Creatures Read online

  Danny and Thomas quickly left us behind and raced down the steps.

  “Out of the way, losers,” said Danny as he rushed down. Thomas’ laughter floated back up to our ears.

  I slapped myself on the back of my head.

  “What?” asked Beth.

  “They are already thinking of it as a race. We are heading to the Hussades and all I could think of was my own safety. That will never win the race.”

  “Why do they call it Hussades anyway?” asked Beth.

  “It’s an old-country thing. You are supposed to shout ‘huzzah, huzzah,’ to cheer for people. Over time, that kind of warped into the name, we call each race a Hussade. When we team-up and have a lot of races, we call it Hussades.”

  She nodded and we joined the mass of kids heading down a wide hallway that led past the kitchens to the dining hall. We got into line behind all the other kids. Danny and Thomas ran forward and found some friends who let them cut into the line. The rest of us grumbled, but no one did anything.

  “Why do you all let them get away with stuff like that?” asked Beth.

  “Do you want me to start a fight?” I asked.

  “No, silly. You could just tell on them. Like back there in the study, with that man or dean or thing, Mr. Waldheim. You could have just told him what was really going on. And another thing, was he about to eat our heads off or what?”

  “Probably not,” I laughed. “He makes a good dean because he’s scary, but I’ve never heard any real proof that he’s eaten any of us.”

  “Okay, so what about speaking up?”

  “We would have gotten into trouble too.”

  “Sure, but it would have been worth it, they were out to kill us or something.”

  “Well,” I said slowly, not sure how to begin. “We aren’t quite like the kids from other schools.”

  “I certainly know that by now!”

  “No. I mean, not just because we change our shapes. We have some different ideas about honor and solving our own problems.”

  “You mean the adults wouldn’t have helped us?”

  “They wouldn’t have been happy to help. They teach us to be self-reliant. There is an unwritten rule here against tattling.”

  “Okay,” said Beth slowly. “But why exactly?”

  “Beth, you might think we are just cool and interesting, but most normal people are scared of us. We’re different, and if the rest of the world ever finds out about us, they might come to hunt for us.”

  Beth nodded. “I see,” she said soberly. “So I’m actually a danger to you all.”

  I looked at her in surprise. She was a fast thinker.

  “I know your secrets, and if I told people about them…”

  “Fortunately, you’re just a kid,” I told her with a smile. “No one believes a kid who tells crazy stories.”

  She grinned back. “Good thing.”

  Jake joined us. He didn’t have to cut in line because we were the last ones. He came up at a trot, huffing. He was a bit overweight and usually huffed a lot after even a short run.

  “Where have you guys been?” he asked, grabbing us both by the shoulders. “I’ve been looking everywhere. You almost made me miss my lunch.”

  We told him all about the Forever Room and our crawling escape on the roof and being caught by Danny and Thomas, and finally meeting up with Mr. Waldheim. His eyes just kept getting bigger as we went. By the time we’d finished talking, we had trays in our hands and had almost made it to the food.

  “You mean he almost changed completely?” exclaimed Jake. “Wow, you must have really ticked him off. You’ve a knack for upsetting people, Connor. I’ve always said it.”

  I had to admit he was right.

  Lunch was better than the standard fare. I wondered if Vater’s coming had made them break out the good stuff. Instead of soy-burgers and previously-frozen veggies, we had roast chicken and mashed potatoes with gravy. The gravy was real too, not that cheap stuff that tastes like salted library paste. There were beans and peas, and even a salad on the side with really good dressing.

  “I’m sooo hungry,” said Jake, digging into his heaping plate.

  “I’m looking forward to the Hussades,” said Beth.

  Jake looked at her with chicken in his mouth. “Why?”

  “Connor told me about them, they sound like an exciting sport.”

  Jake snorted. “Not interesting for us. Did he mention the part about being picked last? You won’t do any better, you are new and you can’t even turn into anything.”

  “You can Jake. You are better off than us,” said Beth.

  Jake puffed up a bit with pride. I believe it might have been the first time any girl had ever admired his transformation abilities. “Yes, I can change, sure. But I’m not very good at it. I can’t do special forms. I can’t make just one part of me change like some guys can.”

  “Why not? Have you tried?”

  “He never practices,” I said. “I tell him he should, but he doesn’t like to. He’s traumatized or something.”

  “Shaddup,” muttered Jake. He put his head down and worked on his plate.

  “Jake,” said Beth gently. “I bet you could do a lot of cool things. I mean with partial changes.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, maybe you make a tongue that snaps out and nails someone’s dessert,” she said. She nodded suggestively toward the next table. Danny and Thomas had gotten to the dessert cart early and had ice cream cones in their hands.

  Jake looked at them and smiled.

  “That would be cool,” I said.

  “And in Hussades, I bet you could gain powerful jumping legs.”

  “That’s frogs,” I said. “Toads don’t really jump much.”

  Beth gave me a look. This time I knew she was suggesting I shut my mouth.

  “I can jump pretty far,” mused Jake. “I once got onto the roof with one hop and my father yelled at me for cracking the shingles.”

