Terror at the Zoo

by Peg Kehret

  Ellen gasped. The man had one arm firmly around Corey’s neck. In his other hand, he held the long sharp knife. “If anybody takes one more step,” the man said, “this kid won’t live.”

  What have I done? Ellen thought. She stood still, staring in horror at her brother and the man with the knife.

  The man looked around. His eyes stopped briefly on Ellen and then, after waiting for a few more seconds, he looked at her again and said, “Come here.”

  He knows I was bluffing, Ellen thought. He knows I’m the only one out here. She whirled and started to run.

  Behind her, Corey cried out.

  Ellen stopped and looked back. The man held the knife in the air now, pointed toward Corey’s chest.

  She couldn’t run away. Slowly, she turned and walked toward the man. “Who are you?” she whispered. “What do you want with us?”

  10

  INSIDE the Nocturnal House, the man kicked at the wall. “Of all the rotten luck. Just when everything was rolling my way, I get saddled with a couple of brats.”

  “You don’t have to be saddled with us,” Corey said. “You could let us go.”

  “Sure. And have you go screaming to Mama and Papa.”

  “They aren’t . . .” Corey stopped.

  The man’s eyes narrowed. “They aren’t what? They aren’t here? That’s what you were going to say, isn’t it?”

  Corey didn’t answer.

  The man nodded his head slowly, as if the pieces of a puzzle had fallen into place. “You kids are here alone. That’s why nobody came when you yelled. And that’s why you’re going to do exactly as I say. Because there’s no one to rescue you.”

  “There’s a security guard,” Ellen said. “He’s on his way here right now.”

  “No, he isn’t.”

  “Why are you being so mean?” Corey said. “We didn’t do anything bad to you.”

  “No? Well, the rest of the world did. But not anymore. Old Tony’s in charge now and you kids are going to make me a bundle of cash. Twenty grand, to be exact.”

  “Why do you need money so badly?” Ellen asked. “Don’t you have a job?”

  “Job?” The man started to laugh. “Don’t you have a job?” he repeated, as if it were the funniest joke he’d ever heard.

  Ellen and Corey looked at each other. Corey shrugged his shoulders.

  “What’s so funny about having a job?” Ellen said. “Most people have one.”

  The man quit laughing. “I’m not most people. I’m Tony Haymes. You won’t find me grubbing around for eight hours every day, breaking my back so the boss can get rich. No way. Old Tony’s too smart for that.”

  “If you don’t have a job,” Corey said, “how do you pay your bills?”

  “I’ve been living rent-free.” The man started laughing again. Ellen looked at Corey and rolled her eyes. This guy was some kind of a wacko.

  “When you’re smart enough,” the man said, suddenly serious again, “you don’t need a job. You can get plenty of bucks without working.”

  “You steal money, don’t you?” Corey said.

  “I take what I deserve.”

  “It’s wrong to steal.”

  “What are you, my conscience?” The man looked at them with such loathing that both Corey and Ellen took a step backward.

  “If you get caught,” Corey pointed out, “you’ll go to jail.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  The way he said, “Tell me about it,” made it clear that he already knew firsthand about going to jail. Ellen shuddered. Who was this Tony? And how were she and Corey going to get away from him?

  “Listen hard,” Tony said. “This is what we’re going to do and I don’t want any screwups.”

  Ellen looked at him. She needn’t have worried about remembering specific details, when they watched him rob the snack store. The details of this man’s face were etched in her brain. She would never forget this face, this voice. Never.

  “We’re going to spend the rest of the night in the ticket booth, right next to the gate. No matter what we hear or who we see, we’re going to be quiet. You got that?”

  Ellen nodded. Beside her, Corey nodded, too.

  “Good. Because one peep out of either one of you and the other one will never talk again.”

  Ellen swallowed. Corey slid his hand into hers and held tight. In his other hand, he still clutched the remains of his bag of peanuts.

  “As soon as the zoo opens in the morning,” Tony said, “we’ll be out of here.” He jerked his head toward the door. “Let’s go.”

