The secret zoo, p.16
The Secret Zoo, page 16
Noah considered these things for a few seconds more. Then he let the straps slip off his shoulders and the backpack fall to the ground. He handed the equipment back to Tameron, saying, “I guess this belongs to you.”
“Yes,” Mr. Darby said, “but the courage to use it belongs to you.” He started to walk off, adding, “Come! Let us walk you to the door.”
Noah smiled, knowing that the door was really the gateway to his kitchen.
The crowd parted and allowed Mr. Darby through. The scouts followed, and so did the Descenders, the Specters, Zak, Tank, and the scouts’ animal friends. Noah could already see the gateway to his house, a large curtain hovering above the street.
As the scouts walked, they gazed at the sights, taking in the City of Species for the last time. Metr-APE-olis, the Forest of Flight, Butterfly Nets. Noah saw the Library of the Secret Society and recalled sitting by its indoor fountain, colorful leaves falling from the trees like fairy-tale snowflakes, the scouts listening to Mr. Darby divulge secrets about the Secret Zoo. Then he remembered being in the Room of Reflections, the all-glass area at the top of the library, watching the spectacular video of Marlo flying through Creepy Critters. The Library of the Secret Society—so many memories from one place.
Noah felt a heavy arm drape across his shoulders, and he turned to see Tank. The big man smiled his bright smile and said, “We’re gonna miss you, bub.”
Noah, feeling like a part of him was already gone, returned Tank’s smile and said, “We’ll miss you, too, Tank. A bunch.”
Jordynn had walked over to Ella and the two were talking. Given enough time, they might have become good friends. But now they’d never have that chance. Zak and Richie were saying good-bye again, and Noah couldn’t hear much but an occasional bro.
“Here we are,” Mr. Darby said. The curtain was an arm’s length away, perfectly still now that DeGraff’s storm had cleared. Mr. Darby turned to Noah’s parents and said, “Might I ask a favor?”
Mr. and Mrs. Nowicki looked at each other skeptically. Then Mrs. Nowicki slowly nodded.
“I have an important piece of business in Clarksville.” He held up his hand toward the portal and added, “This is the only way.”
Noah’s parents looked at each other again, each judging the other’s reaction. “What do you need?” Mrs. Nowicki said.
“Just permission to keep the portal up for a few more minutes.”
Mrs. Nowicki thought about it. Then she nodded—a bit reluctantly, it seemed.
“Thank you, dear,” Mr. Darby said. He turned and stared at his city. He looked at Tank and held his gaze for what seemed like a long time. When Tank nodded, Noah noticed that the big man had tears in his eyes. But before Noah could think about it for long, Mr. Darby abruptly turned and slipped through the portal.
Across the city, the fireworks had stopped, and so had the music. Barely anyone was moving or making a sound. All attention was on the scene in front of the portal to Noah’s house. The scouts looked out at the magical sights and all the animals and people who had come to see them off. Blizzard, Podgy, P-Dog, Little Bighorn. The Descenders looked solemn.
“Well,” Noah said to Tank, “I guess this is it.”
Tank nodded.
The two groups stared at each other for what seemed like eternity. Noah tried to pretend that everything was okay—like this wasn’t good-bye forever.
Blizzard took a step forward, and then another. He walked into the open space between the scouts and everyone else and looked up at Noah, his eyes droopy with sadness. Then he swung his head toward the sky and let out a thunderous roar. His cry went on and on, echoing off the nearby buildings and scaring birds out of the trees. Then the mighty polar bear became quiet, leaving the City of Species in complete, startled silence.
Noah felt tears in the corners of his eyes. He lunged forward, wrapped his arms around the polar bear’s neck, and held him tight. Blizzard roared a second time, louder than before, and Noah saw more birds escape into the sky.
Very softly, so that no one but the polar bear could hear, Noah said, “I love you, Bliz.”
Blizzard sniffed Noah’s arms and legs, deeply, as if he didn’t want to forget Noah’s scent.
“Go,” Tank said, and then he quickly wiped away a tear. “Go and remember that the Secret Zoo is safe.”
