Traps and Specters (14 page)

A
nimals jumped out of Blizzard's way as he thundered down the alley, grumbling and growling. On his back, Noah clung to Richie, Richie clung to Megan, Megan clung to Ella, and Ella clung to the sides of Blizzard's neck, her fists full of fur. Large leaves hung down from a thick web of ivy, occasionally skipping off the scouts' heads.

Noah peered back just as the Descenders rounded the corner into the alley, Sam flying, the others on foot. The momentum of their turn swept Tameron's tail up one brick wall, where it shattered a window box. Dirt and flowers exploded into the air. More birds scattered.

“Move, Blizzard!” Noah said. “They're coming!”

Blizzard rounded a sharp turn into a new alley. Richie shrieked. As they charged forward, Noah glanced back again to see the Descenders still after them.

Blizzard made another turn and barreled into the open streets of the City of Species, frightening a group of peacocks away. Nearby was an ornate building with rows of columns and winding flights of steps. A flag read “Sector 67—The Secret Rhinorama.” Blizzard charged for its gateway. Seconds before the curtain swept across Noah, he peered back. The Descenders had emerged from the alley just in time to see where they had gone.

CHAPTER 21

B
lizzard charged onto a grassy plain with low hills and sparse woodlands: a savannah. A view from above would have revealed the polar bear as a lively white speck on a green sprawl. Winds bowed branches and patches of tall grass. The barrenness of the sector reminded Noah of Little Dogs of the Secret Prairie, but there was one major difference: this sector was crowded with one-ton animals with deadly horns. Far across the savannah, a blinking light marked the gateway back to the Clarksville Zoo.

Noah peered over his shoulder to see the Descenders push through the curtain less than thirty yards away. “Blizzard—they're coming!”

The polar bear growled his understanding and picked up speed.

As Noah continued to stare back, Sam raised his wings and flew forward, quickly crossing the distance to the scouts.

“Get down!” Noah called out.

His friends dropped like dominoes across Blizzard's back, and Sam swept above them, nearly knocking them off.

Across the savannah, the rhinos began to stir. Some of them followed their curiosity a few cautious steps toward the commotion.

Hannah crouched and sprang forward. She landed directly behind Blizzard and swung her arm at Noah, just missing.

Noah looked forward. The gateway was barely visible. “We're not going to make it!”

As Sam dove at them again, Blizzard dodged to one side, eluding him. Seconds later, a rhino charged up alongside the scouts. The enormous animal had an especially large horn, and Noah recognized him immediately: Little Bighorn. He swung his bulky body closer to Blizzard, as if to help protect the scouts.

Noah noticed a gradual hill to their left. Beyond it, he saw the uppermost branches of a wooded area. Then he saw the treetops for what they could provide them. Cover. Protection from Sam.

He shook Richie's shoulder and then pointed to the hillside. “That way!”

Richie looked over and seemed to understand. He nudged Megan and forced her attention to what Noah had shown him. Then Megan elbowed Ella and did the same. Ella nodded, then swatted the left side of Blizzard's neck, a signal to turn.

The polar bear veered off the direct path to the gateway with Little Bighorn still at his side. As Blizzard charged over the hill and down a slope, a ravine appeared. Lined with leafy trees, it followed a winding river, and rhinos packed its lush landscape. Standing side by side, they chewed on grass and kick-splashed through the water.

Blizzard and Little Bighorn abruptly turned in their former direction.

“Looks like we're not going in there!” Ella said.

“The heck we're not!” Noah countered. “Ella—turn us back!”

“What?” Ella shouted. “Are you nuts!”

“Just do it!”

Ella seemed to consider this a moment, then reached over and clapped her palm against the side of Blizzard's neck. The polar bear rolled back his snout, grunted, and continued forward, ignoring her request.

“C'mon, Blizzard!”
Noah called out from his back seat.
“Trust me!”

Just when it seemed Blizzard wouldn't heed Noah's command, he and Little Bighorn veered back toward the water.

As the ravine came closer and closer, the rhinos in the large herd turned in Blizzard's direction. Noah looked to his friends and saw nothing more than the backs of their heads: Ella's ponytail whipping around; Richie's pom-pom rolling and quaking; Megan's pigtails flapping like a puny pair of wings.