  He made them walk in front of him. Slowly, they went past the flamingos, and down the path past the great apes.

  Ellen knew there was one big flaw in the man’s plan. They couldn’t spend the night in a ticket booth because the ticket booths were on the other side of the barrier.

  She didn’t tell the man that, though. Let him think what he wanted. The longer he kept her and Corey on the zoo grounds, the greater the chance that they would be rescued. This is where Mom and Dad would look for them.

  Ellen had put the flashlight in her pocket before the man opened the door. She left it there. The slower they walked, the better the chances that help would come.

  Corey tugged on her sleeve. She leaned down but kept walking.

  “I’m going to escape,” Corey whispered.

  “No!” Ellen said. “Don’t do something stupid.”

  “What are you kids whispering about?” Tony demanded. “I told you to be quiet and I meant it.”

  Just then, Ellen stumbled on an uneven part of the path. If Corey hadn’t caught her sleeve, she would have fallen. Instantly, Tony was there, too. He grabbed her arm but Ellen knew he was not trying to help her; he only wanted to make sure she didn’t run away.

  “No tricks,” he hissed.

  They kept walking. Ellen was unsure where they were. Gradually, she became aware that Corey was dropping the peanuts out of his bag. One by one, every few feet, he took a peanut and let it slide from his fingers to the ground.

  He’s leaving a trail, she realized, like Hansel and Gretel. He’s making a trail so that if anyone is looking for us, they’ll know we came this way. Maybe her brother was smarter than she thought.

  She reached up and unclasped one of the barrettes from her hair. Then she lowered her hand and dropped the barrette, flinging it slightly to the side so that it would land on the grass and not make any noise. A few minutes later she did the same with her other barrette.

  Without the barrettes, her hair hung in her eyes but she didn’t care. It was more important to leave clues than to be beautiful and the barrettes were better clues than the peanuts because they could be identified as Ellen’s.

  Of course, clues were only helpful if someone was looking for them. As far as she knew, nobody was. Grandma and Grandpa might not have found the note; they might have decided to sleep at their own house since they thought Mom and Dad were here at the zoo. And Mom and Dad—well, who knows what they thought or where they were.

  “Chit-chit-chit.” The soft sound was behind them. Ellen and Corey stopped. So did the man.

  “Who’s there?” Tony said.

  There was no reply.

  Corey nudged Ellen and when she leaned toward him he said, “That’s the baby monkey.”

  “Let’s go,” the man said.

  They walked on. Ellen felt as if all of her senses were working on overload. Her eyes struggled to see in the dark; her ears strained to hear any sound; her taut nerves were poised to react, if necessary.

  Ahead in the dark, the lion roared.

  Behind them, the man cursed.

  He’s nervous, too, Ellen thought. He didn’t plan on having us show up and he isn’t really prepared to take us with him.

  Maybe Corey was right. Maybe they should try to escape. If they both ran at the same time, disappeared into the darkness in different directions, he couldn’t catch both of them. Maybe he wouldn’t even try. Maybe he would let them go.<
br />
  A small voice in her mind answered, but what if he does catch one of you? What then?

  There are two of us, she reasoned, and only one of him. Maybe we could jump on him and overpower him.

  He’s bigger, the small voice replied. And he has a knife.

  Before she could continue the debate with herself, Corey took the decision out of her hands. When the lion roared again a few seconds later, Corey whispered, “The moat.” And then, before Ellen had time to react, he raced toward the sound of the lion.

  “Hey!” Tony yelled.

  Immediately, Ellen took off in the opposite direction. She turned on the flashlight and waved it back and forth, acting as a decoy so Corey could get away. She knew exactly where he planned to go. Because she had come to watch Grandma and Grandpa fish from the lion’s moat, she knew precisely how the lion’s enclosure was laid out. Corey knew, too. There was a metal fence, to keep the people out, and inside the fence there was tall grass that led to a cliff which dropped downward to the moat. It was a long way down and the water in the moat was deep.