Noah nodded. He released Blizzard and slowly backed away. Then he looked at his friends and said, “Let’s go home.”
Silence. Footsteps. The familiar touch of velvet.
And then the Secret Zoo was a world away.
Chapter 39
The Return of Mr. Jackson
“Mr. D! Look to your left!”
Mr. Darby and the scouts turned and saw Solana and Evie running up Noah’s street beneath the dim glow of a few porch lights. The street was otherwise dark, empty, and quiet. It was shortly before one o’clock in the morning.
Noah glanced over his shoulder and saw his parents watching from the front porch. After panicking about the damage done to their house, they’d permitted Noah and Megan to walk with Mr. Darby to the end of their yard, but no farther. Now Mr. Darby and the scouts were standing by Noah’s mailbox—the same mailbox where a cheetah had once greeted Noah at midnight to help start the Secret Zoo adventure.
Evie and Solana ran up and stopped. Solana, breathing hard, said, “Is he really dead?”
Mr. Darby smiled. “He’s gone.”
“You’re sure?”
“His bones turned to dust.”
Solana and Evie shared a disbelieving look. Then they lunged forward and traded hugs with Mr. Darby and the scouts.
Evie tapped a finger to her headset and said, “We talked to Hannah. Are we really dealing with Operation Division?”
Mr. Darby frowned and nodded. “The portals to the Outside are already being taken down.”
Noah looked at Solana and realized they’d never see each other again. He could tell she was thinking the same thing.
A few seconds passed in silence. Noah glanced at his porch and saw his parents standing by their front door, waiting and watching.
“Mr. Darby?” Solana said.
“Yes?”
“Evie and I worked together this time. Maybe we could do it again.”
Mr. Darby raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry—I don’t understand.”
“Maybe this isn’t the time or place, but I’m asking permission to search for the Specters who went amiss.”
“Solana, we’ve discussed this. The portal is closed. Gone. It can’t be—”
“It can!” Solana said. “There’s a chance, at least. I talked to Zak about this months ago, and he said there might be a way to stand it up again. I’m requesting permission to investigate, and to put together a team of Descenders.”
Mr. Darby stared at Solana, and then at Evie. The scouts waited and watched. “I don’t know,” he said at last, but there was hesitation in his voice.
“At least let me bring it to Council!” Solana said.
“Council isn’t necessary,” Mr. Darby said. “I have authorization to make this decision on my own.” He looked at Evie, Solana, the scouts, and even at Noah’s parents. “If I say yes, Solana, I want you to promise me something.”
Solana quickly nodded.
“Promise me you’ll work with the others—whoever’s in charge—to never let this separation occur again. No matter what. A Specter is a Descender, now and always.”
“I promise,” Solana said. When she smiled at Evie, the Specter did something Noah had never seen her do. She smiled back.
“And I need you to do one more thing,” Mr. Darby said.
“Of course. What is it?”
Mr. Darby began to pull his arms through the sleeves of his jacket.
“Mr. Darby,” Solana said, “what are you doing?”
The old man slipped off his jacket and held it out to Solana. “When you inform Council of my decision, please give them this.”
Solana stared at the velvet jacket as if it were dangerous to touch.
“Take it,” Mr. Darby said, and he shook the jacket a bit. “Take it back with you. To the Secret Zoo.”
“Mr. Darby!” Noah said. “What are you talking about?”
The old man stepped toward Solana and forced her to take his jacket. “I’m talking about good-bye.”
“Good-bye?” Noah said. “You can’t live without your jacket!”
“Precisely.” The old man smiled in a regretful way. When Solana and Evie started to protest, he raised his hand, stopping them. “The Secret Zoo is safe. My work is done.” He looked down the street. “It’s time to allow myself the privilege of rest. And there’s a place I’d like to see. As myself…Mr. Jackson.”
The scouts knew what he was referring to. Clarksville Cemetery, the gravesites of his wife and child. Noah had told his friends about the photograph he’d seen in the Institute of Light.
