The Mysterious Abductions (10 page)
Read The Mysterious Abductions Online
Authors: Tracey Hecht
“L
adies aaannnd gentlemen,” announced Bismark from his perch above the center line, “take a look at that fox!”
All eyes were on Dawn as she warmed up on the marble. Ciro was good. Cora was decent. The others struggled to stay on their feet, let alone control the tarantula. But Dawn maneuvered her kiwi with skill and slid on the marble surface with grace. The fox was a natural.
“She must be shut down!” Boris whispered. His team gathered around him at the far goal. “Shut down, do you hear me? Bee, do not leave her uncovered for a moment. Hay, you mind the sweep, and Miss, don't forget to fall back on defense every play. If they get a fast break, let me stop it alone. I can handle anything they throw at me. Am I understood?”
“Yes, Coach,” they said.
“We can't take any chances with that one.” Boris watched as the fox spun in tight circles, with Harry balanced on the tip of her kiwi. “She is the threat.”
“What a match we have here today!” Bismark exclaimed. “Finesse versus power, captor versus captive, the Nocs versus the Crocs! Are you ready for this, ladies and gentlemen?” Bismark looked down at the crowd of several hundred jerboas and the other captured nocturnals. “Hello?
Hola
?” he prompted. But there was no reply. The animals sat blankly on the stone benches encircling the floor. They were not in the mood to be entertained.
Boris slid over to where Dawn and her team were practicing. “Are you all ready to play?”
“We could use a little more time to get used to this surface,” said Dawn.
“You've had enough time!” roared the croc.
“Besides, there's only one way to learn, and that's to play. We start in three minutes. Bats! Bismark! You hear that?”
The bats flapped down to the floor. With white marble dust, they had painted vertical stripes on their fur.
Bismark eyed their design. “Do not be fooled by the cheap imitation, folks! Those are refereeing bats, not sugar gliders! I assure you that the stripe down my back is
au naturel.
”
Dawn moved toward the croc. “Before we start,” she said, “we have one last condition.”
Boris spun and stuck his snaggletoothed snout in Dawn's face. “No more conditions. We play for freedom, your team versus mine. The agreement has been struck!”
Dawn did not budge. She stared into the crocodile's yellow eyes. “Yes,” she said, her voice calm. “We play for freedom. But you must honor that freedom with an act of faith. A sign of your good word.”
Boris let out a long, hissing breath through his nostrils. “And what is this act of faithâthis proof of my good word?”
Dawn raised her chin. “You must release the jerboas. Only when they are free will we play this game.” The fox looked out at the tiny animals clustered
around the floor. They were squeaking and whispering in disbelief.
“Impossible!” Boris bellowed, silencing the crowd. “I will release no one! No one! I mean, unless, of course, you win. Besides, the jerboas are necessary to maintain the marble rink. Impossible to play without them.”
“Actually, we have brought lomandra leaves from above ground,” Dawn replied. “We will fashion the leaves into brooms that will keep the marble cleanâbetter than the jerboas' tails ever could.”
The crocodile and the fox locked eyes. Finally, the croc flinched.
“Fine!” Boris grunted. “The jerboas may go. They are of no use to me anyway.” The crocodile dismissed the rodents with a petulant wave of his claw.
The jerboas erupted in cheering and song as they hugged and danced at the news of their release.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” they cried. In a flood, they made their way toward the exits. Only Jerry remained quiet.
“Wait!” he called over the crowd. “Brothers, sisters, my jerboa kin!”
The jerboas quieted. All eyes in the arena fell on the tiny desert rodent.
Jerry drew in a deep breath, steeled his nerves, and spoke. “We will stay.”
A silence fell on the cave.
“I made the mistake of helping to bring our nocturnal brethren here, but we cannot make the mistake of leaving them now. We must stay to the finish. Whatever the finish may be.” With that, Jerry turned and slowly walked to the sidelines where he seated himself on a bench.
For a few moments, none of the jerboas moved. But then, one by one, they returned to their seats. Hundreds of them, row after row, lined up on the cold, hard, stone benches.
