The Menagerie (3 page)

FOUR

“M
ore feathers!” Zoe's anxious voice floated through the window. “That's all we're ever going to find. Maybe this
is
my fault. SNAPA's going to shut us down and Dad will ground me for life and everyone will have to be relocated and I'll never see you or Captain Fuzzbutt or Mooncrusher ever again.”

“On the plus side, maybe they'll send Keiko back to Japan,” said Blue.

“This isn't funny, Blue!” Zoe paused. “Well, okay, that would be the one upside.”

“We don't know it's your fault,” Blue said kindly. “And it's not so bad. No SNAPA officials are out hunting them yet, and we haven't seen any wildlife guys stomping around investigating. We just have to find them all before Sunday.”

Them?
Logan glanced at the Squorp-shaped lump on his bed.

“Why aren't you more worried?” Zoe asked. “If SNAPA shuts us down, who knows what'll happen to your dad. Or where they might make you live.”

There was that word again.
Snappa
,
not Snapple
, Logan thought.

Blue shrugged. “I only worry about things that have actually happened. If I started worrying about all the things that
might
happen, I'd be . . . well, I'd be you.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Zoe said. She sighed. “This one must be long gone.”

“Let's check in at home,” Blue said.

“Okay,” said Zoe, sounding defeated. “I still have to do my chores anyway. But if any of them are spotted . . .”

“I know,” Blue said. “It'll be the end of the world. Again.”

Logan heard them pick up their bikes and pedal away. His head was spinning.

Squorp poked his beak out from under the covers.
Worry-Cub gone?
his voice warbled in Logan's head.

“Worry-Cub?”

Only a cub, but worries and worries and double-checks and worries more. Always flapping her paws but not trying to fly. Probably losing her fur. Bites her claws, too.

That sounded like Zoe, all right.

“Squorp,” Logan said. “
You're
Zoe's dog!”

The griffin threw off the comforter and ruffled his tawny feathers into an indignant fluff on his chest.
Squorp no such thing! Muscles and Killer and Jaws and Sheldon all dogs! Captain Fuzzbutt all Zoe's! Squorp neither Zoe's NOR dog! Squorp all mine own and ALL GRIFFIN!

“Well, okay,” Logan said. “But you're the thing she's looking for. Aren't you?”

Squorp studied his talons intently.
Ohhhh, only one of them.

“How many others are there?” Logan asked.

The griffin squirmed.
Two brothers and three sisters.
He swiveled his head around as if he expected them to pop out of the closet.
Miss them! Well, most of them. Not Clink. She bossy.

“Six griffins wandering around Xanadu? No wonder Zoe's freaking out,” Logan said. He leaned over his computer and typed
snappa
into Google, hoping for a clue. “I bet that's even worse than losing a dog. Man, I shouldn't have let them leave all upset like that. We have to get you home.”

Noooooo!
Squorp flung himself back under the bed.
No turn me in! No send me back! Free at last! Free at last!

Logan hesitated. He could imagine all kinds of terrible places where griffins might be kept in captivity, studied like lab rats or trapped like dangerous wild animals. Then again, Zoe and Blue didn't exactly seem like evil government scientists.

Google said “snappa” was a drinking game. He guessed that wasn't what Zoe was talking about. Logan tried typing “snapa” instead.

“The School Nutrition Association of Pennsylvania,” he muttered, frowning at the screen. “Somehow I don't think that's it, either.”

So Googling wasn't going to help him. He looked down at Squorp again. The griffin cub was flopped out with his front paws over his beak, making what he probably thought were despairing noises.

“Is it so bad where you came from?” Logan asked.

Oh, terrible! Never enough to eat! All stuffed in one cave! Bossed around day and night! No treasure anywhere! Dragons staring at us all the time!

Logan clutched his head.
“Dragons?”
He had to sit down on the floor. Griffins were one thing. If there were dragons in this one-horse town, too, he had really got Xanadu all wrong.

Squorp poked his head out and tilted it at Logan.
Worst of all . . . never enough to EAT!

“Okay, okay,” Logan said. “I get the message. I'll get you some food.” He hesitated. Were griffins allowed to eat hamburger? What if he accidentally poisoned Squorp?

Logan turned back to his computer and Googled “what do griffins eat?”

“Humans!” one site offered cheerfully. Logan raised an eyebrow at Squorp. The cub didn't seem like the man-eating type.

