Ghost Leopard (A Zoe & Zak Adventure #1) (3 page)

“Look, Mom, I know you work with Zak's dad, and that’s cool and all, but just because Zak and I are in the same grade at the same school, doesn’t mean we’re friends.”

“Are you and Zak having a problem?” my mother asked.

“Well, no,” I said.

“Well, what’s wrong then?” my mom asked.

“I just, I don’t know, I thought this trip was going to be just you and me.”

My mother looked at me and smiled. Then she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me. I felt like an enormous doofus right then and there.

 
“We’re going to have time together, honey, I promise,” she said. “But Zak's going through a rough patch right now. His mom and dad just split up. It would be great if you could spend some time with him. Who knows, you guys might even have fun.”

I knew right then that she was right like she almost always was. I might not have liked it, but I was thinking all about me and not about Zak at all.
 

“OK, Mom,” I said.

She kissed me on the forehead. “Now what’s it going to be? Explore the hotel or a nap before lunch? My first panel isn’t for another two hours.”

I smiled. Even though I felt a little tired, I knew I was too excited to sleep. “Explore,” I said. “Obviously.”

“OK then. Let’s explore.”

My mom grabbed me by the hand and we headed out the door.

Like I said before, the hotel was the fanciest place I had ever been to. Way fancier than anything I’d ever seen back home. There were lush carpets in the corridors and doormen with red turbans standing at every elevator to push the buttons for you. There were fresh-smelling, cut flowers in vases everywhere. And there really were two pools. One of the pools was rectangular with an elephant designed from shiny, brightly colored tiles on the bottom. It wasn’t a regular elephant though. It was a mosaic of the Hindu god, Ganesha. Ganesha was an elephant-headed god with a bunch of arms. He looked very wise, sitting there cross-legged in the blue water at the bottom of the pool. I remembered that he was supposed to be the bringer of good luck.
 

The other pool was giant and round with a mosaic of what looked like a monkey with five heads and ten arms on the bottom. I thought that the five-headed monkey might be Hanuman, another important Hindu god. I think he was a general who led an army and was super strong and loyal and things like that. I wasn’t totally up on this stuff because, just like the Greeks, the Hindus had a bunch of old gods and it was super hard to remember what each of them did. There was Bhrama the creator of stuff, Vishnu the preserver of stuff, Shiva the destroyer of stuff, and oh, about three hundred and thirty million others, including of course Ganesha and this Hanuman, both of whom were relaxing there at the bottom of the swimming pools. All the Hindu god stuff made my head spin, so I’d kind of skimmed that chapter in my reading. I’d told myself I’d look into it more if the issue became pressing.

Outside the pools there was a lush garden with brightly colored parrots in an outdoor aviary, and a badminton court, and even a giant trampoline. I was pretty sure I'd have fun out here while my mother was working in the conference rooms. There was just so much to do. I'd loaded my tablet with books to read, one of which was a guide to Delhi, the Indian city where we were. I figured if I planned everything out, we wouldn’t have to waste any time figuring out where to go once the conference was over.
 

My mom and I ate at one of the hotel’s two restaurants. I had a non-spicy red chicken curry with a cool smoothie sort of drink called a lassi. I had been a little worried that I wouldn’t like Indian food, but so far it had been pretty good. I was on the lookout, but we didn’t see Zak the whole time we were eating or wandering around. He was probably sleeping off his jet lag, I thought. After lunch, my mom changed her clothes for a panel she had to attend. I went with her into the huge conference room. There was a big sign that said World Economic Forum. I wasn’t sure exactly what the specifics of the conference were, but I knew a whole bunch of people from different countries were getting together to talk about money and jobs and how to make the world a better place and that kind of thing. I also knew that a lot of people would be talking because of the number of bottles of water and microphones at the long front table where the panelists sat. I was proud to see my mom’s seat there with her name tag on it: ‘Ms. Alexa Guire,’ and the subheading: ‘Policy.’
 

When people started to file into the conference room to take seats, I kissed my mom goodbye and headed out. I thought I'd shoot some pictures of the parrots in the garden first. Another thing I loved about photography was that you never knew which picture you took was going to be that golden shot — the one that really turned out great. I didn’t think that I was ready for a nap, so I thought that after the pictures maybe I’d go for a swim. Of course, right outside the conference room I met Zak.

