The Menagerie (17 page)

TWENTY-NINE

L
ogan wasn't sure why Zoe looked like the apocalypse had just come to kick the Menagerie in the head. She was staring at the dirty woven bracelet as if it were, like, the epic tragedy of the century.

“So,” Logan said, “that's . . . bad.”

“That's
terrible
,” Zoe said. “What if they find her? Of all people, the Sterlings!”

“Why would she go there?” Blue asked.

Zoe draped the bracelet over her palm. “Sometimes I talked about Jasmin and her house: the secret passageways, the hidden rooms, and all the cool and random stuff they have. I thought the cubs would like to hear about it, that's all. I never thought any of them would actually go
looking
for it.”

“Is this such a big deal? If the Sterlings see her, can't you just zap them again?” Logan asked.

“Maybe,” Zoe said. “But it's not really good for anyone to drink too much kraken ink. And seeing a griffin could trigger all kinds of lost memories. Plus, we never figured out what Jonathan was planning to do with the jackalope he tried to steal, so we don't know what they might do with a griffin.”

“Whoa,” Logan said. “Are you serious? He actually
stole
a— Okay, I have no idea what a jackalope is.”

“Sort of a rabbit with horns,” Blue said. “It's like the official mythical creature of Wyoming.”

Logan blinked. “You're kidding,” he said. “That's a thing? State flower, state bird, state mythical creature?”

“Depends on the state,” Blue said with a straight face. Logan couldn't tell whether he was joking.

“Anyway, Matthew caught him sneaking out with it, and that's when we knew we had to wipe Jonathan's memory,” Zoe said. “We couldn't trust him anymore. Ruby threw such a fit.” She rubbed the bracelet between her fingers, brushing away some of the dirt. “What if he was going to sell it? What if they put the cub on eBay or something? We have to get over there right now.” She stood up, shaking off griffin cubs as though they were raindrops, and hurried to the gate.

Logan and Blue ran after her. “Wait, we need a plan,” Logan called.

Zoe didn't answer. She blitzed through the garage and was halfway up the drive on her bike before the boys could get their helmets on.

“This is not going to end well,” Blue said, wheeling out his bike. “There's no way Jasmin will let Zoe into the house.”

“Me neither, I imagine,” Logan said. “But at least there's one of us she won't mind seeing.”

“Who?” Blue shook his hair out of his eyes.

“Um, you,” Logan said as they climbed on their bikes. “You could get into the Sterling mansion easily.”

“Me?” Blue said, sounding genuinely confused. “Why?”

Logan hesitated. Blue couldn't be that dense. “You don't know Jasmin has a huge crush on you?”

“Aaah!”
Blue put his hands over his ears. “Logan! Why'd you have to tell me that?” He hit the pedals and flew off down the driveway.

Logan caught up to him a couple of blocks later. Thick black clouds were rolling across the sunset, and thunder rumbled in the distance, echoing off the mountains. “Sorry,” Logan said. “Do you not like her?”

“Even if I did, and I'm not saying I do, I can't date anyone outside the Menagerie,” Blue said. “Or a human, for that matter. Besides, you're probably wrong. How would you even know something like that?”

“Check your desk on Monday,” Logan said. “She lends you a pen nearly every morning, whether you need it or not. She talks to you more than to any other guy in class. She looks at you a lot, and drops things near you so you'll both stop to pick them up. And the other girls in class talk about it all the time—I can't tell if they don't notice when I'm around or just don't care if I hear.”

Blue held out his palm and looked up at the sky. “So now you want me to use Jasmin's supposed feelings to get into the Sterling mansion and look for the cub? That's not right.”

“But it's for the Menagerie,” said Logan.

Blue sighed. “We'd better catch Zoe.”

They found Zoe's bike stashed behind a tree a block away from the Sterling mansion. They dropped their bikes and helmets as well and ran up the road, staying close to the trees.

“Uh-oh,” Blue said, nodding at the tall white brick wall around the Sterlings' backyard.

Zoe's sneakers were disappearing over the top.

