wuh—one who la-luh—let the j-j—jag—wahr out,” I said again.

My speech was imperfect as ever, but to drive home the meaning I had a secret weapon. I lifted the brass key out of my pocket and held it up for him to see.

He was silent. The only thing standing between me and his enormous frame was this little piece of metal. I squeezed it between my thumb and forefinger to keep it from shaking, and faintly, in the key's base, I could see my own reflection.

For once, I was the one wearing the Jungle Look.

 

I wanted to scream, but the stutter blocked my air. I grabbed the doorframe, but I feared that if I held on, I'd dislocate my shoulder.

He hadn't said anything to me. His face just gradually evolved from shock and doubt to rage. Then he came at me. He took hold of my shirt like a crocodile, never letting go.

He pushed through the door to the outside and dragged me behind. I managed a stuttering call for help, but he clamped his other hand over my mouth.

We turned off the path and into the dense stand of awara trees. The sun peeked through the cracks in the canopy, and I watched the light skip over Father's face.

We were heading east. Our house was west of there, but we were headed toward the zoo.

He led me at arm's length, still gripping my shoulder, and we marched faster. We came through a thin stand of sandbox trees and emerged at the base of the pyramid opposite the Snake House. I struggled and yelped, but Father dragged me into the Snake House through the iron door.

It was cool and dark inside like always, the sounds of the resort muffled by thick walls. Father clamped onto me with both hands and drew me in front of him. I flinched and feared he'd hit me. “Both my sons have betrayed me,” he growled, tears in his eyes. “You don't deserve the Rackham name.”

Spittle sprayed my face and he shook me with each word.

“D—dd—dd-don't ww—”

Don't want it,
I tried to say, but he dug his fingers into my shoulders and shouted.

“Not another broken word.”

He shoved me backward onto the stone, then turned on his heel and left through the iron door, slamming it behind him. I heard the key enter the lock and turn.

Now I was the one in a cage.

Final Night

Night has fallen and you are safe in your beds, slowly rocking back and forth on the
Saint of the Animals
as it chugs along the river.

The Zoo at the Edge of the World is behind you, and memories of all you've seen dance merrily in your minds as you fill postcards with stories of Guiana. You came here as a traveler and leave as an adventurer, a Conqueror of the Jungle.

We hope you enjoyed your stay with us at the Zoo at the Edge of the World, and our founder and happy leader, Ronan Rackham, would like to leave you with a short poem he composed himself. Let it be a little lullaby to rock you to sleep.

 

Behold the fearless hunter as he treks along the path.

Alone he journeys forth into the jungle's holy wrath.

Behind him in the clearing is the village, meek and small.

For the safety of the villagers the hunter risks it all.

 

A whispering of leaves behind him lets the hunter know

A tiger is afoot! And swift the hunter draws his bow.

The villagers will feast tonight on golden tiger paws

That nearly caught the hunter's throat and stuffed him in its jaws.