  As long as Corey stayed on this side of the moat, he would be safe from the lions but he was counting on the fact that the man wouldn’t know that. Only someone who had observed the lion area carefully would realize that a person could go under the fence and still be perfectly safe. Corey was betting that Tony wouldn’t look for him on the other side of the lion’s fence.

  Ellen heard footsteps behind her. The man was after her, not Corey. She would have to turn off her light. If she didn’t, he would catch her for sure. She switched off the flashlight and turned to her right. She put her right arm out in front of her as she ran, so she wouldn’t bump into anything. Her left shoulder didn’t throb anymore but she kept that arm close to her chest anyway.

  It was impossible not to make noise as she stumbled through the tall ferns and scrub alder. She pushed on and found herself on one of the paths again.

  Her outstretched hand hit something. Quickly, she felt a metal railing with more than one rung. But what was on the other side? She ducked down and crawled between the rungs. She was in tall grass now and she stayed on her hands and knees. After only a few feet, as she put one hand out to move forward, she felt nothing. Air. Empty space. She was at the edge of a drop-off.

  She heard a splashing sound from below and realized she must be above the hippo pool. She couldn’t think of any other water at this end of the zoo.

  She tried to remember how far it was from the top of the overhang, where she apparently was, to the water. About four feet, she thought. Close enough that she could probably slide down without hurting herself.

  She wondered how dangerous hippos are. What would they do if a person dropped down into their pool, swam across, and escaped out the other side? Do hippos ever attack humans?

  As Ellen crouched on the edge of the overhang, she heard movement behind her. Another peacock? An animal? Or the knife-wielding thief?

  The man did not have a flashlight. Thank goodness for that. At least he would have to come within a few feet of her in order to find her.

  If it was the man, and he saw her, she decided to take a chance on the hippos.

  And then she saw him. He stopped about eight feet to her left, on the other side of the railing. He didn’t look toward the pool. He turned his back to the water, leaned his elbows on the guard rail, and stood still. She was certain his eyes were scanning the path and the bushes; he was looking and listening, trying to find her.

  Ellen hardly dared to breathe. Light clouds drifted across the moon again. The man was a black silhouette, looming beside her.

  COREY ran. He didn’t hear anyone coming after him; the man must be chasing Ellen. He hoped the man didn’t catch her. Maybe it had been wrong to bolt like that. He had been thinking only about how to escape. He didn’t think that he might put Ellen in jeopardy.

  The lion’s area should be just ahead. He knew all about where the lions can and can’t go, from when he had come to watch Grandma and Grandpa fish in the moat. His plan was to squeeze under the fence and go to the edge of the cliff, behind the trees. It would be hard for anyone to see him there, even in the daylight. In the dark, it would be impossible.

  The man would be afraid to go into a place where wild lions live. He wouldn’t know about the steep cliff that went to the edge of the moat or about the hidden fence at the bottom. He wouldn’t know that the lions couldn’t get to the cliff, even if they swam across the moat.

  “Chit-chit-chit.” The sound came out of the dark. It was the same sound he had heard a few minutes ago. It still sounded to him like the baby monkey. Maybe Shadow was following him.

  Corey stopped running and looked around but it was too dark to see what had made the noise. He wished he hadn’t left his flashlight by the monkey house.

  He should have reached the lions by now. Had he been mistaken about where he was when he broke away from the man? What if he had run the wrong way? Had he gone in circles, the way people do when they’re lost in the woods?

  Corey waited, listening.

  “Chit-chit-chit.” There it was again, just to his right. He thought it was Shadow, but what if he was wrong? Maybe it was Tony, pretending to be a monkey so Corey would come closer.

  Where was he? Which way were the lions?

  There was a rustling in the bushes. Corey saw only the outlines of trees and shrubbery. He squinted, trying to see if there was a small animal shape, too.

  “Chit-chit-chit.” The sound came from behind him now. Corey turned and saw movement at the base of a tree. It was the baby monkey.