  “Right,” said Beth, “Exactly.”

  I could see that Jake’s mind was working now. I looked at Beth appreciatively. She had gone so quickly from someone who didn’t even believe in us to someone who was coaching Jake. She was one of a kind, that’s for sure.

  Suddenly, Jake opened his mouth very wide. Inside, I could see a tongue, a huge tongue that must have gone all the way down his throat, which looked to be about a mile deep. His whole neck looked wider now. I knew he’d puffed it up to hold that huge tongue.

  Beth and I looked at each other in shock. Before we could say anything. Jake snapped out that huge tongue of his. It traveled about as fast as a baseball pitch across the room. Thomas was enjoying his ice cream cone. It was a vanilla cone that had been dipped in chocolate.

  We watched in amazement as the tongue reached out what had to be fifteen feet. Jake was no expert with it, however. Instead of snatching up the cone, the tip of it merely slapped the cone.

  The cone flew out of Thomas’ hand and splattered on the floor. For a second the lunchroom fell silent as everyone figured out what had happened.

  Then the place exploded in a wild storm of laughter.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Hussades

  After we’d finished a lengthy clean-up under the watchful glare of the lunch staff we went down to the basement. It was finally time for Hussades. I felt a familiar sweaty, jittery sensation come over me. Don’t get me wrong, I’d always loved watching the game as much as anyone. When I was expected to participate, however, Hussades seemed like an event created specifically to point out my complete lack of abilities. I was sure to be picked last, and that never felt good.

  As it turned out, I wasn’t picked last. Not this time. What happened was far worse than that.

  It started when Urdo walked in. She was in human form again and everyone fell quiet when she entered the cavernous basement. I noticed her feet were bare. She’d left her boots up in the laboratory. But I think most of the other kids just assumed she was in workout mo
de. This was natural enough, as the basement resembled a gymnasium. The floor was covered in blue and yellow foam rubber mats. There were straps hanging down with steel rings at the bottom and parallel bars and uneven bars.

  Some of the kids were practicing on the equipment when Urdo came in. Jake tottered along on the balance beam and fell off with a whoop when he saw her. The rest of us giggled. Jake turned red and walked back into line with slumped shoulders.

  Urdo, as usual, didn’t shout orders at us. She walked toward us, padding gracefully and silently over the mats. We fell silent and lined up without having to be told.

  We’d all changed into our gym sweats. They were loose-fitting and well-suited to something like Hussades. She walked the line in front of us like a general reviewing her troops. She stopped in front of me.

  I looked up and saw her piercing gaze. I stared back, without flinching. I had always believed when the game was over, you might as well make a brave show of it.

  I was surprised to see Urdo give me a tiny nod of approval. She stared at me for a moment. I wondered then about her reasons for locking Beth and I in the Forever Room. Had she expected us to escape? Had it all been a test of some kind?

  “Connor will be the first Captain,” she said loudly.

  The crowd gasped and some groaned. No doubt, they feared I would pick them for a day of grim losses. No one was more shocked than I was. I opened my mouth, but didn’t protest or thank her. I snapped my jaws shut and set my lips in a firm line. Perhaps this was another test. If she wanted the worst player to run a team, then so be it, I would do the job as best I could.

  She continued to walk along the line, slowly, dramatically. She stopped when she reached the end of the line.

  “Danny,” she said finally, stopping in front of him.

  With a confident grin, Danny stepped forward and gave her a short bow from the waist. “You won’t be disappointed,” he said.

  Urdo raised her eyebrows at him, but made no remarks.

  When she got to the end of the line, I realized I had to start thinking about my picks. Whom would I choose? I’d never made these decisions before!

  “Captains, step forward,” she said.

  Hesitantly, I walked out of line and turned around to face the class. I looked at Danny. He had his hands on his hips and his lips pursed. He looked smug and confident. He’d been a team Captain many times. I could see he was already piecing together a killer group in his mind.

  I thought of copying his stance with my hands on my hips, but decided not to be so obvious. Instead, I put one hand up to my chin as if I was in deep thought. Inside, I was close to panic.

  Urdo stepped between Danny and me and pulled out a coin. It was a large silver coin, like a silver dollar, but a bit smaller. I knew that coin, they always used that same old coin to start our games. They called it a denari, which meant it was a Roman coin, our History teacher had explained once. One side of the coin was stamped with an emperor’s head. On the other side was a woman lying on a couch.

  “Call it, Danny,” said Urdo. She tossed the coin in the air.

  “Heads!” shouted Danny.

  The coin came down and thumped flatly on the mat. The head of a Roman emperor showed face-up.

  “Hadrian smiles on you, today, Danny,” Urdo said.

  “I pick Thomas,” he said without hesitation.

  And then, just like that, it was my turn. Everyone looked at me. Everyone eyed me expectantly, as if a great bit of wisdom could fall from my lips at any moment.

  I ran my eyes over the group. Some were waving me off, these were the best players, Danny’s friends most of them, who hoped I wouldn’t invite them into my group of likely losers. Others were trying to get my attention, such as Sarah, who hopped from foot to foot. Jake and a few others, used to rejection, slouched and toed the mats sullenly, sure they would be waiting for a long time before they heard their names called.