“Let's go, Nocs!” shouted Jerry, breaking the silence. The crowd erupted in cheers.
Boris's eyes blazed with fury. “Enough interruptions!” he roared, desperate to regain control. “It's time to face off.”
“U
n, deux, troisâ¦
game on!”
At Bismark's call, the bats dropped Harry onto the floor. The second he hit the ground, the tarantula curled into a tight ball, tucking in his legs as tight as he could.
Dawn and Miss swiped their kiwis. Pushing Dawn to the side, the crocodile tucked the tarantula into the crook of her kiwi's beak. Miss glided on the slick floor, maneuvering around the challengers who were
swiping at the spider. Past Ciro, slap, slap, she whacked Harry back and forth, slap, slap, past Ajax and Julian, slap, slap, she slid over to the side of the rink, pulling an inexperienced Cora and Tobin away from the goal. The Nocs raced after them, but their balance was shaky on the strange, slippery surface, and they had limited control of their kiwis. Miss slid a pass to Vee, standing behind Tobin and Cora, who tapped the tarantula into the open net.
On the next possession, Orr received the first pass. He cocked his kiwi back and gave Harry a whack, sending the spider whistling into the goal. The Crocs were up two points to zero, and the first period wasn't even halfway over.
“Oh goodness!” The pangolin paced in front of the goal. “It's all a blur! I should never have agreed to be the goalie. My vision's too weak for this game!”
Cora placed a paw on Tobin's back.
“You can do this,” she said. “You don't have to rely on your sight.”
The pangolin rubbed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
Cora smiled. “Look at the bats,” she said. “They can't see at all! They just use their ears.”
Tobin glanced at his leather-winged friends.
Although they were stumbling a bit, they did seem to know where they were.
“You know what a tarantula smells like, right?” Cora asked.
Tobin's face brightened. He nodded and tapped his nose twice. He was ready.
“Face-off!” yelled the sugar glider.
The tarantula was dropped once again. After the face-off, Miss and Bee took control of Harry and zoomed past Ajax and Dawn. Ciro swiped the spider away for a moment, but lost possession on an unlucky bounce. The Crocs regained control and were soon bearing down on the goal.
“Prey on the pangolin!” hissed Bee.
Miss cackled and increased her speed.
“Oh goodness,” Tobin murmured. The onslaught of reptiles was once again headed his way.
Cora looked up at her brother in the stands. Joe was quivering, his paws over his eyes, unable to watch the blowout. His lips were curled up, revealing the dark gap where his missing tooth used to be. The wombat clenched her jaw and tightened her paws around her kiwi. No one was going to score on her goal again. Without a second thought, she shot like a bolt down the marble toward the two advancing players.
“No you don't!” Cora hollered, leaping into the air with every drop of strength in her legs. The crocodiles raised their kiwis to start their backswing, but Cora was there to block the shot. She came down hard on her bottom, right on top of the furry spider. Splat!
“WZZZZ!” The bats whistled through their crooked teeth, waving their wings madly.
Harry's eight limbs splayed out in every direction underneath the wombat's behind. His fangs were stuck like ice picks into the marble slab.
“Ohhhh,” Harry groaned. His eight eyes were crossed and spinning in their sockets. “I got biffed by a buttock!”
“Oh! Oh, I'm sorry!” Cora repeated her apologies over and over as she lifted herself up off of Harry. “I don't know what came over me.”
“Ladies and gentlemen!” said Bismark. “Roughing the spider!”
Boris clapped his claws and cheered at the top of his lungs. “Wonderful! Wonderful!” he screamed. “A power play for the Crocs! See you later, wombat!”
Shocked, Cora glanced at the fox. But Dawn confirmed the call with a shrug. By the rules of the game, the wombat was forced to sit out for the rest of the period, leaving the Nocs one player short.
Cora slumped toward the sidelines, her gaze glued to the floor. She had tried to be great and heroic, but she had only been clumsy and harmful. “He'll be so disappointed,” she muttered, looking back at her brother. But when Cora met Joe's gaze, his eyes were full of pride.