“Mr. Darby,” Noah said, “you can’t—”
Mr. Darby took off his sunglasses and handed them to Noah. “A keepsake. To remember your adventure.”
Noah allowed Mr. Darby to set the glasses in his hand. “Who…who will lead the Secret Zoo?”
“The Secret Council, just as it always has. And Tank will fill my role.”
Ella started to protest, and then Megan and Richie. Mr. Darby shook his head and repeatedly waved off their concerns. Then he squatted to get closer to the scouts. “I’m afraid I don’t have time for a lengthy farewell. The magic won’t last long.”
“Mr. Darby!” Megan said with a quiver in her voice. “I don’t…I don’t want you to die!”
The old man turned to Megan and said, “Mr. Darby can’t die, child. Mr. Darby’s not even real.”
Noah studied the looks on his friends’ faces and realized they all knew what he meant. Mr. Darby was a character released into a child’s daydream.
“You’ll keep him alive, I trust.” He touched Megan’s heart and said, “You’ll keep him alive here—all of you will.”
Noah felt tears in his eyes. Each of the scouts had them.
Mr. Darby said, “I’d like to sit with my family, as myself, if only for a few minutes.”
As Noah wiped away a tear with his sleeve, he watched Ella do the same.
“Come here,” the old man said as he waved his hands toward himself. “Come here and hug me.”
The scouts dove onto Mr. Darby and wrapped him in their arms. When Noah felt his chest heave, he allowed his tears to come. So did his friends. Mr. Darby stroked the backs of their heads and kissed their cheeks. Then, after more than a minute had passed, he gently pulled himself away and came to his feet.
“The Secret Zoo will always be a part of you,” Mr. Darby said. “And I will always be a part of the Secret Zoo.”
Memories of Mr. Darby flooded Noah’s head. He saw the old man sitting at the fountain in the Library of the Secret Society, formally inviting the scouts to join the Secret Society as Crossers. He saw him dressed in his velvet pajamas for the campover at the Forest of Flight. He saw him catching butterflies, walking among chickadees, riding the Clarksville Zoo train, calling all the animals by name. So many memories in such a short time. It pained Noah to think there would be no new ones.
Mr. Darby was no longer looking directly at the scouts, and Noah realized his sight was already beginning to worsen, the magic leaving his body.
“Go,” Noah said. “Before you can’t.”
The old man frowned. He nodded at Solana and Evie and waved to Noah’s parents. Then he brought his attention back to the scouts and said, “Keep an eye on the Clarksville Zoo. For me, and for Frederick.”
Mr. Darby turned and began to walk off. The scouts stood on the quiet street and watched the man who’d introduced them to the Secret Zoo fade into the darkness, step by step. The night seemed to slowly cover him. And before long, he was gone.
*
“This is it, then,” Evie said.
Noah looked at Evie, Solana, the scouts. The six of them were standing before the long curtain in Noah’s kitchen. Noah’s parents were by the fridge, still looking shocked and keeping a watchful eye on everything. Solana had already taken down the portal from Noah’s closet, and she now had it and Mr. Darby’s jacket draped across her arm.
“Yeah,” Ella said. “I guess so.”
Solana took a small step toward Noah and smiled. Noah’s insides hurt. Solana was his first crush, and she was about to leave forever.
“You did awesome,” Solana said to Noah. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”
Noah forced a smile and pretended this mattered. All he really wanted was for Solana to stay, to continue to be a part of his life.
Solana pulled back her long hair, leaned forward, and kissed his cheek. “You’re a scout,” she said. “Be proud of that.”
Noah nodded. “Okay.”
“But you would have made a great Descender,” Solana added.
He thought of his Descender training at the Institute of Light and all he had learned there—about himself.
“Good-bye, Noah,” Solana said.
Noah fought back the tears. Too many good-byes in too short a time. He tried to speak and couldn’t. After what seemed forever, he managed to squeak out a good-bye.
Solana turned to Evie and said, “Let’s go. You take the curtain.”