“Hey, Zoe.”

Zak leaned against the wall outside the big gleaming conference room doors where everybody was going in. He was going to be hard to shake. The hotel was big, but Zak had already found me. Then of course I remembered what I had said to my mom about being be nice to him.

“Hey, Zak,” I said.

“Going swimming?”

“Yeah. How did you know?”

“Bathing suit,” Zak said, pointing to the suit I forgot I was holding in my hand.

“Oh,” I said. “Yeah, I’m going to check out the pool.” I thought about it, remembering my promise. “Wanna come?”

“Last one there buys the ice cream!” Zak called out as he took off through the lobby.

The pool was totally refreshing. We chose the rectangular one with Ganesha at the bottom of it, closest to the aviary. Exotic birds chirped and squawked as we swam.

“Cannonball!” Zak screamed as he ran off the pool deck and splashed down.

I preferred a more subtle approach as I lay there floating quietly on my back in the warm water, taking in the sun. The air was fragrant with the smells of tropical fruit out here and the outside world seemed to float by like I was in a dream. I guess Zak got out of the pool because the next thing I saw was what looked like his bouncing head. It went up and then down, up and then down, his blonde scraggly hair lifting in the breeze. What was he doing? I turned and swam to the side of the pool. There it was: the answer to the bouncing. Zak had somehow pushed the trampoline onto the pool deck. He bounced up, higher than I had seen him go the last time, and then flew right off the trampoline into the pool.

There was a huge splash and he came up for air, a giant smile on his face.

“You can’t do that,” I said.

“Why not?” Zak asked.

“Because. I don’t know,” I thought about it and I really didn’t know. It wasn’t like there was anybody else at the pool. We weren’t bothering anyone.

“ So what’s the big deal?”

“Nothing I guess.” I didn’t see the point in arguing. I was feeling pretty relaxed.
 

“You want to try it? You can get some wicked air.”

“Nah, I’m just chilling.”

“You can chill later.”

“Or I can relax now.”

“Relaxing is for sissies.”

I could see I wasn’t going to be able to shut him up. Jumping in now would be easier than listening to Zak prattle on about what a chicken I was for four days.

“Why not?” I finally said.

I pulled myself out of the pool. If you put a trampoline beside a swimming pool, it’s a no-brainer that eventually somebody is going to pull it onto the pool deck. What harm was there in jumping off of it, I asked myself? I thought I’d do one swan dive into the pool to satisfy Zak and take a nap. The jet lag was starting to creep up on me.

I walked over to the trampoline, the hot sun already drying my back.

“Double flip, double flip, double flip,” Zak chanted.

He sure was annoying. Obviously this whole trip wasn’t even going to be close to relaxing. I lifted myself up onto the round trampoline and began to bounce. The black mesh was hot on my feet, I didn’t know how many bounces I’d be able to last. The good thing was that Zak had pulled the trampoline within a foot of the pool. One good forward bounce and I’d be in the deep end. But that wasn’t all I wanted to do. I kind of felt like Zak was testing me, trying to show me who was boss. Not in a mean way, but in an I-don’t-know-how-cool-you-are kind of way. Now, normally, this isn’t something I would let bother me. Especially with a kid who wasn’t even my actual friend, like Zak. But in this case, I saw some value to showing him what I could do. If only so that he would lay off me for a while.

So I decided to go big. I jumped up once on the trampoline feeling the taut bounce beneath my feet. I hadn’t been on one since about six months ago in gym, but I still remembered how to more or less stay centered on the thing. I twirled my arms and landed right in the center of it, sinking way down into the black mesh before I popped up again. This time I got a little higher and was actually able to see over the walls of the hotel garden. Mostly I saw the dusty city around us, some birds circling in the air. They looked like vultures or buzzards, but I wasn’t sure, and before I could take a closer look I was falling back down again.

This was it, my third bounce was coming up. Zak chanted from the pool. “Go, Go, Go.”

There was no one else around, so I wasn’t worried about getting into trouble for jumping on the trampoline so near the pool, but I was a little nervous. I’d have to push off at an angle this time if I wanted to be going in the right direction for my dive. My feet landed on the hot black mesh and I pushed off with my toes. I felt myself going up, up, up, but instead of looking around this time, I concentrated on the pool below me. Zak had a big goofy grin on. I could tell that he was impressed. I was practically flying through the air like a speeding missile. There was no way I was going to land back on the trampoline so I started to concentrate on my dive. I tucked my head down and put my arms out in front of me. I didn’t want to dive too deeply and end up hitting my head on the elephant at the bottom of the pool.