“I guess we're going in the back way,” Logan said. He had a horrible, uncomfortable flash of what it would be like to get arrested and then have to explain that to his dad. Another low grumble of thunder shuddered through the sky, like giant footsteps approaching.

“Zoe used to sneak in this way whenever Jasmin was grounded,” Blue said. He grabbed the lowest branch of the tree beside the wall and hoisted himself up. Logan followed him as they climbed up through the wide, twisting branches and scrambled out to the top of the Sterlings' wall.

One corner of the backyard was a Zen garden with a smiling stone Buddha and water trickling over a pebble fountain. A shimmering blue pool, lit with underwater lights, filled most of the rest of the yard. Next to it was a small white pool house with slatted doors. An inflatable green raft shaped like a crocodile lay beside the pool chairs with a black towel discarded on top of it.
The pool must be heated if they're still using it in October,
Logan thought. He could see a black-and-gold book lying open on another chair, and he hoped someone would remember to get it before the rain came.

There was no one in sight, not even Zoe.

Blue dropped silently into the garden, followed, a little less silently, by Logan. It wasn't until Logan's sneakers hit the grass that he realized there was no way back over the wall.

“How do we get out?” he whispered to Blue.

“Zoe never quite figured that out,” Blue whispered back. “Usually she got caught with Jasmin, and Mrs. Sterling hauled her home.”

Logan shivered.
I really, really hope that isn't how this visit ends.

They tiptoed across the yard, staying in the shadow of the wall, until they reached the side of the house. Tall windows, mostly covered by long, silvery curtains, looked in on a formal dining room, and through the cracks in the curtains Logan could see Jasmin, her brother, Jonathan, and their parents sitting around a polished cherry wood table, having dinner. A chandelier above them threw glittering reflections around the room, catching the gleam of mirrors, glass vases, and silver candlesticks. There were a lot of shiny-looking valuables a griffin cub might consider treasure.

“Over here,” Zoe hissed from around the corner. They found her crouching beside a metal-and-glass door that opened into a room full of plants, surrounded by glass walls and skylights. Zoe cautiously turned the handle, and they all crept inside, ducking behind a thick palm tree. Logan knew that some of the fancy purple flowers hanging in the room were orchids, but he didn't recognize any of the other plants.

“Why is there a garden
inside
their house?” he whispered to Zoe.

“It's a ‘conservatory,'” she whispered back. “I know. I used to joke that she lives in the
Clue
mansion.”

“Maybe the griffin's in here,” Blue suggested hopefully.

They split up to search the plants. Logan checked under the tables and poked his head into the thickest clumps of leaves. But when they all reached the far end, none of them had found any trace of a griffin cub.

“We'll have to go inside,” Zoe said, glancing through the glass door that led from the conservatory to the kitchen. “Quietly,” she urged, before easing the door open slightly and slipping through. Logan squeezed through the small gap after Blue.

The kitchen was enormous and immaculate, all silver and cherry wood, like the dining room, with black-marble countertops. Logan could hear silverware clinking and muffled voices from the next room. Jonathan said something that made the other three laugh. They sounded way too close, and for the first time that weekend, Logan found himself wishing he could be home watching TV with Purrsimmon sprawled across his lap.

Zoe opened one of the pantry doors and pushed the shelves on one side until they tilted into the wall, revealing a narrow staircase winding up in the dark. Blue went through first, followed by Logan, and Zoe came last, closing the door and shelves behind her and shutting out the light. Logan paused, getting his bearings in the dark. He felt Zoe's hand softly touch his back.

“It's okay,” she whispered. “I'll take the blame if we get caught.”

“Let's not get caught,” he whispered back. “Where does this come out?”

“Jonathan's room,” she answered. “Jasmin and I used to spy on him and Ruby sometimes, unless they were being gross.” She gave him a little nudge and he kept climbing.

