The Magic Trick (The Card Game #2)

Ch 29 - Beasts in the Garden

CHAPTER XXIX

BEASTS IN THE GARDEN

"Jaguar," Roksana moaned.

"Actually it's a panther," said Dukker.

Cappi shook his head. "No, leopard."

"They're all the same animal," Roksana squeaked.

"So I was right then. It is a panther," said Dukker smugly. Then his jaw dropped open.

The panther roared and leapt, scattering his targets in all directions. Blizzard launched forward in reply, but gouging the creature's hind flank couldn't stop its momentum. It took another bound toward Dukker, who had run straight backward—unfortunately at a wall of bamboo. No escape seemed possible, but as the bone-crushing teeth and claws stretched open, Dukker didn't quit running but ran right up the thick stalks, flipping impossibly high, his spine arching over his attacker. The jaguar crashed into the bamboo, getting caught in its folds, and just as quickly Dukker landed the backflip and took off running—and laughing.

"Who saw that?" he shouted.

Viktor had, but he was too speechless to answer. Dukker was headed in his direction, and the jaguar was already en route!

"Come on!" Cappi yelled, grabbing Viktor's arm.

In no state to worry about the others, he dashed forward with the twins through the Botanical Garden, the trio running for their lives from the big cat. Fronds and tendrils slapped at Viktor's face, arms, and legs. He almost ran straight into a tree trunk covered with razor thorns, and when the creature smashed into it behind him, the vibration of the resulting shriek raised every hair on his body.

Cappi spotted Viktor in trouble and crossed paths with him, drawing the jaguar's attention. Viktor saw the acrobat sliding under moss-covered fallen limbs and hurdling immense bushes. But not even the maze of vines and bamboo shoots could stop the progress of the golden spots, and taking a split-second to light a bomb would mean sure death.

The flora began to thin. Tall reeds and bamboo were replaced with bulb plants and flowers. Now the only defense keeping Viktor and the twins alive were the slim, bendy tree trunks that rose stories high: These forced the jaguar to continue zigzagging, but they too were tapering off. Soon the beast would accelerate to full speed!

"We can't outrun it!" Viktor said.

Cappi darted out of the way of a vicious bound and pointed to the last of the slim trees, one whose trunk grew diagonally. "Bowstring?" he cried.

"Bowstring!" Dukker agreed.

"Bow-what?" Viktor gasped, dashing right past the trunk.

The twins had other plans. They ran right up the sloping tree like circus cats. But the true cat was after them, leaping and clawing several feet per second, forcing the twins so in high in the thin branches that the entire trunk began to bend. And all three parties kept climbing! The mounting pressure from the jaguar's additional mass curved the tree until it was nearly horizontal. The top point that had been three stories high in the mist now bent lower—then down to two stories—then to one.

From the ground below, Viktor suddenly realized the intention of the twins' scheme—and the pure insanity of it.

"That can't possibly work," he murmured, but right as the words left his mouth Cappi and Dukker made their move.

With the tree at its breaking point, no trunk left to climb, and the beast mere inches from them—its paw pulled back and ready slice—the twins simultaneously bounced once and slid off the end of trunk.