Ghost Leopard (A Zoe & Zak Adventure #1) (30 page)

“Mukta?” I said. “I think we need to go.”

“Yes, you are correct. You must go, Mud Devil. You must fly. All of India thanks you for your service.”
 

Mukta smiled broadly and faded from view.
 

Doormat, the flying carpet, dropped us down in the garden outside the hotel pool. There was some commotion as we landed. The griffons abandoned us as soon as we got to the city, leaving Zak and I to guide Doormat sort of like a horse, pulling the silk tassels in the direction we wanted to go. All of which was fine, except when we got above the hotel, I wanted to land without alerting the sunbathers by the pool. I think I pulled up on the tassels too quickly which is probably why Doormat dumped us in a banana tree — that, or he didn’t like his new name. Whichever it was, it wasn’t a big deal. The banana leaves were scratchy but the grass below was soft.

Doormat fell down after us and Zak quickly rolled him up. Zak and I then hurried into the lobby. We didn’t know if our parents were back yet, but there was no sense being any more late than we had to be. We ran through the marble lobby with every intention of getting back to our rooms as quickly as we could. We ran so fast that I didn’t see the arm come out as we tore into the waiting elevator. It was Anu, the rent-a-nanny.

“My word, where have you been? I was worried sick!”

“Ah…” Zak said.

“We were around,” I said.

“Do you have any idea how many people were looking for you? You children. You’re not concerned about anyone but yourselves.”

“We’re really sorry,” I said.

“Leopards,” Zak said.

“What was that?”

“We’re concerned about leopards.”

I was about to stomp on Zak's foot to get him to shut up when the look on Anu's face changed completely. I turned to see my mom and Zak's dad walking toward us from the main entrance, rolling their suitcase behind them. Talk about good timing. Anu’s angry glare was replaced by a giant smile.
 

“How about we keep your whereabouts just between us for now?” Anu suggested.

We didn’t have time to answer her because our parents called out across the lobby. “Hi guys!” they said together. “Anu, how have they been?”

Anu smiled. “Almost like they weren’t even here, “ she said.

“Hi, Mom!”

I ran out of the elevator and gave my mom a big hug. Zak hugged his dad too.

“Sorry, we’re a day late, there was no way to reach you. I’m so glad you’re OK, I was a little worried.”

“Everything’s great, Mom.”

“Did you get any good pictures?” my mother asked, observing my camera.

“Well, um,” I thought about it. “Almost.”

“Almost,” my mother said. “What happened?”

“I guess I decided that sometimes it’s better to just enjoy the moment.”

My mother looked at our filthy striped pajamas. “Where did you get those?”

“Same place we got the carpet,” Zak said.

Both our parents looked at the rolled-up carpet. “Never mind that for now. We have news,” Mr. Merril said.

“News?”

“Well, we still need to show you the real India,” Mr. Merril said. “I know you’ve been cooped up in this hotel for a long time, just dying to get out, so we’ll do that. We’ll take you around the city for the next few days.”

“Cool,” Zak said.

“But there’s something else,” Mr. Merril said.
 

“What?” Zak said.

“Zak, Zoe's mother and I…”

“Oh no,” I said under my breath.

“Relax, Zoe, we’re not dating.”

“What is it then?”

“We’ve been asked to fill in at the American Embassy here in India.”

Zak looked at me. As he did, I noticed that my spotted birthmark glowed slightly.

“We were wondering how you would feel about us extending our trip?” Mr. Merril said.

“For how long?” I asked. I noticed that my mother’s expression looked a little pained. Like she had intended to discuss it with me, but not at that moment.

“We’re not sure right now, Zoe. What I can tell you is that there are some really good schools here. One great one, actually, up in the mountains,” my mother said.

“Whoa. School?” I said. A vacation was one thing. School was quite another. I liked my school just the way it was. I wasn’t sure I was ready for anything like that.

“In the mountains?” Zak said. “I love the mountains.”

“Then we’ll have to take a look around,” Mr. Merril said.

“No worries, right now,” my mom said. “We’re only talking. Now, how about you two tell me what it is you got up to, to get so dirty?”
 

My mother picked what I was pretty sure was a white griffon feather out of my hair. I looked at my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling lobby window. My face was smudged and my birthmark was glowing brightly.
 

“You know, the usual,” I said. “Just hanging. Hanging off buses, zip-lines, cliffs, carpets, that kind of thing.” I looked at my mother’s puzzled expression. “Don’t worry, I was safe,” I said.

“Well, whatever you did, you’ll have to tell me all about it.”

“I will, Mom. When we have that talk.”

My mom took my hand and smiled at me and I smiled back at her as we walked through the grand lobby. The sun had just begun to set over the city and as it did, a reflection appeared in the window. I don’t know if I was the only one to see it, but it was Mukta. He winked as he levitated there, smiling his crazy smile.
 

That’s it. Call it a blog, diary, memoir, whatever you want, that’s all I have to write. How this stuff with this potential new school is going to play out, how the stuff with my birthmark is going to play out, how any of it is going to play out, I just don’t know. What I do know is that, for right now, I’m having a very normal time with my basically normal mother, taking in the semi-normal tourist sights of Delhi, India. When we’re done with that, I’ll just have to see what happens. But for the time being, for right now at least, everything is refreshingly sane. I just hope it stays that way. Of course, a little part of me, the tiny part that came alive on this trip, wouldn’t mind if things got just a little interesting again.
 

I’m not counting on it of course, but if things do get weird in the future, like if I end up going to that school in those crazy mountains, or if Zak gets cheeky with another elephant god, or starts a magic carpet delivery service or something, I’ll let you know. And oh, I got a pretty good picture of Zak bucking heads with that billy goat. I emailed it to my school back home and they just notified me that I made the semi-finals in the photography contest. I don’t know if I’m going to win or not, but I’ll tell you if I do. In the meantime, if you happen to find a strange map that doesn’t exactly belong to you, think long and hard about giving it back. I’m just saying, you may save yourself a serious headache; that, and some serious adventure. Anyhow, that’s it for now. Over and out. —
Zoe Guire

Thanks for reading.
 

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Text and illustrations copyright (c) 2012 by Lars Guignard
 

Published by Fantastic Press

www.fantasticpress.com

E-book ISBN: 978-0-9877753-5-1

Version 2012.04.26

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, information storage and retrieval, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of the book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, brands, locations, media, corporations, institutions, organizations and incidents in this novel are the product of the author's imagination, or, if real, are used fictitiously without any intent to describe their actual conduct. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication and/or use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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This book was art directed by Maria Kojic and illustrated by Dobromir Tomov.

About the Author:

A former television writer, Lars Guignard is a graduate of both McGill University and the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Lars's work can be seen on television screens across the globe in series as varied as
Beastmaster
,
Big Wolf on Campus
, and
Mentors
. A member of the Writer's Guild of Canada, Lars's work has also been produced for film and published in magazines.
 

Ever since attending high school in the Indian Himalayas at the age of fourteen, Lars has been an avid backpacker and traveler. Lars now makes his home in the Pacific Northwest where he is busy working on the next Zoe & Zak Adventure.
 

Connect with Lars Online:

My blog:
www.larsguignard.com
.

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