Blue was waiting at the top on a tiny landing. Zoe checked through a peephole at her height, then reached past him and slid aside a panel near their feet. They had to crawl through it on their hands and knees. Logan felt bulky shapes turn over under his hands, and something soft and heavy brushed against his head. Then Zoe opened another door, and he realized he was inside a walk-in closet nearly half the size of his whole room.

They stepped out into Jonathan's room, which looked as if its inhabitant was only crashing there for a night. A duffel bag full of laundry was slung beside the door, and an unzipped backpack with a couple of textbooks in it leaned against the bed, half covered by the kicked-off red, navy, and yellow flannel sheet. On the desk was a fat art history textbook, open to a chapter on Greek art, next to a laptop where a screen saver was rolling photos across the screen. Jonathan and Jasmin in the pool; Jonathan on a sailboat; Jonathan at the Eiffel Tower; Jonathan and a group of guys skiing; Jonathan and Jasmin playing tennis; Jonathan with a blond girl against a backdrop of orange and gold mountains and a clear blue sky.

Zoe grabbed Blue's arm. “That's Ruby!” she hissed. “I thought she'd deleted all the photos of them together.”

“She must have missed a couple,” Blue said with a shrug.

Zoe took a step toward the computer and hesitated.

“Forget it,” Blue said. “The griffin is more important.” He tiptoed across the white carpet to the door and peeked out into the hallway. Logan could hear the wind rising outside, as if mobs of leaves were rushing up to the clouds and back.

They slipped out onto a square indoor balcony overlooking the foyer downstairs. Closed doors lined two sides of the hall. An enormous round stained-glass window hung over the front door, and on the yard side a glass door led out to a deck above the pool.

Large pieces of artwork were arranged around the balcony; most of them looked like they belonged in the ancient Asian wing of the Art Institute of Chicago. At a glance, Logan saw stone dragons, tall porcelain vases, gold bodhisattvas, and hanging metal chimes. One of the doors on the opposite wall said
JASMIN
on it in pink glittery capital letters, with a sign taped underneath it that added
KEEP OUT OR ELSE
.

“I bet the cub's in here,” Zoe whispered, padding over to one of the tall, skinny vases. She peered in, then slumped in disappointment. “Well, maybe she got into the attic.” She headed for one of the doors.

“Wait,” Logan said. His eye had immediately gone to a wooden trunk next to Jasmin's room. It was set up on a brass stand, and it had a brass handle and hinges. The wood was lacquered black, with white flowers and gold hummingbirds painted on it.

To Logan, it looked like a perfect place for a griffin cub to hide. He crept around the balcony, keeping one eye on the marbled lobby below, and crouched beside the trunk.

When he lifted the lid, a pair of shiny black eyes stared up at him. The griffin cub ruffled her pale gray feathers and made a mournful, chirruping sound.

“Shhh.” Logan put one finger to his lips. “We're here to get you out. Quietly.”

Please, yes.
The cub nodded and stretched her wings, ending with a shudder.
I don't like it here. Uncomfortable creeping feelings. Not warm and fun like Worry-Cub described.
She was the size of Logan's cat, but she looked squashed inside the wooden box. Logan reached in and carefully lifted her out, cradling her in his arms the way he'd seen Zoe carry the other griffins.

He turned and found Zoe beside him. Across the balcony, Blue gave him a thumbs-up from the doorway of Jonathan's room.

Logan felt his heart calming down. They had the griffin cub. Now they just had to sneak out the front door, and they'd soon be safely back at the Menagerie.

He'd taken one step toward Blue when the doorbell rang.

THIRTY

R
everberating chimes echoed through the house, and Logan heard a chair sliding across the dining-room floor downstairs. He froze, staring at Zoe. The whole balcony was visible from the front door. They'd never make it back to Jonathan's room before someone spotted them from below.

Zoe grabbed him and shoved him into Jasmin's room as Blue ducked back into Jonathan's. He caught a glimpse of lavender walls, white carpeting, an easel in the corner, two bookshelves stuffed with books, a couple of Monet posters, and an overflowing pile of stuffed tigers on the purple quilt on the bed before Zoe bundled him into Jasmin's walk-in closet. He tripped over a pair of pink high-heeled sandals and nearly knocked Zoe over; the griffin clutched him with sharp claws. They crouched at the back of the closet, under coats that smelled like Jasmin's flowery perfume, and waited in the dark.

