Ghost Leopard (A Zoe & Zak Adventure #1) (21 page)

The monkeys moved closer and Zak laughed.
 

“They’re monkeys. I love monkeys. Monkeys are super cool.”

One of the monkeys threw a rock at Zak.

“Hey. That’s not super cool.”

Zak cracked Stryker into the air. A bolt of lightning shot out of its silver tip forcing the monkeys to scatter, but not for long. There were too many of them. Zak had been carrying the map since after we met the bhagwan at the gorge. It dangled out of his pocket. I guess Zak didn’t like being hit by a monkey because he bent down to pick up a rock of his own. Then he threw the rock. Not to hit the monkey, but to scare it. I knew he wasn’t trying to hit it because the rock didn’t even come close to its target. But more monkeys appeared. They were everywhere. One of them lunged at Zak and he jumped back. As he did, the map fell out of his pocket. Zak quickly scooped the map back up, warding the monkeys away with it. We were all in a tight circle now with our backs to the fire. Another monkey lunged at us, screeching its lungs out.

“Give them the map,” Amala said.

“I stole it,” Zak said. “It’s mine fair and square.”

The monkeys moved closer. There were hundreds of them, maybe even thousands, their eyes glowing yellow in the firelight. A few of them bared their teeth. The monkeys weren’t cute anymore. They were scary.

“Get out of here!” Zak said.

Zak cracked Stryker. But not into the air this time. He cracked it forward across the fire. Stryker’s silver tip lit up, the monkeys moving away from it in a broad swath.

“We don’t need to give them anything,” Zak said.

Zak cracked Stryker again, the monkeys moving away from the lightning and smoke. I felt it happen before I saw it. Zak kept an eye on the monkeys in front of him, but he didn’t have eyes in the back of his head. A monkey, larger than the rest, moved stealthily forward. I turned, but by that time it was too late. The monkey sprang for Zak's fingers, ripping the map right out of his hand. The big monkey took off with the map, the rest of the troop following.
 

“Let it go,” Amala said.

“It’s my map!”

Zak ran after the monkey, cracking his whip. I guess after spending three hours in that trunk, he figured that the map really was his. And he wanted it back. Stryker’s crack didn’t do much besides light up the sky though, because the monkeys were already too far ahead of him. I didn’t think it was the best idea, but I knew I had no choice but to follow. I couldn’t abandon him. Not out there. So I gave Amala an apologetic look and took off after Zak, down the trail.

The crack of Zak's whip lit the night in brief flashes, but what really helped us see where we were going in the dark night were the monkeys themselves. They left glowing footprints as they ran. One thing I was now sure of was that these weren’t normal monkeys. Nothing in these mountains had been normal and the monkeys were no exception. I finally caught up with Zak at the top of a ridge.

“Thanks for waiting for me,” I said.

“I was in a hurry,” Zak replied.

I looked over the ridge. The moon had risen from behind a mountain peak to reveal a perfectly reflective lake. The glowing footsteps led down the trail to its shore where the mass of monkeys stood.

“Let’s try this my way,” I said. “Slow and easy.”

“We’ve got Stryker.”

“Didn’t much help you keep the map, did it?”

“Don’t blame it on Stryker. That big monkey snuck up behind me.”

“So, like I said, let’s try this my way.”

Zak nodded begrudgingly. He followed me as I led the way carefully down the trail, trying my best not to scare the monkeys.

“Here, little monkey.”

Zak and I walked into a large group of monkeys and soon they were everywhere. The reddish-brown fur on their backs stood up, but they parted to the sides allowing Zak and I to pass. I didn’t think the monkeys looked as mean as they had before. Maybe they were nice after all. Either way, I knew we’d find out. Soon, we reached the lakeshore. We stood directly across from the big monkey with the map. The monkey had dark circles under its yellow eyes. I extended my open palm to it.
 

“Can I have the map, monkey?”

The big monkey shrieked and leapt into the lake. But instead of falling into the water, it landed on a stepping stone. The stepping stone glowed brightly. But the monkey didn’t stop there. It leapt to the next stepping stone and then the next in a twisting, turning pattern. The rest of the troop followed. As they leapt across the lake, stepping stones glowing behind them, I thought I recognized a pattern. Feeling my stomach knot up, I pulled Zak up the trail away from the lake.

