She looked around the small rest stop, drew in a deep breath, and started feeling more like herself again.
“Two team members come with me,” Bull announced. “Two stay and study the map.”
Mari held up the map, and Russell moved next to her. Sage and Dev headed off with the other group. Both Mari and Russell watched as the others walked away.
“Can you imagine being kicked out by Bull Gordon?” she said. “That would be the worst. Especially if you didn’t cheat.”
“It’d be worse if you did cheat,” Russell replied. “’Cause then he’d be all like, ‘I’m disappointed in you. That’s not how we run this race.’” Russell shook his head. “Nothing would be worse than that.” Russell was staring out at the rolling land, but he wasn’t really looking at it. He turned to Mari. “You know? There’s a team that did cheat. For real. And they’re still in the race.”
Mari didn’t have a response.
“I didn’t tell anyone. It didn’t feel right.” Russell’s face was blank for a long time. Then he shifted the weight of his hiking pack and focused in on the map. “So, where are we?” he asked, glancing around for landmarks while Mari did the unfolding.
“We’re right here,” Mari declared, relieved by the change of subject. There was a red star in the middle of the map, right next to a tourist rest stop. “We’re in the middle of the Serengeti.”
“That’s, like, famous. Right?”
“Right. We’re going to see giant herds of grazing animals. And predators. Lots of predators. It’ll be amazing.” Already, the possibilities churned through Mari’s head. The Serengeti was the perfect place for the last leg of the race. Here, they would witness wild animals being truly wild, out on the open plains. It would be a real safari.
Mari had once read that the word “safari” came from the Swahili word that means “journey.” The last leg of their journey was about to begin. Mari looked up to see Sage and Dev rushing back. “We’ve got our clue!” Dev yelled. He held out the ancam, and they all crowded around to read.
This earth pig
Can really dig.
It hears its foes,
And smells its food.
Its tongue is covered
With something like glue.
READ SAVANNA SHOWDOWN TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!
KRISTIN EARHART grew up riding horses, pestering her cat, and reading books about amazing animals. These days, she lives with her husband and son in Brooklyn, New York, and writes books of her own. She still loves animals. But now, when she pesters her cat, the surly cat pesters back.
Text copyright © 2015 by Kristin Earhart
Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Scholastic Inc.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
First printing 2015
Cover art by Erwin Madrid
Cover design by Yaffa Jaskoll
e-ISBN 978-0-545-77379-9
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