I was perfectly aligned with the center of the pool. It was no double flip, but it was going to be a perfect swan dive. I saw Zak’s face before I hit the water. He was definitely impressed. Hopefully impressed enough to leave me in peace. I closed my eyes as I hit the surface, but then opened them again as I sliced though the clear water at the bottom of the pool. It had been a good dive. I thought that I would order a lassi when I got out of the pool and maybe take a short nap. I was expecting Zak to shout
whoo hoo
, or
awesome
, or something like that. What I wasn’t expecting was to have the elephant at the bottom of the pool speak to me.

I know it sounds crazy, but I heard it clear as day as I swam over the mosaic elephant god at the bottom of the pool. I would say that I saw his lips move too, but I wasn’t ready to admit that to myself, not yet. But I had definitely heard it. I heard the mosaic elephant god say, “Welcome to India, Zoe Guire.”

Then I think he winked at me. He was mosaic, a drawing in tile, so I knew it was impossible for him to wink, but I think I saw it just the same. One big blue eye shut, just for a second. I must have blinked because when I looked again, both elephant eyes were open and I was headed back to the surface. I came up for air and took a long breath.

“Wicked. Wicked dive,” Zak cheered. “I want to see that again!”

I didn't respond, but just swam to the side of the pool and pulled myself out of the water. I had to be tired I told myself. Dead tired and imagining things. Just like the tree hadn’t been talking to me, the elephant probably wasn’t either. I grabbed my towel and lay down on a partially shaded lounge chair, closing my eyes. I’d take a nap, a short nap, and I’d be myself again. After all it was a long flight. I was probably just dreaming. Because what other explanation was there? Mosaic elephant gods didn’t whisper greetings to strangers from the bottom of swimming pools. That was totally nuts. Or so I thought then.
 

At first all I saw was the dirt. The man ran his claw-like fingers through the rich red dirt. He looked like he was massaging the red earth with his fingers. Then he held the dirt up to his nose. I didn’t see his face, but I saw that the man was surrounded by monkeys. Reddish-brown monkeys unlike any monkeys I had ever seen. The monkeys seemed to be following the man’s every move. They crouched around him, watching as he stared at the ground. And then, as the man stood, I saw that he had a reddish-brown tail. Weird, I know. The monkeys screeched horrifically and the man walked away staring down at what I now recognized as large paw prints in the dust.

The monkeys continued to screech as I opened my eyes. I knew I’d dozed off again, but the screeching I was hearing hadn’t come from my dream. It had come from the aviary behind me. Zak was still leaping around like a Mexican jumping bean on the trampoline. I couldn’t have been asleep for more than a few minutes. If Zak had been a friend, I would probably have told him about the weird thing that had happened in the pool, maybe even about the strange dream that I had just had. But Zak was just a guy I was in India with and I wasn’t in the mood for explanations. Besides, whatever had happened in the pool had to have been just my exhaustion talking. All I needed was a good rest to put it behind me. I got up and reached for my camera.

I didn’t want to dwell on the weirdness anymore. What I wanted was to get some good shots. I didn’t want to miss a single moment while I was in India. I wanted to capture every last one of them. The downside to always photographing everything, of course, was that sometimes you felt like you weren’t really there in the moment, that you were just taking pictures of it, but that didn’t really matter to me right then. What mattered was that I get some great pictures. I picked up my camera and started shooting.

The screeching I had heard in my dream had come from a black-and-white lemur monkey in a cage next to the parrots. The monkey chewed on a banana and then some orange slices. I got a shot of the monkey opening its jaw wide with the orange peel stuck inside of it, so it looked like it had a whole orange in its mouth. That might be the shot that wins it for me, I thought. I pulled back from the screeching lemur and turned my lens to the parrots, trying to make the composition interesting. They had blue and green feathers with bright red beaks. I focused on just a beak, or a feather, rapidly clicking shots. I was so absorbed in my work that at first I didn’t notice the man who sat down in the lounge chair a few steps away.