“Where are we going?”

I stopped and turned, staring down at the lake. “Look,” I said.

It was what I thought. A pattern that resembled a giant Lite-Brite had emerged in the lake. All together the glowing rocks looked like a huge evil monkey head staring up at us from the black lake. The monkey head winked at us in the darkness.
 

“How bad do we want that map?” I said.

“How bad do you want to take a picture of that Leopard?”

“It’s not just about winning the contest, Zak.”

“What’s it about then?”

“You know. Protecting it.”

“So you believe in this Ghost Leopard now?”

“I believe this is one crazy place.”

“Nothing else?”

“Look. I don’t know what I believe, OK? But I know what I see. And what I see right now is a troop of chunky monkeys that stole our map. I don’t know about you, but I want it back.”

“Me too,” Zak said.

“Then let’s go get it.”

I led the way back down the path. Once I was a few feet from the water’s edge, I took a running leap onto the first glowing stepping stone. I landed slightly off balance, but steadied myself.

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah. Come on.”

As I leapt off the rock, Zak jumped on. But he almost didn’t make it, because as my feet left the rock I had been standing on, the rock started to rise into the air, growing out of the water like a towering column.

“Hurry!” Zak said.

I jumped to the next stepping stone, but it was trickier this time. The rock I was standing on had already begun to move up. Jumping from rock to rock was like being on some kind of crazy teeter-totter. Zak continued to leap after me, but it was getting confusing. First the rocks were up, then they were down. If that wasn’t bad enough, I looked behind us and saw that the glowing rock Zak had just been standing on had disappeared back into the water entirely.

“Crud,” Zak said.

We had no way to go but forward. I looked back as Zak leapt onto the rock behind me. He only had a second to jump forward again before it disappeared back into the lake. Some of the stones would shoot up briefly after I leapt off, but they quickly began falling again. It was hard going and I had no desire to fall off the slippery glowing stepping stones into the water. Who knew what kind of monster lurked down there? It went on like that, each stone disappearing into the black water behind us until finally we made it to the rock island in the center of the lake. We both took a moment to catch our breath. It felt good to be on solid ground. But it didn’t feel safe. The bhagwan's sedan chair sat on the far shore of the island.

“Double crud,” I said.

Zak took out Stryker. “Let’s just get what we came for and get out of here,” he said.

I scanned the rock island. Huge stone monkey columns rose high off the ground in a circular formation at the center of the island. It looked like some kind of abandoned ancient temple or something. Zak and I walked toward them to find a round stone pond in the middle of the carved columns. It was just like a donut hole in the middle of the island, or in this case, a monkey hole. The pond wasn’t that big, maybe fifteen feet across, but it was perfectly round. The same chunky monkey who had stolen the map stood there in front of the pond, the map between his teeth. The others monkeys had climbed the carved stone columns. They covered them like a coat of living fur.

“I’m going to ask for that map one more time, “ Zak said to the big monkey.

The big monkey hissed at us and dropped the map into the pond.
 

“Now you don't want it?”

The map floated on the surface of the pond. Zak stretched to reach it, but it was too far out. Air bubbled to the surface in the center of the pond giving rise to a slowly swirling whirlpool. Zak stared up at the heads of the huge monkey statues. Live monkeys peered down at us as the whirlpool built in intensity.

“I wish they’d stop looking at us,” Zak said.

“They like you,” a silky smooth voice said.

I turned. I didn’t like strange voices in the dark, especially when they belonged to the bhagwan. The bhagwan stood at the base of one of the carved monkey columns. If that wasn’t enough, Rhino Butt stood a littler farther behind him with his two goons. Both goons carried bows and arrows strung over their shoulders. Rhino Butt held a crossbow.

“How did you get here?” Zak said.

“Train for most of the way,” the bhagwan said. “I got in my chair when I tired of blasting tunnels through the rock.”

“The monkeys took the map,” Zak said.

“I know,” the bhagwan said. “I asked them to.”

