Tres Navarre vs. the Chupacabra: Chapter Two March of the Penguins

Chapter 2:   March of the Penguins

As Tres drove slowly behind Sea World, Felix pointed to a mesquite bush barely visible in the darkness.    As they drew closer, Felix opened a gate hidden in the darkness behind the bush.   They entered the deserted amusement park stealthily and made their way under the Steel Eel roller coaster.   Under the night sky, the roller coaster really did look like the twisted figure of a giant serpent.    The penguin enclosure was on the other side of the roller coaster.     Felix removed an unusually large ring of keys from his shoe and unlocked the back door.   This led to a darkened hallway.   Felix pulled a glowstick from his other shoe to light the way.   

When Felix reached another locked door, he whispered, “Let me do the talking.”    Tres silently shook his head in the darkness.    Felix rapped three times on the door and it opened inward.  A large Emperor penguin greeted Felix.    Tres could not make out the words, but Felix seemed to be talking to the penguin.    The penguin shook its head from side to side and raised its wings.    Felix made soothing sounds until the anxious bird calmed dawn.   

After what seemed like hours but was probably only three and a half minutes, Felix drew closer to Tres followed by the penguin.   “This is Hugo,” Felix said.   He can spare six of his men, but we have to be back by sunrise.   And he wants anchovies, the kind that come in the little tins.”

“Is there anything else?” Tres asked.

“Yes,” said Felix.   We will have to fill the bed of your pickup with snow.   The penguins are not used to the heat outside their enclosure.    We could stop by the 7-11 and buy 200 pounds of ice and then shave it into little pieces, or I could just cast a spell.”     

Tres quietly cursed and said, “This is the weirdest dream.”

Hugo and six other penguins of various shapes and sizes followed them out.   Felix chanted an incantation which filled the bed of the pickup with snow.   Tres drove them to an all-night Walmart which stocked industrial size cans of anchovies.   The greedy penguins devoured the anchovies as Tres headed west on Hwy. 46 toward the small town of Bandera.

“What’s in Bandera?” asked Felix.

“Bandera was founded by Roman Catholic immigrants from Poland.  They built a stone church which is one of the oldest in Texas.  It is also known as the Cowboy Capital of the World.  The Mayan Dude Ranch has been in business for over fifty years.  However, that’s not why we are going there.    I have selected a goat pasture to stake out just outside of town.”  

“I thought the chupacabra ate all the goats,” said Felix.   

“Apparently not,” said Tres.    While you were in Walmart, I did some sleuthing.   According to the Texas Commissioner of Agriculture, the only goats left for a hundred miles are located near Bandera.   Also, according to the local newspaper, local ranchers have found goats drained of all their blood at several locations near town.”

After what seemed like much aimless driving around, Tres pulled the truck off the road and turned toward a pasture barred by a locked gate.   Tres reached behind the seat and pulled out a very large set of bolt cutters.   “Sir, do you have vandalism in mind?” asked Felix.   “Best if you don’t ask too many questions, kid,” replied Tres.   

Tres made short work of the lock and opened the gate.   He parked the truck behind a stand of live oak trees.    Felix directed the penguins into strategic positions around the pasture, giving them each a sack of ice to sit on.   Tres lifted Felix onto a limb about five feet off the ground and told him to stay put.   

They didn’t have to wait long.   Slightly after 3 am, the wind began to stir and clouds covered the moon, eliminating what little light there had been.   The goats became skittish, moving rapidly back and forth across the pasture and making frightened bleating sounds.    An object moving at incredible speed moved into the center of the herd of goats, causing them to scatter in all directions.   Despite the absence of light, Tres and Felix could see the dim outline of a hulking figure looming over an unfortunate goat.   The goat gave one last pathetic bleat before talons ripped its throat open.   As the wind blew their way, they could hear a greedy sucking sound as the phantom drained the life from the goat.

                                 

“Holy sh----“ cried Tres.

“Hugo attack,” commanded Felix.   

Penguins emerged from behind mesquite bushes across the pasture and began to rush the figure which they now knew was almost certainly a chupacabra.     Felix chanted a protection spell toward the rapidly advancing penguins.    While it is generally believed that penguins waddle slowly, Hugo and his band descended upon the beast with both speed and ferocity.   

As the penguins advanced, the beast reared up to its full height of nearly seven feet.   It batted Hugo away as easily as the wind carrying a tumbleweed.    The other penguins boasted off the monster harmlessly or were swatted away.    For a split second its red eyes stared directly at Tres and Felix, then it gave an angry cry and vanished into the night.  

 

Shortly after, the clouds cleared and they were able to assess their damage.    At the center of the attack was the empty body that had been a goat only a few minutes before.   Penguins picked themselves up from the grass of the pasture and unsteadily made their way back toward Tres and Felix.   

“I don’t understand,” said Felix.   “My protection spell should have worked.”

“What kind of a spell did you use?” asked Tres.

“It was a very venerable incantation from the priests of the Seventh Dynasty.   From Egypt.”

“Son,” replied Tres.   “You’re in Texas.   Everything’s bigger and badder here.   Be glad your furry friends are here at all.”

Felix noticed that Hugo’s wing was hanging at an odd angle.   He made a poultice of mud and goat manure and applied it to the injured wing.   He fashioned a sling out of a handkerchief.  

“Sorry boss,” said Hugo.   “That beast was wicked powerful.  He makes a leopard seal look like a kitten.”

“That’s all right,” said Felix.   “You fought valiantly.   The rest of these goats will get to live another night.”

Without anything more to be said, they climbed back into the truck and made the long drive back to Sea World.    They got the penguins back to their enclosure just as the red sun began to peek over the horizon.   After returning Felix to the Palacio del Rio, Tres returned to his apartment, took a quick shower and left for class.