Male voices greeted each other down in the front lobby.

“If it's for Mr. Sterling, they'll go into the library,” Zoe whispered. “Then we can—”

She stopped as a door opened much closer to them. Through the slats in the closet door, they saw Jasmin come into her room and slam the door behind her. Her mother yelled something from downstairs, but Jasmin threw herself on her bed and didn't answer.

Logan stroked the griffin's soft fur, trying to breathe normally. After the encounter they'd had earlier that day, he could not
imagine
what Jasmin would say if she found him and Zoe in her closet . . . let alone with a baby griffin. Through his shirt, he could feel the cub's heart beating as fast as his own.

“Hey.” Jasmin's voice floated through the closet door, and Logan realized she was on the phone. “What're you doing?” She moved over to her desk and turned on her iPod. A Leona Lewis song filled the room.

“Okay, wow, boring, Cadence,” Jasmin said. She sneezed three times in a row. “Man! My stupid allergies have been going crazy the last couple of days.”

Her bedroom door suddenly opened, making Zoe and Logan jump. A figure in a silvery pantsuit poked her head in.

“Jasmin? Did I hear you sneezing? Are you all right?”

“MOOOOOOOM!” Jasmin yelled, throwing a stuffed tiger at her mother.

“All right, all right, just checking,” her mom said, disappearing again.

Jasmin got up to slam the door behind her. “
So
annoying. My parents are convinced it's tuberculosis or something. Listen, do you think Blue would come to my Halloween party if I asked him?” She paused, fiddling with a little glass unicorn on her desk, then exhaled dramatically. “I know; he never does. What are you going to be? Don't say a cat, because that's way cliché.”

Zoe sighed. “We could be stuck here awhile,” she whispered. “The only endurance sport Jasmin likes is phone calls.” She leaned around Logan. He felt the wall sliding aside behind him and realized she was opening another hidden panel.

“Come on,” she whispered, ducking through into the dark space.

Logan slid the panel back into place and followed Zoe down the narrow spiral staircase, carrying the griffin. Halfway down, a small window looked onto the yard. It was only about the width of a hand and a couple of feet tall, but through it Logan could see the rain starting to fall on the pool, the towel, and the abandoned book.

Zoe stopped him at the bottom. “Shh,” she whispered, almost under her breath. “That's the library.” She pointed to a small hole in the wall, and Logan peeked through it.

Small, dark-red walls stood on either side of the hole; after a moment Logan realized he was peering through a gap in a bookshelf, past a crystal dragon bookend. He could see only a tiny sliver of the room, paneled floor to ceiling with bookshelves. In his line of sight was a corner of a massive desk, big and solid like an ancient mahogany altar.

He started as someone crossed in front of the bookshelf.

“You sure you don't want any coffee?” said a deep voice.

“No, thanks,” another voice responded. “I can't stay long.”

Logan's heart felt as if it was seizing in his chest. He reached behind him and grabbed Zoe's arm.

“That's my dad!” he whispered. His vision of the scene where they got caught prowling around the Sterling mansion became instantly more embarrassing and way more horrifying.

“I appreciate you coming by so late,” said Jasmin's dad. “I know you're on your way home, but I wanted you to see these.” Logan saw him pass by again with a roll of paper.

“Wow,” Logan's dad said after a minute. “You do have big plans, Mr. Mayor.”

“Well, I'm not mayor yet,” Mr. Sterling said jovially. “And of course I wanted to clear all this with your department before I make any campaign promises I can't keep.”

“I can set you up with the right permits,” said Logan's dad. “I can't guarantee anything, though, especially with regards to the people who currently own this land.”

“Mostly it's mine,” said Mr. Sterling. “So don't worry about that.”

“Right. I'll look into which forms you need and get you an outline of how the process should work, which committees are involved and all that.”

