Earthquake Escape

by J. Burchett

  Wild Rescue: Earthquake Escape

  published in 2011 by

  Hardie Grant Egmont

  85 High Street

  Prahran, Victoria 3181, Australia

  www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au

  First published by Stripes Publishing

  1 The Coda Centre, 189 Munster Road

  London SW6 6AW

  The pages of this book are printed on paper derived

  from forests promoting sustainable management.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and copyright holders.

  A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia.

  Text copyright © 2009 Jan Burchett and Sara Vogler

  Illustrations copyright © 2009 Dianne Le Feyer of Cartoon Saloon

  Cover illustration and design © 2011 Hardie Grant Egmont

  Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  FOR ALEXANDRA HEYWOOD AND

  HER FRIENDS AT THE CHINA-BRITAIN

  BUSINESS COUNCIL WHO WERE SO

  HELPFUL AND PATIENT WITH OUR

  QUESTIONS - JB & SV

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER

  ONE

  “Wahoo!” yelled Ben as he hit the top of the hill and freewheeled in mid-air.

  He hit the ground hard and risked a quick look back at his twin sister Zoe. She was catching up. Their mountain bikes were new – a present from their gran – and a race across this remote hillside was a perfect way to try them out.

  Pedalling faster, Ben swerved round a tree root and skidded on a patch of mud, only just keeping his balance. As Ben righted himself, Zoe took the opportunity to overtake. She pelted off down the steep slope. The shallow stream at the bottom was their finishing line, next to which Gran was sitting in her car, reading a book.

  Gran had come to live with them during the summer holidays while their parents were away. Mr and Mrs Woodward were vets whose work took them all round the world. Usually Ben and Zoe went with them, but in September they’d be starting secondary school, so this summer they were staying at home.

  Whooping triumphantly, Zoe splashed through the stream.

  “The winner!” she cried.

  “You wait till next time,” a mudsplattered Ben grinned as he zoomed up behind her. “You were just lucky…”

  He stopped. Directly overhead they heard the whir of a helicopter and the nearby trees swayed from side to side. They looked up in surprise. The next instant two harnesses on ropes flapped down just in front of them.

  “What’s going on?” asked Ben.

  “I recognise that chopper!” yelled Zoe in delight. “Looks like Uncle Stephen wants us.”

  Ben and Zoe’s godfather, Dr Stephen Fisher, ran a top-secret organisation called Wild. It was dedicated to rescuing endangered animals all over the world – and Ben and Zoe were its youngest operatives.

  “Better get up there and see what mission he has for us this time!” said Ben, seizing one of the harnesses and strapping himself securely in. Soon they were being hoisted high above the trees.

  Zoe gave a gasp. “What about our bikes?” she yelled over the deafening sound of the blades.

  Ben looked down and waved at a small figure on the ground. “Gran’s got that in hand,” he yelled back. “She knows what we’re up to before we do ourselves!”

  “Good morning,” said the pilot, as Ben and Zoe settled themselves inside the helicopter. “As you can guess, your godfather has another job for you.”

  “Where’s he sending us, Erika?” asked Zoe, pulling on her headset and wrinkling her nose at the familiar smell of the engine. Dr Fisher had designed the helicopter to run on chicken manure – environmentally friendly, but very smelly.

  “I can’t tell you that.” Erika smiled as she passed them an envelope. Although the young German woman was Dr Fisher’s second-in-command, and had all the information at her fingertips, she knew their eccentric godfather would want to explain their mission himself.

  “I bet I know what’s in here,” said Ben. He plunged his hand into the envelope. “A glass eye.”

  “Our clue to the next rescue mission,” exclaimed Zoe, studying it. “But which animal has eyes like this? It’s got a slit pupil.”

  “Alligator?” suggested Ben. “Snake?”

  “There’s one simple way to find out,” Erika told them. “It fits in that console over there.”

  Ben placed the eye into a small hollow between some coloured switches and at once a hologram of a man in a Hawaiian shirt appeared. He had a bowler hat shoved over his thick red hair.

  “Greetings, godchildren,” he boomed. “Brief message. Sending you to China. A giant panda cub’s in trouble. Full details when you arrive.” The image faded.

  “A giant panda,” beamed Zoe. “They’re the cutest things.”

  “Not so cute if it sat on you,” snorted Ben. “A fully grown one weighs more than a hundred kilograms. They have to eat for about fifteen hours a day just to stay alive.”

  “Sounds like you!” Zoe laughed.

  “And they’re seriously endangered,” added Ben, ignoring her. “Their main diet’s bamboo and lots of bamboo forests have been cut down.”

  “I knew that, Mr Factfile!” said Zoe.

  “Well, you didn’t know they have slit pupils,” said Ben.