“WZZZZ!” The bats whistled to restart the game. With a sigh, Harry curled back into a ball and squeezed his eyes shut.
Clack! With a powerful strike, Miss got a hold of the spider.
“Please be gentle!” begged the kiwi. “My beak is terribly scratched from this hard floor!”
“Quiet!” snapped Miss. With Vee right beside her, the croc moved skillfully around the defense. In an attempt to use up the time, she played the spider back to her own goal. Then, in the period's final moments, Vee slapped a shot straight through Tobin's legs.
The bats whistled to send both teams to the bench for intermission. The score was three to zero in favor of the Crocs, and there were still two more periods left to play.
“
Qué lástima
! We have a tragic night in the making here, ladies and gentlemen,” groaned Bismark. “Can our beloved Nocs pull themselves together, or will
we be spending the rest of our nights in this cave? I, for one, have not lost hope yet!”
Boris clapped as his team gathered round. “Wonderful! Now that's how you move the tarantula!” With a big, toothy grin, he congratulated each of his players. Then he turned toward the sideline. “Jerry!” he called.
The jerboa hesitantly shuffled toward him.
“Listen, jerboa, I have you to thank for helping me scout these newcomers. Did you see that fox?” Boris shook his head in awe. “What agility, what speed! Those coachers are going to flip when they see the squad I've put together!”
Boris's love for the game was so heartfelt that Jerry felt a confusing twinge of enthusiasm. “R-right on, sir,” said the jerboa.
On the other end of the marble, spirits weren't so high.
“Oh goodness,” said Tobin. “I'm trying my best, I really am. They're just so fast and I can'tâ”
Dawn stopped the pangolin. “You're not the reason we're behind. We're giving them way too much space to take shots.”
The team bowed their heads.
“But we're getting better,” she said.
“It's true,” agreed Julian. “I'm starting to get the hang of this kiwi. You've got to hold them around the knees.”
Ajax shook his head. “But it's not enough. We need something more. A way to keep their defenders from pouncing on the player with the spider. If we can do that, we may just have a chance to score.”
“What do you mean?” asked Julian, sensing his friend was onto something.
“I think Ajax is suggesting that it's time for a little coyote hunting magic,” said Ciro. “Misdirection and coordination. That's how we'll win this.”
“A
ndiamo, Andiamo
!” Bismark screamed over the roaring crowd. “Let's go, team!”
The players from both teams took their places on the floor. Boris's team looked relaxed as they stretched and prepared for what they assumed would be an equally dominant second period. The challengers, however, did not look like the same forlorn bunch that had left the floor just minutes earlier.
“Players! To face-off positions! Dingbats, to
center floor,” Bismark said with relish.
Dawn and Vee squared up for the face-off.
“Don't worry,” jeered the croc, “I'll make it quick.”
The fox's whiskers curled, betraying the trace of a smile. The bats dropped the spider.
“Game on!” shouted Bismark.
In a flash, Dawn had Harry in the crook of her kiwi. Then, with a tap, she passed the spider back to Cora.
Just as planned, the wombat glided toward the center line, where she was joined by the rest of her team. In a shoulder-to-shoulder formation, the Nocs barreled forward, a single, straight line of force.
Thwack, Cora tapped the spider back to Ciro. Thwack, Ciro tapped the spider to Dawn. Thwack, Dawn tapped the spider to Ajax. Thwack, Ajax tapped the spider to Julian. By passing just before the defender had a chance to attack, the challengers drove their single line straight down the floor.
Suddenly Boris, standing in goal, was outnumbered five-to-one. Julian raised his kiwi high, winding up to hit Harry with all his might. Boris lunged left, falling for Julian's fake. With a smirk, Julian passed Harry to Dawn who was waiting at the right side of the goal.
With a smooth swipe, she deflected the spider into the corner of the net.
“WZZZZ!” All four bats whistled to mark the stoppage of play, but were drowned out by the roar of the spectators.