Evie nodded. Then she stepped through the portal, Solana following. Once the girls had crossed, Evie pulled the curtain to one side, and in Noah’s kitchen, the rings clattered along the rod. With the curtain out of the way, a full view into the City of Species was revealed. Hundreds of animals were still gathered, their gazes locked on the portal. The starry night sky was brighter than ever, and countless fireflies dotted it with pulsing light. The City of Species looked like itself again. Noah saw Blizzard, P-Dog, Little Bighorn. Marlo was perched on Sam’s shoulder. No one seemed surprised that Mr. Darby hadn’t returned, and Noah wondered if they’d expected this.
Evie pulled the curtain, hard. A gold ring broke off the overhead rod and clinked against the kitchen floor. Evie pulled again and a second ring dropped.
Noah took a good look at the Secret Zoo. He studied the buildings, hoping time would never dilute the memories of what they looked like.
Evie pulled again and a third and fourth ring fell from the rod and rolled into the Secret Zoo. She pulled again and took down three more, leaving only two.
Noah felt someone take his hand. Ella. With his other, free hand, he reached over and held Megan’s. Then Megan held Richie’s. Together, the four friends stared at the Secret Zoo for what they knew would be the last time.
Evie pulled the curtain again and another ring clattered against the floor. Only one remained.
“Good-bye, Blizzard,” Noah softly said.
Blizzard must have read his lips, because the polar bear tipped back his head and roared again, his white fangs glinting beneath the blink of the fireflies. Almost at once, the other animals joined him. Their noise passed through the portal and filled Noah’s kitchen—a long, thunderous sound that made the dishes in the cabinets shake. Noah raised his hands, and with them Ella and Megan’s, and the four friends stood like Olympic champions on a podium.
In triumph, Tank held up his fist, Sam raised his wings, and the Specters cheered. Then the last ring fell, along with the curtain. There was a flash of light in the place the gateway had been, and then the normal wall appeared.
Silence. The kitchen wall, nothing else. Noah felt like he was staring at the back cover of a closed book.
Ella began to weep, and then so did Megan. Noah fought back tears once again and pictured Solana, Mr. Darby, Blizzard, Sam. He saw the sectors and all the buildings in the City of Species. He remembered crawling across the lily pads in Pollywog Bog, and jumping through colorful swarms of butterflies to get across Butterfly Nets. People, places. Times he would never forget in a world he never could have imagined.
“We did it,” Richie said.
Noah smiled. He wondered about Mr. Darby, and if the old man would make it to the gravesite before his body turned to dust. Then he decided that Mr. Darby would—he would because it was the fairy-tale ending to a fairy-tale story.
The scouts traded glances. Then the best friends moved in and embraced one another. Noah felt the warmth of their bodies and the wetness of their tears. It was over. Their Secret Zoo adventure was complete.
Chapter 40
A New Day
Noah quietly rose from the couch, careful not to wake Megan and his parents. After taking Ella and Richie home, his family had spent the night talking about the Secret Zoo and all that had happened there. His parents were still having a hard time believing any of it was true. Around five o’clock in the morning, Megan had fallen asleep, her head in her mother’s lap. Then Noah’s mother, fearing she’d be too worried to ever sleep again, dozed off. Noah and his father had talked a while longer before deciding to close their eyes for a bit. Noah’s father had nodded off; Noah hadn’t.
Noah looked around and surveyed the damage to his house. The busted walls, the broken furniture, the shattered glass. He saw other reminders of the Secret Society: muddy footprints on the carpet and small clumps of animal hair. He spotted a white feather with a black tip and leaned over to pick it up. Podgy. Noah smiled and gently closed his hand around the feather, deciding it would make the perfect memento of the penguin who had learned to fly.
He walked into the kitchen and looked at the wall where the portal had been. Not a trace of it remained. He waited and watched, a part of him hoping the wall might magically open, allowing him to see his animal friends. He imagined Blizzard walking across the room, his footfalls making the floor quake. Then he pictured the polar bear forcing his snout beneath Noah’s hand to let him know he wanted to be petted. Noah felt of pang of sadness as he realized it would never happen again.