  “Neither did you!” retorted Zoe.

  Soon they’d left the land behind and headed north across the choppy sea to Uncle Stephen’s remote island. As soon as they’d landed and climbed out, Erika activated the mechanism that brought up the fake shed to hide the helicopter. Zoe and Ben ran over to a decrepit outside toilet.

  Zoe flung open the tatty door and they all crammed in.

  “Hold on to your stomachs!” joked Ben, as the toilet became a secret turbo lift and sped deep underground.

  Ben and Zoe hurried along the brightly lit corridor and placed their fingertips on an ID pad next to a door marked Control Room.

  “Print identification complete,” came an electronic voice.

  The door slid open and Ben and Zoe burst into the huge room with its high-tech plasma screens all over the walls.

  Uncle Stephen swung round in his chair, a look of delight on his face. “That was quick!” he beamed. “Glad to see you’re as keen as ever.”

  “Tell us about the panda,” said Zoe, eagerly. “How can we help?”

  Uncle Stephen led them over to the largest screen. He touched it and brought up an image of a solemn panda cub sitting on a tree stump. “This is Jing Jing.”

  “Adorable!” gushed Zoe.

  Ben raised his eyebrows. “She’s gone into Gooey Heaven,” he groaned. Ben was as fond of animals as his sister, but there were times when she just got too slushy for words.

  The image changed to a satellite map of China and zoomed in on a thickly wooded mountainous region. In a valley formed by a river gorge were a group of buildings and fenced areas. The mountains rose up steeply on either side.

  “Jing Jing lives here at the Ningshang Sanctuary.” Erika joined in the briefing. “It’s in Sichuan Province in the west of China.”

  “Wasn’t there an earthquake there last month?” asked Zoe.

  “Indee
d there was, Zoe,” said Dr Fisher. “And the sanctuary was badly damaged. Luckily there weren’t too many casualties – and all the pandas were saved – but there’s been a lot of rebuilding needed.”

  Erika touched the screen toolbar and the image changed to a video clip of young pandas slowly clambering up a climbing frame. “We don’t have any footage of Jing Jing,” she told them, “but here are some other one-year-old panda cubs in the kindergarten compound. They’re orphans and have lived there most of their lives. Pandas aren’t really independent until they’re two and able to forage for themselves. Only then are they released into the wild.”

  “They’re like clumsy little teddy bears,” said Zoe, looking at the cubs as they tumbled down a slide.

  “Since the earthquake in Sichuan Province, Wild has been particularly concerned for the safety of the animals there,” Erika went on. “We’ve put the area on red alert. We thought the sanctuary pandas would be fine. But five days ago we got news that Jing Jing was missing. He’d escaped through a small break in the fencing of his compound. It was damaged in an aftershock.”

  “Did the sanctuary send out a search party?” asked Zoe.

  “Certainly,” said Uncle Stephen. “They’re a dedicated team at Ningshang. But they found no sign of him and had to give up. They haven’t got enough workers there to spare for such a task.”

  Ben nodded. “I suppose they must still be repairing all the damage and trying to keep all the other pandas safe.”

  “You’re right,” said Erika. “And aftershocks are undoing some of the rebuilding work. Everyone out there is struggling to get things back to normal.”

  “If Jing Jing’s too young to forage he won’t last long on his own,” said Zoe, worried.

  “And he’ll be very scared,” added Uncle Stephen.

  “Then we’d better get to China as soon as we can,” declared Ben. “Let’s get packed!”

  “I knew I could rely on my godchildren,” said Uncle Stephen, delighted. “But you can’t go without these.” He rummaged in a messy drawer in his desk and pulled out what looked like two sleek hand-held games consoles. “Your BUGs!” He handed them to Ben and Zoe.

  The BUGs, or Brilliant Undercover Gizmos, were incredibly clever. They could be used to communicate with Wild HQ, track animals, translate languages and tons of other stuff as well. Ben and Zoe still hadn’t found out half the things they could do.

  “And you might want these,” said Uncle Stephen. “They’ll prove useful in the mountains.” He handed them a couple of slim torches. “These are my FINs – Fisher Integrated Nanofirers.”

  “A new invention?” gasped Ben. “What does it do? I want to try it now.”

  “Not in here!” said Erika quickly. “It’s designed for the outdoors. I’ll tell you all about it in the plane to China. Now, let’s get you kitted out. Dr Fisher has been busy inventing things. Here are some thermogoggles for tracking animals by heat. You’ll have fun with these,” she said, as she handed them over. “And we’ve got some new reinforced backpacks we want you to try out.”

