Traps and Specters (9 page)

By the time at least twenty chameleons had dropped to the ground, a young teenage girl was revealed. She wore camouflage cargo pants covered in pouches and pockets, a few with velvet patches. She had on black hiking boots with bright yellow stripes, and a pullover sweatshirt with a deep hood. The sides of her hair were clipped to dramatically different lengths, and her bangs fell at an angle down to her chin, concealing most of her face. She had her hands on her hips, her elbows out. The chameleons lay at her feet, a spill of spectacular color on the dull brown wood.

“Scouts, meet Evie,” Mr. Darby casually said.

Evie nodded at the scouts, who were too stunned to move.

“And the others?” Mr. Darby said.

Evie tipped up her chin and said, “Come out, girls.”

In different places, the air began to move. The swirling spots quickly took on human shapes as chameleons rained down. Within seconds five young teenage girls were revealed—two sitting on the wooden rail, two perched on the arms of the chairs in the nearby circle, and one standing next to Tank. They were similarly dressed in hooded shirts and cargo pants with big pockets and velvet patches.

For what seemed a long time, no one said a word. It was Mr. Darby who finally broke the silence: “My dear scouts, I'd like you to meet our friends the Specters.”

“‘Specters,'” Richie said, repeating the word. Then he translated it into something new:
“Ghosts.”

“They've been here all along?” Ella asked. “Since we came into the hut?”

“Heavens, no!” Mr. Darby answered. “They've been following you since
long
before then. Since Koala Kourtyard—am I correct, Solana?”

The Descender nodded.

From his spot on the ground, Richie asked, “Am I the only one finding that a bit creepy?”

Ella stood up, grabbed Richie's shirt, and yanked him to his feet. “Seriously?” she said, as if suddenly embarrassed by her friend. She straightened Richie's gigantic collar and gently shoved him into his seat, where the air trapped in the big cushions gushed out with a loud farting sound. To Evie, Ella said, “Nice trick. You mind telling us how it works?”

Evie glanced at Mr. Darby. She opened her mouth and then closed it.

“It's okay,” Mr. Darby said. “They're one of us. They've been Crossers for a year—they have a right to know.”

Evie stared at Ella from behind her angled bangs. She touched a velvet patch on her pants pocket, started to say something, and then stopped. “You tell them,” she said at last.

Mr. Darby said, “The chameleons do what chameleons do. But like most things in the Secret Zoo, on a far grander scale.”

The old man reached down, swept up a bright green chameleon, and raised it to his face. With a fingertip, he delicately stroked the small lizard's back, saying, “Chameleons have transparent skin. Beneath their skin, they have special cells called chromatophores. These cells have a pigment that allows the chameleons to create color.” Mr. Darby took a few steps forward, lowered his hand, and dropped the chameleon into a large pocket in the side of Evie's cargo pants. “Some of the Specters' pockets are lined with velvet. Magic flows from the velvet into the chameleons, modifying their chromatophores, permitting them to take on colors and tones in a very sophisticated way.”

The chameleon escaped from Evie's pocket and crawled up her leg. As it went, small pieces of Evie seemed to vanish. The chameleon made its way to her shoulder and stopped, leaving a wake of apparent invisibility across her torso and leg—it looked as if a long, two-inch strip of the girl had somehow been removed.

“The chameleons spread out across the Specters, blending them into their surroundings. This act of camouflage is controlled by their chameleons' thoughts—they control the process.”

Having spent a year crosstraining in the Secret Zoo, Noah had seen the impossible made possible too many times to count. This was no exception.

“Does it … hurt?” Megan asked.

“Nothing hurts,” Evie injected into the conversation. “Not for long.”

Mr. Darby smiled and said, “I am told it
tingles
.”

“So the girls just walk around all day covered in lizards?” Ella said. “That's got to make it pretty tough on the social life—not to mention taking a pee.”

“The chameleons only come out when they're needed.”

“But where do they come from?” Noah asked. He again noticed the velvet patches on the big pockets in the Specters' pants. “I have a feeling those pockets aren't normal.”

Mr. Darby smiled. “You're right about that. The chameleons portal into their pockets the same way we portal into the Secret Zoo's many sectors. In Streets of Transparency, the chameleon sector in the Secret Zoo, there's a special area called the Portal Place. It's used only by the Specters. Each pocket opens to the Portal Place, and chameleons portal when they're needed by the Specters. But you've seen this magic before.”

Ella said, “Yeah, but we've never seen animals jumping in and out of peoples' pants. That's a big-time new trick.”

Noah turned to the chameleons. They blanketed a good part of the floor and clung to the chairs and perimeter railing, saturating the hut with bright oranges, purples, reds, and blues. Their bulbous eyes rolled in their sockets, each staring off in its own direction.