  Corey dropped to his knees. “Hello,” he whispered. “Don’t be scared.” He held out one hand, in case the monkey wanted to sniff his fingers the way dogs do when they first meet a person.

  The monkey didn’t move. Corey inched closer. If he could catch the baby monkey, he would do it. The little monkey would be safe with him and Corey could keep it until they were rescued. Ordinarily, he would never try to catch a wild animal but this was an emergency. He could make sure that Shadow didn’t escape from the zoo and get hit by a car or some other terrible fate.

  “Good little monkey,” Corey whispered. “Good Shadow.” He moved closer.

  “Chit-chit-chit.”

  Slowly, Corey crept closer to the baby monkey. He wished he could tell the monkey not to be afraid.

  He should have paid more attention to Ellen’s science fair project. Ellen told him how to talk to Prince, and Corey tried a few times, but he never could concentrate the way he was supposed to. Instead of focusing on Prince, he always made up stories in his mind, imagining what Prince might say to him. Ellen sent the same thought, over and over, but Corey got bored with the same thought and soon gave up trying.

  If Ellen were here, she might be able to talk to the monkey, tell it that they were his friends and he would be safe with them. Ellen might be able to coax the monkey to come to him.

  But Ellen wasn’t here. She was somewhere in the dark zoo, fleeing from the evil man. What if the man had caught her? He would be angry because they had tried to escape; what would he do to Ellen?

  It’s my fault, Corey thought miserably. If I hadn’t pretended to see Mom and Dad, we would not be alone in the zoo with a madman. What if he caught Ellen and took her out of the zoo and hid her somewhere and tried to collect a ransom and Corey never saw Ellen again? What if . . .

  Corey felt something brush his sleeve. Startled out of his horrible fantasy, he looked down and saw the baby monkey standing beside him.

  Slowly, Corey put his hand forward and stroked the monkey’s head. The monkey didn’t move. Corey petted it again. Gently, he put his other hand on the monkey’s stomach and picked the monkey up.

  He held it against his chest and the monkey snuggled against him.

  “It’s OK,” Corey whispered. “You’re safe with me.”

  As he stood up, the monkey put its arms around Corey’s neck. I’ll go back to the monkey house, Corey thought. That’s
probably the last place in the zoo that the man would go now. I’ll be safe there and I can put Shadow back in the monkey cage, where he belongs.

  I’ll find the main path again, and stay on it until I come to the monkey house.

  “Don’t be scared,” he told the monkey. “I’ll take you back to your mother.”

  He was not at all sure of his directions but he started out, carrying the baby monkey. Sooner or later, he would come to something he recognized and then he would know which way to go.

  He walked slowly, cuddling the little monkey against him. He wished someone could take a picture of him. He wanted to remember always how it felt to hold the baby monkey. Maybe, when he grew up, he would work in a zoo. He would protect animals like the golden lion tamarin and keep them safe.

  There were bushes with thorny spikes around him now; the sharp spines snagged his shirt as he pushed his way through. He tried to think where in the zoo he had seen bushes like these. Was it over by the llamas or in front of the hippo pool? He couldn’t be clear over by the llamas; he had not run that far.

  He must be near the hippos. Yes, he was near the hippo pool which meant he was close to the main path. Soon he would find it. Soon he could start back to the monkey house.

  11

  ELLEN’S legs ached. She had crouched there, beside the hippo pool, for several minutes. Why didn’t the man leave? He must be waiting for her to move, to make a noise, so that he would know where she was.

  Well, Ellen wasn’t going to move. Her legs felt like they were rusted shut at the knees and might never straighten out again but she stayed still.

  The man cursed. He turned around, hit the railing with his fist, and cursed again. Then, muttering to himself, he walked away from the pool.

  Relief flooded through Ellen. He was leaving. She was safe. She could stay right here at the edge of the hippo pool until morning, and he wouldn’t find her. He wouldn’t find Corey by the lion’s moat, either, she was sure of that, and by morning someone would come looking for them.