Free Traps and Specters by Bryan Chick Page A

scattered about like litter. She climbed to her feet, claimed her backpack, and picked up a schoolbook. Then she went to her next thing, then the next, and the next. Her eyes welled with tears that blurred her vision. She turned her head to hide her face.
    â€œWe’re okay,” she reminded Richie as she swept up her mirror. A web of cracks ran through the glass, and a jagged piece had fallen out. “It’s—”
    She felt her voice shudder and swallowed back her breath. She wouldn’t cry—not in front of Richie. All her friends thought of her as the strong one, the tough one. She couldn’t let them down, not with so much at stake.
    Memories unexpectedly filled her. She pictured DeGraff staring out at her from the shadows in her front yard as she stood all alone on her porch, no one nearby to help. She thought about her home—how different it was now, how lonely it sometimes felt, even with her mother by her side. Finally, she remembered her father, how the world had taken him away, and it was too much for Ella to bear. She turned away from Richie and allowed her tears to come.

CHAPTER 14
F ROM P IZ ZOO RIA TO ZOO ASIS
    N oah and Megan boiled with fury when Ella and Richie told them what had happened with Walt. He’d never actually hit one of the scouts before. Their first thought was to go to an adult, but then they feared this might only make matters worse. After a long, heated discussion in Fort Scout (one in which Noah tirelessly paced back and forth and knocked over a chair in frustration), they decided to wait it out and see what might happen with Walt back at school after the weekend.
    The four of them had no problems getting permission to attend the supposed volunteer party, and at dusk on Saturday, they loaded up their packs, grabbed their sleeping bags, and headed for the Clarksville Zoo, excited but nervous about what they might find. As they pushed through the turnstiles at the front gates, the guard told them to report to PizZOOria, the big cafeteria. Across the zoo grounds, tall light posts carved cone-shaped wedges out of the darkness.
    At PizZOOria they pushed through the unlocked doors to find Tank sitting at one of the cafeteria’s many long benches, his fist buried in a tub of popcorn. On the tabletop beside him was a tiny, bright blue bird—Marlo. The kingfisher was pecking at a pile of popcorn Tank had given him. Behind Tank was a portable whiteboard. As the scouts dropped their stuff and approached the bench, Tank shoved a fistful of popcorn into his smile.
    â€œHungry?” Ella asked.
    As Tank munched, he said, “When you’re as big as me, you’re always hungry.”
    â€œMakes sense. But how do you explain this?” She jerked her thumb toward Richie, who was greedily reaching for some popcorn. “This guy weighs less than his own clothes.”
    Tank laughed and offered the tub to Richie, who plunged his hand into it.
    â€œHe burns all his calories worrying about stuff,” Tank said with a wink toward Richie.
    Megan said, “Okay … what’s on the agenda tonight?”
    â€œSome training—an emergency session, I guess you could call it, because of the DeGraff sighting. And we’re going to follow it with a test.”
    â€œGreat,” Ella said. “Like we don’t get enough of those in school.”
    â€œIt’s more of a challenge—and don’t worry, it’s not going to kill you. At least it shouldn’t, anyway.” Richie’s eyes widened as Tank rose from the bench. “But that’s not until later. Right now, I got a whole bunch of things to review—Mr. D wants to make sure you’re up to snuff. With DeGraff on the loose, we can’t afford mistakes. So take a seat. And here”—he slid the tub of popcorn across the table—“help yourselves.”
    The big man went to the whiteboard, grabbed a marker, and for the next three hours, the five of