“I appreciate that,” said Mr. Sterling. “You're new in town, aren't you? I think my daughter is in the same class as your son.”

“That's right.” Dad's voice was suddenly warmer. “He's why I need to get home, actually. He's expecting me. Do you mind if I give him a quick call?”

Logan's hand flew to his pocket. Frantically he passed the griffin cub to Zoe and dug his phone out of his jacket. He flipped it open and hit
SILENT MODE
a second before it started to vibrate. He could see Zoe's wide, worried eyes by the glow of the phone. Quickly he closed it again.

“That's odd,” said Logan's dad. “Normally he answers on the first ring.”

Logan crouched in the small space and tapped out a text.
Sorry. @ dinner w. Blue's parents. OK to stay over tonight too?
Guilt made his fingers feel heavy. But what else could he say:
Sorry, I'm hiding behind the bookcase right next to you, rescuing a baby griffin
?

He heard his dad's phone buzz and then his dad chuckled. “On the other hand,” he said, “maybe I will have that coffee.” Logan could see his dad typing a response to him.

No problem. Have fun, champ.
Logan brushed his thumb across the screen with a smile before closing the phone again.

“Great!” said Mr. Sterling. “Now I can tell you all about the wonders of Xanadu, along with a few good reasons why you should vote for me for mayor.”

Mrs. Sterling laughed from somewhere in the room. “I'm afraid that's the price of coffee in this house,” she said.

Zoe tapped Logan on the shoulder and gestured up the stairs. They backtracked to the window and sat down on the steps, side by side, looking out at the lightning that flickered across the garden. The stone Buddha seemed a lot more sinister when they could only see it flashing out of the darkness every few minutes.

“Now what do we do?” Logan whispered.

“Wait till everyone's asleep?” Zoe suggested. “They have to leave the library sometime.” She stroked the griffin curled on her lap.

Logan heard light thumping from Jasmin's room, along with a Katy Perry song. “You're sure she won't come down here, right?” he asked. In a flash of lightning, he saw Zoe smiling.

“Yeah,” she said. “Jasmin's a little claustrophobic—she would only climb around back here because I wanted to. She's dancing right now. She does that whenever she's upset. It cheers her up.” She sighed.

“Seems like you miss her,” Logan said after a moment.

“Yeah,” Zoe said, but clearly didn't want to elaborate further. The little griffin sat up and climbed onto Logan's knees so it could peer out the window.

“Everything okay?” Logan asked, smoothing her gray fur.

Still creeping feelings. Like someone watching. Someone waiting. Someone out there hunting.

Logan shivered. He remembered that feeling from their close encounter at the library. Could the same person be here, lurking around the Sterling mansion?

What if it really was an exterminator?

He glanced at Zoe and decided not to worry her.

She rubbed the back of her neck. “So what's your dad doing here?” she asked.

“I don't know.” Logan ran the toe of his sneaker along the edge of the steps below him. “I don't know much about what he does, especially since we moved here.” Was it time for the awkward conversation about his dad's job?

But Zoe didn't ask any more questions. She gazed out the window, looking tired. “I'd better text my parents and tell them we're okay.” She muttered into her phone as she typed. “Home as soon as we can. Hopefully Blue got out the way we came in.”

Logan watched the rain restlessly. Something about the meeting between Mr. Sterling and his dad made Logan think of the SNAPA agent on the tape, the one who looked familiar. Where had he seen him before? He felt like he could remember his voice having a serious conversation, maybe with Logan's dad. The square jaw, the thin eyebrows, the severe mouth . . . something about his face gave Logan the feeling that he'd misplaced something. Had he run into him around Xanadu? It couldn't have been back in Chicago. . . .

Logan's skin prickled like he'd just been dumped in an icy lake.

“Oh my God,” he whispered. “I know where I've seen that SNAPA agent before.”

Zoe drew her arms around her knees. “Really?”

“He came to our apartment in Chicago,” Logan said. “Zoe . . . he was looking for my mother.”