“We have ourselves a game, ladies and gentlemen!” Bismark called out. “A point for the challengers!
Un punto
for freedom!”
The Nocs all screamed with delight. Holding their kiwis high, they gathered together for a victorious embrace. They could do this. They could beat the Crocs.
But as the cheering subsided, one fan could still be heard.
“Unbelievable! Brilliant! Magnificent!” Boris screamed in a frenzy. “A sneak attack! A clever display of strategy! I love it!”
“Coach?” Vee asked.
“Oh, excuse me! Got carried away there. Sorry, yes. Too bad, team! Nice try. Let's pull it together. Don't let that one happen again.”
The Crocs turned back toward the floor.
“What's going on?” whispered Miss.
“They just scored,” murmured Orr, “but Boris seemsâ”
“âhappy,” said Vee.
Shaking their heads in confusion, the crocodiles moved back to their posts.
“Face off!” said the bats in chorus as they dropped the spider.
Miss gained control of Harry. She passed him back to Vee, who sheltered the tarantula and kept her passing lanes open. They were not going to get caught off guard by another five-player assault. But this time the challengers moved out of the way. Ciro, Dawn, Cora, Julian, and Ajax all gathered together at the edge of the rink.
Vee and Orr stopped passing. Miss, Hay, and Bee stared in disbelief.
“What are you guys doing over there?” Miss asked the Nocs, approaching them in confusion.
“Yeah, what's the matter?” asked Vee.
“What do you mean?” Cora answered. “Nothing's the matter.” The wombat fluttered her lashes.
“But you're all just standing there. You're not trying to stop us,” Orr said, pointing out the obvious.
“You know we have possession, right?” asked Vee.
While attention was directed to the sidelines, Tobin crept out from goal. Stealthily, the pangolin made his way down the marble. With a flick of his kiwi, Tobin
gained control of Harry, who had been abandoned at center floor. Suddenly, he was facing Boris in a one-on-one showdown.
“Come on, pangolin! Show me the good stuff!” Boris bared his sharp teeth.
All the players whirled around as Tobin raised his kiwi.
Thwack!
Tobin slapped Harry with the rounded side of the kiwi's beak, putting an unusual spin on the spider. Harry curved up, around, and past Boris's shoulder, thunking cleanly into the back of the goal.
“WZZZZ!” The whistles blared out again as the bats raised their wings in the air. The point was good.
“Goooaaal! A second point for the challengers!” Bismark called out above the wild celebration. The jerboas were hopping with excitement. The captured animals clutched each other in disbelief.
“No way! No way” Bee objected “That'sâ¦that's cheating?”
The bats gathered together for a moment, then raised their wings again. “Fair goal!” they declared.
“Way to go!” said Julian, patting the pangolin's scales. Tobin blushed.
“You did it!” cried Cora.
Dawn glided over to offer her congratulations, but she could not shout over the noise of the audience. The cave was filled with the sound of hundreds of voices screaming as one, their freedom close at hand.
“Unbelievable, ladies and gentlemen!” Bismark exclaimed. “Another
estrategia excelente
! The Nocs have pulled within one, and they look like they want to go allâ¦theâ¦way!”
Yet again, as the crowd noise died down, one euphoric voice was left speaking.
“Spectacular! Unheard of!” Boris wailed. “What a performance! Bravo!”
The Nocs huddled together, staring at their opponent in confusion. Something did not feel right.
“Why is he cheering us on?” asked Ajax.
“Oh goodness, do you think he let in my shot on purpose?” wondered Tobin.
Dawn shook her head. “There's no telling what Boris is thinking. All we can do is keep playing.”
The challengers went mute as they considered the possibilities. Boris was still ranting beside the goal.
“Wonderful!” he said. “I will meet those coachers at last! It is only a matter of time!” In his claws he still clenched the strange red tube. Jerry watched from the sidelines as Boris whispered to the object, and then
pressed it to his ear, as if it were speaking back.
The second period resumed, but neither team could organize enough to score again. When the whistles blew, the score was Crocs three, Nocs two.