A few other websites suggested horse meat or oxen. So, at least they were carnivorous. Hamburger meat couldn't be too bad for them.

And treasure?
Squorp chirped.
Need treasure! Would be best day ever!

“Sorry, I don't have any treasure, Squorp.”

Oh, no? What about this?
The griffin wriggled out from under the bed, dragging a shoe box with him.

Logan reached for it. “That's nothing.” But the griffin cub batted his hand away and lifted off the lid as though it were the undisturbed tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh. He plucked out several postcards of wild jungles and vast desert landscapes.

See? Treasure! Pretty! Traveled long distances to get here, yes? And carefully kept.

“They're really not important.” Logan shoved himself to his feet. “Just put them back, okay?” Squorp reluctantly dropped the postcards into the box. “Come on, I'll fix you some food.” He heard scrabbling in the shoe box behind him as he headed for the door.

But THIS is treasure!
Squorp bounded past him and raced to the kitchen, brandishing a shiny gold object. His paws slipped on the smooth tiles, and his legs flew out from under him, sending the cub shooting across the floor to land with a thump against the cabinets.

Logan reached down to help him up and saw what Squorp held.

He slowly took the bracelet from the griffin. It was his mom's favorite piece of jewelry, a thin gold-link chain with little charms dangling off it—an elephant, a bird, an anteater, a fox, a lizard, and seven other animals. She came back from each trip with a new charm but never took the bracelet with her in case she lost it. Logan had this weird superstition that if she ever did come back, it would be because the bracelet was here waiting for her.

“Yeah. I guess this is treasure-like, but I can't give it to you, Squorp. I'm sorry.” Logan pocketed the bracelet, trying not to think about his mom.

Squorp's wings drooped, but he perked up right away when Logan pulled the hamburger meat out of the freezer.

COW?
Squorp gurgled.
All for ME? ALLLLLLL THIS COW??

“Uh, sure,” Logan said, sticking the meat in the microwave. He'd have to tell his dad he'd had a serious hamburger craving. He wondered for a brief second what his father would think of Squorp, and if he might even let Logan keep him.

But that fantasy slammed into the memory of all the conversations they'd had about how much work a dog would be. He could just imagine how this one would go. “But Dad, it'll be way easier than a schnauzer! It's probably only going to be nine times the size of a Newfoundland! And who wouldn't want a telepathic pet with claws and wings?”

Not that it was an option anyway. He had to give Squorp back to Zoe.

Besides, Logan's dad worked for the Wyoming wildlife department. They watched out for endangered species and stuff like that. Logan was pretty sure he would want to report a real, live griffin to his boss, which sounded like the worst-case scenario for Zoe and Blue, and probably Squorp as well.

While he was thinking, the griffin managed to hop up on to the green-tiled kitchen counter by bouncing several times on his talons and flapping his wings like mad, knocking over everything within reach. Logan rescued the salt shaker from under the kitchen island and replaced the spatulas in the utensil holder, trying not to laugh.

Squorp poked the fridge with his beak.
Doesn't smell like food,
he complained.
Or else Squorp would have checked in there. So hungry! All day! All alone with small scritchies taunting me!
He gave Logan a reproachful look.

“I highly doubt Mr. and Mrs. Smith were taunting you,” Logan said. “And I'm glad you didn't find the fridge, because I have no idea how I'd explain to Dad why I'd eaten everything in the house.”

Ahh,
Squorp warbled in a tone of ancient wisdom.
Squorp know all about dads.

“Tell me more about where you come from,” Logan said, piling squashy, dripping meat on a paper plate in front of Squorp. “What do Zoe and Blue have to do with it?”

Worry-Cub and Fish-Boy? They feed us.
Squorp sucked up a huge mouthful of hamburger and flapped his wings with glee.
Not very well! Not like this!

Logan felt a surge of worry. What if griffins could only handle a small amount of food before exploding? What if you weren't supposed to feed them between noon and midnight or else they'd try to eat people? He didn't really know
anything
about griffins; and since they weren't even supposed to
exist
, anything he'd found online could be completely wrong.

“So you escaped because you were hungry?” he asked. The hamburger meat was disappearing fast.

And to find treasure!
The websites Logan had scanned all said griffins were fierce protectors of their gold. It was funny to think of the little cub fiercely protecting anything, though.

Squorp opened his beak wide, paused for a long moment, and then went “SQUOOOOOOOOOOOOOORP.” A blast of meaty breath hit Logan in the face, and he waved his hand in the air.

