Chapter 25: Notebook
Julien and Isobel were no more than thirty feet away from the zoo. Isobel examined the zoo's walls.
"They are so high." She said. She felt a tightening in her chest. She then stopped, twitching her ears this way and that.
Julien stopped too and looked at her. "What is it?"
"Listen." She said quietly.
"What? I am not hearing anything."
"It's...there's something wrong. The penguins I think. In the park. And two others from the zoo."
"Mort and Maurice!" Julien gasped.
"We've got to go back." Isobel said.
They rushed back to where they had encountered Clopar. When they reached the beginning of the patch, Isobel stopped to listen again. She climbed up a tree and jumped to the other. She came back down and said, "Clopar's been here."
They walked over to where the trap had once been. Isobel stepped lithely over the pile of leaves.
"Look!" Julien pointed to the ground. "It is the smarty penguins note book!"
Isobel spotted it and went to pick it up. "Clopar must have done something to them."
Julien remember the things that Isobel did; he looked around, noticed tracks, sniffed the air, and then looked back to Isobel. "They went back to the City."
Isobel looked at him thoughtfully, hugging the book to her chest. "Yes. That must be it."
They knew the way back to the City through the secret passageway in the tree, but Clopar had taken a different route.
Isobel knocked three times on the bark, and it slid open. They wound their way back down into the abyss. Isobel was first, eager to find her friends. Their feet touched the ground and they followed the light from the city.
"They must have gone to the Royal Court." Isobel said. "To take them to father."
She led the way by darting through different pathways. The final way was through heavy, carved doors that were guarded.
The guards only had to see Isobel and they knew to let her straight through. Down some marble steps and across a dark pond with stepping stones was the king's dais. And in front of His Majesty were the penguins, Mort, and Maurice. Clopar was standing beside Skipper as though waiting for him to pull some dangerous move – which he probably would.
Isobel leaped across the stepping stones.
Her father was glaring at his captives.
Without a sound, Isobel leaned over Skipper's shoulder to whisper, "Guess who?"
Author's notes: Not sure if anyone has noticed yet, but certain elements of my story were greatly influenced by Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire. I get lots of inspiration from movies, books, and music, in addition to things I see in the world and/or dream up. :) So yeah, just wanted to give the movie a little shout out there. Please continue reading and review! It is greatly appreciated.