“Hold on!” Noah commanded.

The scouts squeezed one another as they pierced the herd. Blizzard bumped into one rhino, then another, and another. Little Bighorn did the same. Both animals turned to follow the river, and a few startled rhinos took off in the same direction. Then others did. Then more and more until all the nearby rhinos were charging along with them.

In the grassy ravine, Blizzard and Little Bighorn had intentionally started a stampede.

The ground quaked and the rumble of hooves became a deafening roar. Noah's vision blurred as he was jolted left and right. Other than trees, there was almost nothing to see but the backs of rhinos and their huge horns stabbing skyward. Mud and water splashed through the gaps between their bodies.

Noah glanced back and saw that his idea was working. Because of the trees, Sam could no longer spot them from the air. Having lost sight of the scouts, the Descenders were toward the back of the stampede.

Somewhere in front of Blizzard, a series of loud, long cracks erupted. A few rhinos had accidentally plowed into a batch of trees, toppling them onto the stampede. The trees rolled and tumbled down the backs of the rhinos, their smaller branches snapping and spiraling like batons into the heights. As one trunk reached Blizzard, the mighty polar bear thrust up his head and flung it into the air, high above the scouts.

All at once the stampede shifted direction and started up the hillside. The scouts were soon back on the smooth stretch of land headed toward the portal, a colorful curtain magically swinging from thin air. At least fifty yards back, the Descenders followed. Once the trees opened again, Sam took to the air and immediately spotted the scouts.

Noah chanted for Blizzard to
go go go!

As the gateway came to within thirty yards, the rhinos at the front of the stampede swerved to avoid it. The curtain closed to within twenty yards … ten yards … five … three … one.

And then Blizzard and the scouts were gone.

CHAPTER 22

B
lizzard emerged into the Rhinorama exhibit inside a concrete cave and quickly carried the scouts out into the airy night, where the Clarksville Zoo was still almost pitch-black. He plodded across the exhibit's open yard, jumped the narrow concrete moat along its perimeter, and headed up a path. As he rounded Ostrich Island, Noah peered over his shoulder and spotted the Descenders. In Rhinorama, they were splitting off in different directions toward the scouts.

“They're still on us!” Noah shouted.

Blizzard lowered his head and picked up speed, his weighty paws pounding the asphalt. He veered off through a yard, jumped the long rails of the Fast Train Through Clarksville, and circled the Forest of Flight. When they reached ZOOasis, Blizzard headed straight for the vase that Tank had set on the path, and Noah plucked the flag from his pocket and readied himself to drop it in. Nearby, Tank and Mr. Darby were seated on a marble bench.

Tank stood and started to clap. “Bring it home!”

Noah and Richie both peered over their shoulders. Solana was the only one behind them, her long quills dangling off her jacket. The other Descenders were nowhere in sight.

“Where'd they go?” Richie gasped.

Just beyond the vase, Tameron appeared in the flowerbed, dry stalks crunched beneath his stretched-out tail. Then, twenty feet off the path to the scouts' left, Hannah suddenly came down out of the air and landed in a crouch, her red bangs masking her eyes.

“Hurry, Bliz!” Megan yelled.

The vase came into full view, moonlight glinting off its curves. As Blizzard ran beside it, Noah leaned over, reached out his arm, and dropped the flag as close as he could to its mouth. The thin velvet softly fell a few inches, then abruptly took off in a new direction—straight down the path toward Tameron, fluttering like a tiny magic carpet in a wild wind. As it neared the flowerbed, Tameron swept around his tail and somehow snatched it out of the air. It wasn't until his tail dropped still onto the ground that exactly what had happened was revealed. The flag was pinned to his armored appendage with a single quill, one that Solana had pitched from behind the scouts.

Before the scouts could do anything, Tameron raised his tail high and Sam flew over his head, tearing the flag from the quill. He then swooped directly over the vase, stuffed the flag inside, and touched down on the path beside Solana.

Noah stared in disbelief at the Descenders. Solana and Sam bumped fists. Hannah raised her eyebrows, blew a softball-size bubble, and allowed it to burst against her lips—an odd, victory
pop
!