Krakens and Lies (31 page)

Blue looked from the Sterlings to Jasmin, and then stepped over to the U-Haul. Mrs. Sterling raised her phone threateningly, but instead of going to the mammoth, Blue went over and held his hands up for Jasmin.

She blinked at him for a moment, then reached down and took them. He held on to her as she hopped to the ground. With a dark look at the Sterlings, he put one arm around her protectively.

“Well, great seeing y'all, but I'd better get out there,” Mr. Sterling said, taking a step toward the kitchen door. “My public awaits.”

Zoe's heart was pounding. There had to be
something
they could do. If she tackled Mrs. Sterling, could she knock the phone away before Jasmin's mom hit send? Was it too risky?

Jonathan led the mammoth to the bottom of the ramp. Captain Fuzzbutt stamped his feet and reached his trunk toward Zoe.

“Stay back,” Mrs. Sterling warned again.

“You are such a liar!” Ruby yelled suddenly. She stormed past everyone and shoved Jonathan in the chest. “You horse-faced cow! You giant worm! I defended you! I trusted you! You were lying to me the whole time!”

“I wasn't!” Jonathan said in a voice that was almost a whine. “I love you, Ruby!”

“Oh YEAH?” she shouted. “What kind of boyfriend
steals mythical creatures from his girlfriend and ruins her family? What kind of boyfriend totally lies about giving his parents kraken ink? What kind of boyfriend doesn't even CALL ME BACK for an ENTIRE WEEKEND after I've left like THIRTY MESSAGES and then posts pictures on Facebook where he's dancing with some BRUNETTE?”

“I told you, she's nobody!” he protested. “My phone died! I was studying for an exam! I swear I was thinking about you!”

“You could have emailed!” Ruby smacked his shoulder and he reeled back. “You promised you would call me every day! Next you're going to tell me you can't make it to my play!”

“Um, Ruby,” said her mother. “I think we're getting a bit off topic here—”

“We are OVER, Jonathan!” Ruby shrieked. “You are the WORST! I hope Captain Fuzzbutt stands on your foot AND BREAKS ALL YOUR TOES!” She stormed out of the garage and off into the night.

“Oh, Ruby,” Zoe's dad sighed.

Where's Logan?
Zoe suddenly thought. She blinked and looked around. He'd been right next to her . . . hadn't he? What was he—

She spotted him suddenly, creeping quietly up on the other side of Captain Fuzzbutt. He was holding something small and furry in his hands—something honey-colored, with big dark eyes. Its head was swiveled nearly all the way around so it could stare at Mr. Sterling, and it was shaking in
a strange way that looked more like rage than fear.

Bob?
Zoe thought.

“Come along, dear,” Mr. Sterling said, taking Mrs. Sterling's free hand.

And that's when the deflector attacked.

I
t wasn't exactly a plan. It was more of a desperate last-ditch quasi-idea.

They'd been on their way out to the Buffalo Bill Diner when Logan had thought of it. The deflector—if Logan could talk her into coming. How strong was her power? Could the deflector shield Captain Fuzzbutt? If Logan got her close enough, would the deflector's power be able to hide the mammoth from the news cameras?

He'd taken a bag of chocolate chips from the kitchen and gone looking for Bob. He'd found her draped peacefully over Keiko's pillow, snoozing, although she came fully awake as soon as Logan set foot in the room.

Logan didn't know how much Bob understood. But he had offered the chocolate, spread out his hands, and pleaded for help. He knew it could only possibly work if the deflector agreed to come willingly.

Shockingly, she had. Bob had crawled under Logan's shirt and munched chocolate chips all the way to the diner. Logan was a little worried that she'd be in a sugar coma by the time they arrived, but he could feel the deflector poking his belly button and playing with his scarab necklace even while the Sterlings and the Kahns were facing off.

So he'd taken advantage of the fight between Jonathan and Ruby to sneak up on the mammoth's other side. He had a vague notion that he might slip Bob onto Fuzzbutt's back and see what happened.

But the closer Logan got to Mr. Sterling, the more the deflector seemed to be freaking out. Bob scrambled up to the collar of Logan's shirt and wrestled her way out. She wrapped her long furry arms around Logan's neck and gripped Logan's chest fiercely with her toes. Her head swiveled back and forth between Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, staring at them with her giant black eyes.

“It's okay,” Logan whispered to her. “They can't see you. They'll leave you alone.”

Bob was pulsing weirdly now, as if something was going
DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!
inside her head.

And then, as Mr. Sterling took Mrs. Sterling's hand, the
deflector suddenly launched herself off Logan with a shriek of fury.

Logan stumbled back. Zoe screamed.

Mr. Sterling turned and caught the deflector in his hands like a football.

“What in the world?” he said. “Did you bring me a present?”

“How adorable!” Mrs. Sterling said, leaning on his shoulder.

Bob stared up at them . . . and a third eye slowly opened in the middle of her forehead.

The air between them crackled,
zzzzip zzzzzap
.

The Sterlings stood stock-still, as if they were being mesmerized. Their faces went slack. Their eyes seemed to reflect back a hundred swirling mirrors. Mrs. Sterling's cell phone clattered to the ground and Zoe leaped forward to swoop it up.

And then the deflector's third eye slowly closed, and it felt like color coming back into the world.

Bob sat up in Mr. Sterling's hands, looked around at everyone, and announced, “Much better.”

Then she hopped down to the ground and loped calmly off to the Kahns' van.

