Chapter 41
A Pendulum Between Two Worlds

Noah, his hands clutching the curtain, swung back into the Secret Creepy Critters, the world blurring on both of his sides. At his rearward peak, a sasquatch swiped at him, but its claws whooshed over Noah’s head as he dropped back down. The curtain’s tassels pulled through the mud, and Noah portaled again in Gator Falls. He swung out and up, then slowed to a stop in the air. An alligator lunged at him, its jaws snapping shut on emptiness just as Noah was pulled back toward the sector. The curtain had become a pendulum between two worlds.

As he passed beneath the rod, he peered up. A single ring was all that held the curtain.

For Noah, the cave again became the sector. As the curtain swung out, a sasquatch moved in front of the portal, a snarl on its face. Having to think fast, Noah kicked his legs forward as he came down, crashing his feet against the monster and sending it with him back into Gator Falls.

In the tunnel, several alligators had turned back. The sasquatch stepped on the snout of one and fell to the ground. As the confused alligator sprang open its jaws, Noah spread-eagled his legs to avoid its bite. The curtain lifted him high, then down again. As he fell, he bounced his heels on the reptile’s snout, driving it into the mud.

Noah couldn’t keep this up. The curtain had to come down. But it needed to happen while he was in Gator Falls. If it didn’t, he’d be trapped in the Secret Zoo.

He portaled out of the Clarksville Zoo again and up into the air. As the curtain dropped from its highest reach, he peered over his shoulder and saw a sasquatch charging on all fours. Noah heaved his weight forward and passed across the magical threshold in front of the reaching arms of the sasquatch. As he swung upward in the tunnel, the alligator that he’d just kicked into the mud poked up its snout, only to land it in the clutches of the sasquatch, which seemed to confuse it for Noah.

Seeing his chance, Noah pulled against the velvet folds with all his might. The final ring snapped, the curtain fell, and Noah splashed into the mud. He stared back at where the portal had been and saw a solid wall. In it, the sasquatch’s arms were trapped, its powerful hands clenching the snout of the alligator, which was thrashing from side to side, trying to free itself.

In the corners of his eyes, Noah saw something move. A sasquatch—the one that he’d kicked through the gateway. On its hands and knees, it shook the confusion out of its head, then lifted its gaze. Spotting Noah, it dropped its eyebrows, then slammed its boulderlike fists against the ground. It howled, sending thin streams of spit into the air.

A loud hiss sounded behind Noah. He jerked around and stared directly into two nostrils. The dark holes lifted as an alligator spread its jaws, revealing crooked fangs and a bulging tongue. Noah threw himself aside and tried to get away. But this time, there was no narrow escape. This time, the alligator clamped down on Noah, sinking its sharp teeth into his body.