  Out of the whole crowd, only Beth looked at me evenly and happily. She did not appear to be urging me to do anything. She was confident I would do the right thing.

  “Connor?” asked Urdo.

  I opened my mouth, planning to call out Beth’s name. But I stopped. “Jake,” I said finally.

  Jake looked startled. Snickers and groans went up from the crowd. People rolled their eyes. They knew how it was going to be now. I would build a loser team of my own loser cronies. Or at least, that’s what they thought.

  Jake came up and stood next to me. “What are you doing?” he hissed.

  “Picking my team,” I said.

  “Don’t make us lose just because I’m your friend. Get some good guys.”

  “You are good, now shut up.”

  Danny called out another pick. Another athletic friend of his named Jamie, who could turn into a badger, of all things.

  On my next turn, I chose Sarah. At least no one groaned at that choice. She was considered a good player. Bird-types were often very effective. I took Beth next and then took the best of whoever was left.

  When the choosing was over, I huddled up with my team. We all formed a circle and bent our heads together.

  “Connor,” said Jake. “We’re going to be stomped.”

  “This is a race, right?” asked Beth.

  Some of the others realized how clueless she was and groaned aloud.

  “Don’t worry people,” I told them all seriously. “I have a plan.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Splashdown

  “Who’s running first?” a boy named Eddie asked me. He was an eager sort, and I knew what he really wanted was the green light to go first. He could turn into a ram, and he was pretty good on his feet or hooves.

  I nodded to him. It was time to make some fast decisions. We only had five minutes to talk, and then we were supposed to put our first player on the course.

  I looked at the course, we couldn’t see most of it, naturally, that would make things too easy. You could only see the first part which was a balancing beam that sloped upward to a push-door. They always made the first part something that almost anyone could get past. But what was on the other side of that door? We would only find out when someone made it there. Usually, the first several players were surprised by what they found and failed when they got to new territory.

  “Okay Eddie, you can go first and play scout,” I said.

  Eddie beamed and a few others rolled their eyes.

  “Great!” he said.

  “He can’t beat my wings!” said Sarah. Her arms were crossed.

  “How are you going to open that door if its heavy and you’re a five ounce bird?” asked Eddie.

  “Sarah, Eddie’s going first,” I said. “Let’s not argue already, we only have a few minutes to set up.”

  Eddie headed for the tiny black changing tent, pulling off his shirt as he went. White coarse hairs were already sprouting from his temples.

  I followed him. “Maybe you should go with your upper half still human. Then you would have arms and be able to handle a surprise on the other side of that door.”

  Eddie shook his head. “Balancing is harder on two hooves. I can race up that beam as a mountain ram. Faster than anything that doesn’t fly anyway, and fliers will have trouble with that door if it’s heavy. I can just ram that out of the way. I’ll get you two points for making it first, and then you’ll see what I can do in the next stage.”

  I nodded, my lips cinched tightly. I could tell he wanted to be all ram, he liked it that way. Since we really didn’t know what was on the other side, he might be right or wrong.

  “I don’t like it,” said Beth. She had trailed me. Eddie was in the tent now, changing. The sides of the tent bulged as his curved horns sprouted.

  “It’s your first game!” I said, laughing. “You’re second-guessing already.”

  She nodded and smiled. “What was that he said about points?”

  “The scoring system is simple,” I said. “If you make it across an obstacle, you get one point. If yo
u get past an obstacle before the other guy you are racing against you get two points. The only other rule is that if you make it all the way to the end, you double your whole score for the race. That’s the whole system, but there is strategy. Sometimes it’s better to blast through as many stages as you can super fast to beat the other guy and get two points for each obstacle until you fall. A player who takes it slowly might make it farther, but with only one point per obstacle. Going all the way to the end is rare, of course. “

  “Ah,” said Beth, “Double points if you make it to the end? That must make things stay exciting.”

  “Right, a spectacularly fast run all the way to the finish can score huge points. That happens more often when people know what to expect at each stage. Often, the winning team wins by surprise in the last few races. You never know for sure which side has won until the last race.”

  A deep, throbbing horn blew. The basement walls reverberated with the heavy sound.

  “What’s that?” asked Beth.

  “An old hunting horn, I think. We have one minute until the race starts.”

  Eddie burst out of the changing tent and trotted up to the starting line.

  On the other side was Haley, a tall girl that had changed into an Ocelot, a small Amazonian member of the cat family. She looked like an overgrown housecat that had gone wild. Her fur was orange and sleek. She snicked her claws in and out and hunkered down at the starting line as if preparing to pounce on a mouse.

  “She’s fast-looking,” said Beth.

  “It will be a race to that first door, but if it’s heavy, Eddie should beat her through it.”

  Before I knew it, everyone was shouting, “Huzzah!” in unison. The brick walls bounced back the cries and the noise was deafening. After the third Huzzah, the hunting horn blew again. The race was on.

  Eddie charged up the beam, galloping nimbly. But the cat-shaped Haley was even faster. She sprang up the beam, hardly having to use her claws.