“Don’t touch me,” Llewellyn said. “I’m your diving tutor, aren’t I? Show some respect. Besides, even if the doors to the zoo are unlocked, you don’t want to go that way. Those creatures are less than friendly.”
“Yeah?” Antigone put her hands on her hips. “What about sharks? When did they become friendly?”
“Lilly came in a litter of thirty and she was the friendliest pup of them all. Always was and always will be. Never a nip from Lilly.”
“Um …” Cyrus pointed at the black pool. “What about that one?”
Llewellyn squinted at the water. A second dorsal, badly scarred, was tailing behind Lilly’s figure eights.
“Well, snicker my doodle,” Llewellyn said. “Lilly’s found a friend.” He laughed, giddy as a birthday boy. “A wild bull! And all this time, I’ve been thinking she’s lonely. I’ve been sitting out on that jetty worried about my girl.”
The old man slid his feet back in the water and rested his chin on his hands, watching the two dorsals swirl.
He sighed, scrunched his wrinkled face, and glanced back at the kids, dabbing his eyes. “If I had a daughter, which I don’t, I imagine this is what it would be like seeing her coming down the aisle in white.” He pointed at the second dorsal. “You treat her right, you hear me? I’ll come in there. I will! I’ll come for you.”
“Right,” said Cyrus. “You’re a kook, and we’re not going back in there.”
“Suit yourselves,” Llewellyn said. He took off the cape and threw it at Dennis. “We’ll meet again,” he said. “If you survive the zoo.”
Pushing off the floor, Llewellyn Douglas dropped into the shark pool.
Cyrus looked at his sister, widened his eyes, and shook his head. “He’s crazy.”
Antigone shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s pretty unappetizing. He might be fine.” She jerked her thumb at the door. “Want to go now, or wait and watch?”
“Now,” said Cyrus. “Quick. If he gets chomped, I’ll have to jump in.”
eighteen. ZOO
CYRUS AND ANTIGONE stood in a long hall lined with metal doors. The stairs hadn’t been long, but they led to a tangle of hallways. Cyrus and Antigone and a moping Dennis had been wandering for a while, dead-ending in storage rooms full of dry grain or tools or scrap metal cut away from cages.
Dennis had been no help at all.
The floor was grimy, and lightbulbs dotted the ceiling in both directions — only a few of them working. Cyrus scanned the filthy floor and then glanced at the bottom of his bare foot. It looked like it was layered in axle grease.
Antigone pointed down the hallway. “I think we’ve been down there.” She turned around. “But that looks familiar, too.”
“It’s all the same,” Cyrus said. “Maybe the old guy was wrong. There’s not a way up out of here.”
“Not an option,” said Antigone. “I’m not getting back in the water with any sharks.” She groaned, shifting uncomfortably. “I hate wet clothes. These pants are starting to chafe, and my feet are blistering.”
“Take off your boots,” Cyrus said, wiggling his toes and kicking a rotting rag against the wall. “Bare feet are so much better in a place like this.”
Antigone turned to Dennis. The drenched porter was carrying his cape in a wad beneath his arm, and he still hadn’t untied his crushed bowler hat. He was leaning against a wall, staring at absolutely nothing.
“Dennis,” Antigone said. “Please, tell us about this place. You might not think you know anything, but you definitely know more than we do. Anything? Have you heard anything, read anything, dreamed anything?”
“They’re going to fire me,” Dennis said. “Sterling doesn’t need to kill me. I’ll be thrown out of Ashtown. Where will I go?”
“Why would you be thrown out?” Cyrus asked. “Sterling’s the one who’ll be in trouble.”
Dennis shook his head. “Who will they believe? Dennis Gilly, failed Acolyte, failed porter? Or Benjamin Sterling? Everyone loves him. He’s been the cook for — I don’t know how long — since he lost his legs. Greeves will think I’m crazy.”
“Well,” said Antigone. “We’ll tell him you’re not crazy.”
“How do you know?” Dennis asked. “Maybe I am.” He sighed. “I’m not like you two. I had to go into the service corps and now I’ll even lose my bed in the porter’s dorm. I don’t have any family. Where will I go? What state is around Ashtown?”
“Wisconsin,” said Cyrus.
“I’ll be out in Wisconsin. What do they do in Wisconsin? Nothing I’m good at, I’m sure.”
Antigone stepped in front of the damp porter. “Cyrus and I think you’re great, Dennis. Don’t we, Cy?”
“Sure,” said Cyrus.
Dennis looked up and shook his head. “You’re both 1914 Acolytes. I wouldn’t have made the 1969 standards … even if I could have afforded the dues. I just wanted to sail. Who cares about Latin?”
“Not me,” said Cyrus. “Not at all.”
Antigone nodded at her brother and slowly rolled her hands for him to go on.
Cyrus smiled. “Hey,” he said. “How would you like to be a Polygoner, Dennis?”
Antigone dropped her hands, surprised.
Cyrus continued. “If you get kicked out, you can stay with us. We’ll hide you. But if you don’t get kicked out, you can still be a Polygoner.”
Dennis looked at Antigone. She smiled. He turned back to Cyrus.
“Really? Are you just trying to get me to feel better? Are you making something up?”
Cyrus shook his head. “We’re not making it up.” He slapped the boxing monkey on his leather shoulder. “That’s our symbol or logo or whatever. But there are only two Polygoners right now. Three if we count Nolan. We need more.”
“What do I have to do?”
“Well.” Cyrus grinned. “You have to help us, and that will mean doing whatever we say.”
“Cyrus …” Antigone’s voice was all warning.
“There are other rules, too,” Cyrus said quickly. “But we can explain those later.”
Dennis straightened. “Do you really think I’m good enough?”
Cyrus laughed. “What do you think, Tigs? Is he good enough?”
“Dennis Gilly,” Antigone said. “You just swam with a shark. How many people do you know who have done that?”
Dennis thought for a moment. “You two and Mr. Douglas.”
“Right,” said Cyrus. “You’re as good as we are. And you like to sail? Are you good at it?”
Dennis nodded solemnly.
“Good,” said Cyrus. “Then you can be our sailing tutor, too.”
“Mr. Cyrus—”
Cyrus shook his head. “Don’t ever call me that again. If you do, we’ll kick you out.”
Dennis nodded seriously. “Right. I won’t. What do Polygoners do?”
“Whatever needs to be done,” said Cyrus.
“And right now,” Antigone said, “we need to find a way out of here.”
Dennis looked in both directions. “But I’ve never—”
Cyrus raised his hands, and Dennis’s mouth clicked shut. “This is the first test, Dennis. We’re not going to help you.”
Nodding slowly, Dennis squinted down the hall, and then turned and moved to the first metal door. He opened it and walked in.
Gasping, he staggered back out. “Stuff,” he said. “Rotting stuff.” He pointed down the hall. “I think we should go that way.”
“Don’t think, Dennis,” Cyrus said. “Do. We’re following you.”
The porter threw his wet cape against the wall. “Wait here,” he said, and strode down the hallway, opening doors.
“Cyrus,” Antigone whispered. “You’re evil.”
“What are you talking about? Look at him! He just turned into Napoleon.”