“Nice, Squorp,” he said. “Very civilized.”

The griffin clacked his beak, looking pleased with himself.

“Listen,” Logan said. “I'd love to keep you, but I think you probably need to go home.”

NOOO!
Squorp wailed. He flopped over on the counter and covered his head with his wings.
No home! Home terrible! Terrible terrible! Everyone bossing me around! Keeping food from me! Making me go to bed when NOT EVEN TIRED!

“That does sound terrible,” Logan said. “Maybe . . . maybe you should take me there.”

Squorp stopped writhing and gave Logan a sharp-eyed look.
Take you there?

“Sure.” Logan tried to look casual, like he wasn't really dying of curiosity. How did Zoe and Blue keep this secret? And what else might be hidden away with the griffins and dragons? “You can show me how terrible it is.”

Squorp bounced back onto all fours and waved his tail like a cat.

Squorp show Logan all the dreadfulness! And the no food! And the dragons! And the tiny cave! And the NO FOOD!

“Yeah, okay. Sounds like a plan,” Logan said, grinning at Squorp.

The griffin's long, curved beak did something very much like a smile.

Squorp show Logan the Menagerie.

FIVE

W
here could they be?

Zoe turned to look back at the empty street.

They must be in town somewhere. But where are they all hiding?

She and Blue had been all over Xanadu, and while they'd found lots of feathers, they hadn't spotted a single griffin cub.

Or maybe Dad's right and they're all out in the wilderness by now.

But she knew these cubs. She was sure they'd stay close to town—close to people, to familiar food, to all the interesting new smells they'd find outside the Menagerie.

There was a sharp pain at the base of her neck, as if she'd been tensing her shoulders for too long. She tried rolling her head from side to side as they waited for the light to change.

Her life was always crazy, but searching for missing griffin cubs was a whole new level of stressful . . . especially when everyone thought their escape was her fault.

Across the street, something drifted along the library steps.

“Blue!” she cried, reaching over to grab his arm. “Look!”

“Definitely a feather,” he said. It was dark gray-blue—the color of one of the female griffin cubs.

“She's the one who likes books!” Zoe said. “She curls up in my lap and lets me read to her. Not a big fan of
The Crucible
, though. That one she tried to eat a couple of times.”

“Really?” Blue said. “I kind of liked it.”

“Me, too,” Zoe said absently, her mind on the griffin. “Come on, let's check inside.”

They locked their bikes in the bike rack, and Zoe hurried into the library ahead of Blue. The librarians at the desk were calmly stamping books. She could see three little kids playing with the alphabet puzzles in the children's room. An old couple peered at one of the computer catalogs together, wearing matching confused frowns.

“Looks like good news,” Blue said, coming up behind her. “Nobody's screaming or running around in a panic.”

“Yay,” Zoe said.

“Or taking photos and uploading them instantly to the internet,” Blue added.

“Okay, wow. I didn't think I could be more anxious, but now I am,” said Zoe. “Thanks for that.”

“Want to head upstairs?” he suggested. “No one ever goes into the back corners of the nonfiction section. Maybe she's hiding there.”

“She doesn't like nonfiction,” Zoe said. “She jabbed her beak right through my history book. And I'm pretty sure Mrs. Novik didn't buy my story about a bald eagle trying to steal it.” She sighed. “But okay, let's check.”

Another feather was lying on the second step of the stairs, so the griffin had definitely come inside. Zoe was about to swoop it up when she heard someone purr “Hey, Blue” from behind her.

She knew that voice way too well. Zoe grabbed the feather and hid it behind her back as she turned around.

Jasmin Sterling stood in the doorway of the teen room with a stack of three books propped on her hip. Her short-sleeved white angora sweater glowed against her skin, and her long, dark hair brushed the top of her skinny jeans.

As usual, she wouldn't even look at Zoe.

“Hey, Jasmin,” Blue answered. “Whatcha reading?”

“
The Hunger Games
,” she said, glancing at her books. “Jonathan said I'd like it.”

Zoe loved
The Hunger Games
. Six months ago, she and Jasmin would have read it together and then stayed up all night talking about the movie and arguing about who was cuter, Peeta or Gale. But when you couldn't be friends with someone anymore and it was your own fault, you didn't get to be sad about all the things you'd never do together now.

