The Secret Zoo Read Online Free

glass that was used on the windows of fancy cars. The exhibit was open; people could walk among freely flying birds.
    The moment Noah strolled through the entrance, the earthy smell of soil and tree bark invaded him. Trees and flowery plants filled the dome with fragrance and rich oxygen. Small waterfalls cascaded down rocks and threw mist into the air. The Forest of Flight looked andfelt like a miniature jungle. Birds soared overhead, and a variety of sounds echoed off the walls—water splashing, children laughing, streams rumbling, and birds chirping and squawking.
    A poster with a chart was pinned to the wall near the entrance, displaying pictures of fifty different birds, just as Megan had described. Noah stopped for a minute to search the chart. Halfway down, he recognized one of the birds and gasped. It had a blue body, a bright red bill, and an orange belly. Without doubt, this was the tiny bird that had flown into his room. The chart said it was a malachite kingfisher named Marlo.
    â€œMarlo,” Noah said aloud. He looked to the treetops. “Marlo, are you in here?”
    He headed down a misty path, where enormous umbrella leaves draped above him like a live green ceiling. Droplets of water plopped on his shoulders and the top of his head. Around him, a variety of birds perched on branches and steel beams, while a few floated on streams and ponds and others pecked at seeds on the ground, looking more bored than hungry.
    Noah scoured the Forest of Flight for Marlo but couldn’t find him. His search led him to a concrete wall—the wall that had the holes in it, which was what he’d come to see. The holes were about ten feet up from the ground and eight inches across. They were dark—thekind of dark that someone could keep secrets in.
    Noah took a seat on the bench that Megan had written about. He folded his hands across his lap and said under his breath, “This is where Megan sat not long ago.” The thought of her sitting here alone made him sad.
    Noah watched the wall and waited…and waited…and waited. Birds flew in and out of the holes. One had a beak full of straw, and Noah guessed that it was building a nest. He continued to sit and watch. An hour later, a voice announced through a loudspeaker that the zoo was preparing to close. Within minutes, people had cleared out of the Forest of Flight. Noah was alone. If something significant was going to take place, he thought it might be now.
    More time passed. Except for the chirps and fluttering of the birds, the building was silent. Now that Noah was alone in the building, it seemed larger than ever. Through the glass walls, he watched the sky dim as the sun fell into its autumn slumber. Noah began to worry that he might be locked in the zoo for the night.
    Suddenly a tiny bird swooped down and perched on a branch directly in front of him. It had a blue body, a red beak, and an orange belly.
    â€œMarlo?”
    The bird cocked his head, first to one side and then to the other. He ruffled his feathers and blinked so many timesin a split second that Noah couldn’t count the blinks.
    The boy rose from the bench. “Marlo, do you…do you understand me?”
    Marlo cocked his head back and forth again and leaped into the air. He circled a clump of trees and landed back on the branch in front of Noah.
    Noah’s jaw dropped. He glanced over his shoulder. As far as he could tell, he was alone—alone with Marlo.
    â€œThis is really happening,” he said.
    Marlo sprang off the branch and left it trembling. He darted through the air and disappeared into one of the holes.
    How deep are those things? Noah wondered. He stepped forward, wrapped his hands around a rail, and locked his gaze on the hole, waiting.
    â€œC’mon, Marlo,” he mumbled. “The zoo’s gotta be closing, and I—”
    Marlo shot out of the hole, etched another circle in the air, and landed on an open branch. Noah’s