The water in the swirling whirlpool swelled, soaking our feet. The bhagwan smiled at the monkeys who now surrounded us, blocking our escape. The monkey’s mouths were wide open revealing their needle-like teeth.
 

“From the looks of them, they haven’t eaten for many days.”

“They should try the samosas,” I said. “I hear they’re really good.”

“Yogi time,” Zak whispered to me.

“You’re the one with the whip,” I replied under my breath.

I watched as the bhagwan stared at the map in the whirlpool. The map responded to his magnetic glare. At first it just inched forward, but then the map left the water entirely and flew through the air toward him, settling between the bhagwan's open fingers like a frisbee.

“I thank you for the delivery, but your time is through,” the bhagwan said.

This was bad. Really bad. We needed the map. More than that, I was pretty sure that I shouldn’t let the bhagwan have it. That would be a real disaster. But what was I supposed to do? I felt the whirlpool tugging at my ankles. The dark black water had turned a frothy white. It was an effort just to stay standing in place, and we couldn’t get out of the water because of the monkeys. The monkeys hissed at us from the bank.

“Stryker,” I said. “Use Stryker.”

Zak took Stryker in hand. He aimed it at the bhagwan. But he saw something and stopped before cracking it.

“It is all right, Zak. You may put Stryker down.”

It was Mukta. He showed himself from behind a stone monkey column. Zak lowered Stryker. I could see the anger in the bhagwan's eyes. Red flames danced around his pupils.
 

“Now to business,” Mukta said. “I will not allow you to harm them, Frightening One.”
 

“I’ve searched for too long to allow you to stop me,” the bhagwan said.
 

“Oh yes, I know. That is why I must.”

The gentle lapping sound of the whirlpool had now grown to a roar. Mukta and the bhagwan stood on opposite sides of the raging water. I had no idea what they had planned for each other, but as it turned out, that wasn’t our problem. Our problem was the two monkeys that sprang into the air. One headed for Zak, the other went for me. I managed to dive out of the way, but the first monkey landed on Zak's head. It wrapped itself around him, screeching and clawing. Zak wrestled the monkey.

“Get the guy with the map,” Zak wheezed.

I struggled to pull the monkey off Zak's head. The whirlpool began to grow, rising into a terrible water spout. It grew higher and higher as it swirled, its base widening, the water level growing above our knees. I struggled to maintain my balance as I clutched at Zak's monkey. I recognized it. It was the same big one that had taken the map. I took hold of the monkey under its arms. I felt the monkey loosening its hold. I almost had it. I pulled harder, but felt my feet losing their grip on the slippery rocks.

“Ah!” Zak screamed.

The whirlpool rose above Zak's waist. Between the water and the monkey he couldn’t fight it anymore. The water spout drew him in. The waterspout carried him up and up until he was so high he was swirling over the heads of the towering stone monkey columns. It looked like Zak was in a giant washing machine as he went around and around, getting closer to the middle, and I have to tell you, it really freaked me out, because A — I’ve never been one of those people who wanted to take a ride in a washing machine, and B — because I felt myself getting pulled in too. I caught sight of the monkey letting go of Zak's head and just as it did, I lost my footing and was yanked into the water spout with them.

I felt myself getting dizzy as I rose higher and higher until I could see over the tops of the stone monkey columns. I grabbed a gulp of air occasionally as I stuck my head outside the wall of twisting water, but the thing was, I couldn’t see Zak. He had just disappeared. It was only as I got pulled nearer to the center of the water spout that I saw what had happened. Zak had been pulled back down.
 

The eye of the waterspout had a hole at the center of it, maybe the size of an inner tube. I couldn’t see down the hole, it was just too dark and too far, but I could see that wherever it went, it was far below the surface of the pond. There was nothing I could do about it as I began to fall down the center of the spout. The only good thing about it was that it wasn’t like falling exactly. I didn’t drop like a stone, it was more like I was being sucked down into a new world. The swirling water grabbed ahold of me, pulling me farther and farther down, until the air hole at the eye of the waterspout was gone. Still, the whirlpool kept sucking me in. All I could do was hold my breath for what seemed like forever, the frothy whirlpool getting darker and darker until finally, I felt like I just couldn’t hold my breath any longer.