The stairs trembled under Zoe's sneakers. She backed up against the wall as Jasmin's dad came jogging down, his smile big and toothy like it was in all the ads about him running for mayor. Had he seen the feather behind her back?

He stopped on the step above her. “Zoe Kahn,” he said, doing a little finger gun at her. At least he didn't say “We haven't seen you around lately!” anymore like he had for the first three months.

“How's your sister?” he asked instead, which was nearly as awkward. “Enjoying college?” He didn't wait for an answer. “Jonathan loves it. We can barely get him on the phone between crew practice and a cappella rehearsals. Luckily he runs out of clean laundry every few weeks, so he's home for the weekend.”

Zoe never knew what to say to Jasmin's parents, so she stuck with her usual response. “That's great, Mr. Sterling.”

“Dad,” Jasmin said. “You're being boring.”

“Hello, Blue. Good to see you, too.” Mr. Sterling looked Blue up and down as though Blue were a new wind energy factory he was thinking of buying. Mr. Sterling owned half the land surrounding Xanadu. He would have owned more if Zoe's grandparents hadn't long ago bought up the acres around the Menagerie.

She wondered if he knew about Jasmin's crush and if that was why he always looked at Blue funny. Well, he didn't have to worry. After the Ruby-Jonathan disaster, Zoe and Blue were forbidden to date anyone.

“Going upstairs?” Mr. Sterling asked. “You two can share our table.” He beckoned to Jasmin, who rolled her eyes at Blue like
Aren't parents sooooo embarrassing?

“Uh—no thanks,” Zoe said. They couldn't prowl around upstairs with Jasmin and her dad watching their every move. And if they found the griffin, then what? Drag it yowling out of the library in front of everyone?

They needed a better plan. And a Sterling-free zone.

“You sure?” said Mr. Sterling. “I just found the weirdest feather up there. I've got a book on wild birds in Wyoming, and I'm going to try to figure out which one it comes from.”

“DAD,”
Jasmin said. “Total YAWN already.”

Zoe hoped she didn't look as queasy as she felt. Her phone buzzed. Grateful for the distraction, she crouched down, snuck the feather inside her backpack, and rummaged through it until she found the phone, a hand-me-down from Ruby when she got an iPhone for college.

The text said
Stop panicking.

Zoe took a deep breath and glanced at Blue, who had already tucked his phone away again. His face was all innocence as he listened to Jasmin's story about how Marco Jimenez had eaten corn he'd brought from home for lunch today and wasn't that so weird because who didn't like pizza?

There was also a text Zoe had missed from her brother.
Get home quick
, it said.
Apparently I have no idea how to feed a phoenix with the proper respect.

Zoe deleted the text as fast as she could, frowning. Matthew was never careful enough about that stuff. What if someone stole her phone, or his? She'd have to delete the outgoing message from his phone later, too, since he would never do it even if she reminded him a million times.

“We gotta go, Blue,” she said. “But thanks, Mr. Sterling.”

“Good luck with the bird ID,” Blue said. Zoe wished she could ever be that casual. He nudged Jasmin. “Let me know how the book is.”

“I will,” she said, smiling as if he'd asked her to prom.

“Make sure your parents vote in November!” Mr. Sterling beamed at them. “Hey, I think I've got some campaign buttons in here.” He reached into his jacket pockets.

“DAAAAAAD. Wouldn't it be easier to just
shoot me
instead of
embarrassing
me to death?” Jasmin shoved her dad up the stairs ahead of her and fluttered her fingers in a good-bye wave to Blue.

Poor Jasmin,
Zoe thought as she followed Blue out the door. She knew how long Jasmin had liked Blue. But Blue was exactly that nice to every girl in school, and as far as Zoe knew he didn't like any of them as more than friends.

She stopped by her bike, biting her thumbnail. “Should we go back in?” she asked Blue. “I don't want them to see us looking for the cub, but what if they find her themselves? Or what if she escapes before we get back?”

“Then we'll deal with it,” Blue said. “Try to bring your freaking out down to an eight. I don't need my best friend going gray before she's fourteen.” He punched her shoulder and bent to unlock his bike.

Zoe glanced up and saw Jasmin and Mr. Sterling watching them from an upstairs window. They might be thinking about birds and Blue right now, but if they knew what was in the library with them . . . if anyone ever found out . . .

Her headache was back, worse than ever.

Please, if anyone out there is listening,
she prayed,
please please help us get those cubs back.