Mr. Darby turned to Tank and said, “Mr. Pangbourne—would you care to formally introduce the Specters?”

“Sure thing, Mr. D.” As the big man plodded into the middle of the circle, the chameleons scattered away from his massive feet. He clapped Evie on the shoulder and said, “As you know, this is Evie. She sort of leads the pack.”

Evie nodded toward the scouts.

Tank gestured to the two girls sitting on chairs in the neighboring circle. “Over there are Kaleena and Jordynn.”

Kaleena had long hair set in dozens of braids that fell from an uneven part down the center of her head; high, round cheekbones; and deep brown skin. She wore camouflage pants and a black sweatshirt. Jordynn had an Afro that stood at least six inches off her head, a pair of green cargo pants, blue hiking shoes, and a yellow sweatshirt.

Tank motioned to the two girls seated on the railing and said, “That's Elakshi and Lee-Lee.”

Elakshi had lustrous hair that trailed down her back and shoulders. Her eyes were nearly as dark as her coal-black hair. She wore a pair of white camouflage pants, black boots, and a black hoodie. Lee-Lee had long bangs that parted to one side. Her straight, collar-length hair curved inward to a point just below her chin, covering her ears and the sides of her face. Her plump lips were set in a smirk. She wore dark green pants and a thin hooded sweatshirt that clung to her arms and waist.

Tank gestured to where he'd been standing behind Mr. Darby. “And back there's Sara.”

Sara had a punk look. The top of her blond hair was combed to a Mohawk, and long bangs fell to one side of her face just above her chin. She wore black eye shadow, glossy lipstick, and strips of pink blush. Like her friends, she was dressed in camouflage pants and a hooded shirt. She also had a green bandana tied around her arm.

Tank turned back to the scouts. “The Specters. That's all of them.”

Ella said, “You sure there's not like a hundred more creeping around? Or how about in the Clarksville Zoo? They could be tiptoeing through our neighborhood!”

Mr. Darby stepped toward the scouts, the chameleons scattering at his feet, and raised one eyebrow above his sunglasses. “Not yet.”

“Uh-oh …” Richie said. “What are you guys planning?”

The old man came out with it: “Operation Divide and Descend. An action against DeGraff. An aggressive assault which involves posting the Specters in your very own yards.”

CHAPTER 12

“L
et's hear it,” Noah said.

Mr. Darby said, “In addition to our normal activities, we'll send the Specters into your neighborhood—at dusk, when the shadows are fullest and DeGraff is most likely to move. We'll divide them around the border of the Clarksville Zoo. Unlike the tarsiers, who need to hide in the trees, the Specters will be able to move along the ground. If one spots DeGraff, she'll alert the Descenders. And together, they'll do what the Descenders do best. Descend—descend with their full power.”

“Their
gear
?” Richie asked, referring to the magical equipment that gave the teenagers their incredible animal skills.

Mr. Darby nodded.

Megan said, “But … right in our
neighborhood
! What if someone sees?”

It was Solana who answered. “The streetlights in your neighborhood—they're sparse. And there are plenty of places to hide. If a chase happens, we'll keep to the darkness. As much as we can, anyway.”

“I don't like this,” Noah said. “The risk is so—”

“But what do you suppose we risk by not stopping DeGraff?” Mr. Darby interrupted. “Which risk do you suppose is greater?”

No one said a thing.

“I assure you, there is no other way. We must move to the offensive if DeGraff is to be defeated.”

Megan asked, “How will the Specters contact the Descenders?”

Mr. Darby nodded at Solana, who stepped forward and pulled something out of her pocket—a headset, the tiny earphones the Descenders wore. She reached toward Evie, the headset in her open palm.

Evie stared down at the headset, seemed to consider something, then turned away. Solana shared a disappointed look with Mr. Darby, then stuffed the equipment back into her pocket, saying to Evie, “Well … you know where to get one if you change your mind.”

The scouts passed a confused look among themselves.

“The Specters will flag the tarsiers,” Mr. Darby answered. “The ones on patrol. The tarsiers will then alert the owls, as they normally would.”

Ella asked the obvious: “But why not the headsets?”

Mr. Darby glanced at Evie, then Solana. After a few seconds, he simply said, “They'll use the tarsiers.”

Noah couldn't figure out why Evie seemed so reluctant to talk. And why did it seem that she didn't like Solana? He turned to the other Specters. They seemed emotionless. He noticed the way they looked again—Kaleena's hair a cascade of heavy braids, Jordynn's a tuft of weightless curls. On the railing Lee-Lee sat dangling her legs, and Elakshi leaned coolly against a beam. Sara stood with her hip cocked out, her blue eyes buried in black smudges of makeup. The Specters. Six peculiar girls who could vanish in the camouflage of chameleons. Six ghosts.

CHAPTER 13