The Sterlings blinked and blinked, dazed. Mr. Sterling rubbed his face. Mrs. Sterling touched her cheeks and then her forehead as if checking they were still there.

“Mom?” Jasmin said softly. “Dad? Are you okay?”

“Goodness me,” said Mrs. Sterling. She smiled brightly around the room. “What an odd assortment of people. How are you all? What are we doing here? Jonathan, where did you get such a sweet furry elephant?”

“Uh—” Jonathan said hazily. “What just—”

“Are we in a garage?” Mr. Sterling said, scanning the room. “What's all the noise out there?” He jerked his thumb at the door to the kitchen.

“That's your victory party, Dad,” Jonathan said. “Remember? You're going to show everyone this mammoth? During your victory speech?”

“Victory speech!” Mr. Sterling said with delight, as if someone had just offered him a person-sized candy cane. “What did I win?”

“The election!” Jonathan said. “Dad! For mayor! What happened to you?”

“Mayor?” said Mr. Sterling, his face falling.

“Oh dear,” said Mrs. Sterling.

“That sounds like a lot of work,” Mr. Sterling said. “Why would I want to do that?” He turned to survey the other people. “Oh, Jackson, why don't you do it? You'd be a much better mayor than I would.”

“Uh—” said Logan's dad. “I'm not sure there's legal precedent for—”

“Gosh, I don't want to run Xanadu, do you?” said Mrs. Sterling to her husband.

“Not in the slightest,” he said. “We wouldn't have any time for raising ponies and donating money to sick children in Africa.”

“Or our family!” she said. “And family is so important. I want to take Jasmin to a spa with me next weekend.”

“But I wanted to take her hiking!” he said.

“I guess we can let her decide!” Mrs. Sterling said brightly.

“Holy mother of Zeus,” Jasmin said. “Who are these people?”

“There's our angel,” said Mrs. Sterling. She went over and kissed Jasmin's head. Blue kept his arm around Jasmin, watching her mom warily. “Sweetheart, you look tired. Let's take you home and order pizza and watch
Frozen
eight or nine times in a row.”

“I'll make the popcorn!” said Mr. Sterling, bounding over to them.

Jasmin started to giggle. “I think I could get used to this,” she said. “Zoe, how long does it last?”

“I have no idea,” Zoe said. “I don't even know what just happened.”

“I think I do,” Matthew offered. “But I thought it was a myth—I mean,
really
a myth. I read once that deflectors have a kind of ‘nuclear option,' for when they're feeling extremely threatened, that renders their adversary completely nonthreatening in every way forever.”

“Forever?” Jasmin said with delight.

“But what am I supposed to do with this?” Jonathan said plaintively, waving his whip at the mammoth.

“Here's one idea,” Matthew growled. He stalked over and grabbed the whip out of Jonathan's hands and then broke it over his knees. Jonathan shrank back, tripping over his own feet in his haste to get away, and fell off the loading dock into a waiting Dumpster.

“Oh dear, watch your step, honey,” Mrs. Sterling called after him.

Zoe wrapped her arms around Fuzzbutt's neck. Abigail came over and helped her wrestle the harness off. Fuzzbutt shook his head vigorously as soon as he was free, letting his ears flap wildly.

“What do we do about the press conference?” Mrs. Kahn asked.

“I say we let them come up with their own story,” said Mr. Kahn. “We'll think of some excuse for Mr. Sterling stepping down in the morning.”

“I've got one!” said Mr. Sterling. “I need to focus on my cooking. I've always wanted to learn to make a perfect paella. Clearly I can't do that and be mayor at the same time.”

“Um,” said Mr. Kahn. “Let's keep thinking on that one.”

“But for now, let's go home,” said Logan's mom. She pulled Logan to her and gave him a huge hug. “Can you always be there to save the day?” she asked him. “How do you feel about traveling to Cambodia with me over Christmas break?”

He leaned against her, too exhausted and relieved and filled with disbelief to even joke.

Zoe took Captain Fuzzbutt's trunk in her hand and led him carefully back into the U-Haul. Mrs. Kahn steered the Sterlings over to the Menagerie's van.

“The world is a weird, weird place,” Jasmin said.

“But an awesome one,” said Blue. She smiled up at him, and he leaned down and gave her a kiss.

“Logan,” Zoe called. “Want to ride back here with me and the Captain?”

“Sure,” he said.

“Me too,” said Blue

“Me too!” said Jasmin. “He's the sweetest mammoth I've ever met.” She giggled.

Everyone headed out into the night, leaving Jonathan to scramble out of the Dumpster on his own. Jasmin waved good-bye to him as Logan pulled the ramp inside the U-Haul.

“But now what do I do?” Jonathan cried, picking discarded ketchup packets off his sleeves. “Hello? My parents are all weird and my girlfriend just broke up with me! And what about my great future? Hello? Anyone?”

Logan pulled down the door, shutting him out, and went over to sit between Zoe and Blue. They could give Jonathan kraken ink later. Captain Fuzzbutt flopped down in front of them with a relieved snort.

“I think we're going to be okay,” Zoe said wonderingly.
“Like, really okay. Like, I might actually make it to thirteen without completely losing my mind.”

“Oh, it might be too late for that,” Jasmin teased.

Logan leaned his head back against the wall of the truck and closed his eyes. He felt the truck jolt forward. All the fear of the last few days was finally disappearing, leaving him room to breathe again.

The Menagerie was safe at last.

“Y
ou'd better not,” Logan said, reaching out to stop his dad. Mr. Wilde froze with his hand halfway to the Kahns' doorbell and raised his eyebrows.