  “Remember it’s dangerous terrain in those mountains at the best of times,” Uncle Stephen warned them. “There may still be aftershocks. They can occur up to a year after a quake. Make sure you keep yourselves safe. Remember if you feel one coming – drop to the ground and cover your head!”

  “I’ll give you a demonstration on Wild’s new earthquake simulator,” said Erika.

  “Cool!” exclaimed Ben.

  “Then you’ll be prepared if you face that danger,” Erika went on.

  Zoe and Ben exchanged glances. They each knew what the other was thinking. They never looked for danger, but danger seemed to find them!

  CHAPTER

  TWO

  Ben flung open the bedroom window and gazed up at the densely wooded mountain slopes that stretched away as far as the eye could see.

  “I can’t wait to start our search for Jing Jing,” he said eagerly as he pulled on his boots. “Let’s get into that forest.”

  Ben and Zoe had arrived the previous day in China at a private airfield outside Chengdu. From there Erika had driven them over cracked and potholed Sichuan roads to the little village that lay in a deep valley next to a fast-flowing river. It had been very late when they arrived at the Panda Palace Hotel – a simple guest house that had been damaged by the earthquake. Part of its roof was missing and only one bathroom was in use but the owner, Yao Zhi, had given them a warm welcome, although he looked surprised to have guests so soon after the earthquake.

  “Jing Jing could be anywhere,” said Zoe, picking up her new backpack. “If you charge off straight away I’ll be sending a search party out for you!”

  “I know we agreed to go to the sanctuary first.” Ben stuffed his BUG into his pocket. “But suppose we don’t get any useful information – we’ll have wasted time.”

  “The workers there know him well,” insisted Zoe. “We should be able to find out about any distinctive characteristics, favourite food, that type of thing.”

  “As long as we don’t let on why we want to know,” warned Ben, fidgeting at the door as he waited for Zoe to follow. “Remember, we’re just normal holiday-makers…”

  “…come to see the pandas,” said Zoe, finishing his sentence. She grabbed their waterproof jackets from the little wardrobe. “We’re sure to need these. Erika said it can rain at any time here.”

  “And we’d better warn the guest-house owner that we might not be back tonight,” suggested Ben.

  “Good thinking!” said Zoe. “We have no idea where the search will take us and we don’t want him thinking we’re lost.”

  Downstairs Ben handed the room key to Mr Zhi at reception.

  “I hope you enjoyed your breakfast,” Mr Zhi said. He spoke good English – Erika had told them the local people were used to tourists.

  “Delicious!” said Ben with a grin, remembering the tasty steamed buns filled with lamb and served with rice porridge. “The baozi was the best.”

  “Your aunt left early today,” Mr Zhi went on. “You were still asleep I think.”

  “Aunt Erika has some work in Chengdu,” Zoe explained quickly. “We’re used to her going off. We’re quite happy on our own.”

  The hotel owner looked disapproving but he said nothing.

  Ben and Zoe had to be careful that no-one suspected the real reason why two children were left on their own in a foreign country. Everyone had to believe that they were on holiday with their eccentric aunt. Erika had actually gone off to another devastated area to check on the wildlife there.

  “We’re going to visit the Ningshang Panda Sanctuary,” Zoe told him. “I’ve always wanted to see giant pandas.”

  “Just like all the tourists!” Mr Zhi smiled in relief. “You’ll be safe there without your aunt.”

  “She’s meeting us there later,” said Ben. “She wants to take us on an outing. We’ll be away for the night but probably back tomorrow.”

  Mr Zhi nodded. “Where are you going?”

  “We don’t know,” said Zoe hurriedly. “It’s a surprise.”

  “Wait for a moment. I’ll give you a packed lunch.”

  Mr Zhi was soon back carrying two paper bags that bulged with stuffed pancakes.

  Ben’s eyes lit up. “Thanks,” he said, putting them into his backpack.

  Zoe and Ben followed the river out of the village towards the sanctuary, walking over cracked, rubble-strewn ground. Either side of the road were half-collapsed buildings, some with curtains still hanging from broken windows.

  Builders were clearing and demolishing, calling to each other in Chinese.

  “Better put in our translators,” Ben reminded Zoe, struggling to pull out the squidgy little earpiece from the side of his BUG. “What did Erika say they speak round here?”

  “Sichuanese.” Zoe pressed hers into her ear and listened to the banter. “That’s interesting,” she said with a grin. “They’re saying, ‘Who’s that ugly-looking boy over the
road?’”

  Ben quickly shoved his earpiece in.

  “No they’re not!” he declared. “They’re moaning about the local football scores.”

  “Got you!” Zoe laughed, running off before he could get his revenge.

  They came to the remains of a bus shelter that had fallen into a deep hole.

  “It must have been really frightening when the earthquake hit,” said Ben soberly. “That simulation we went in at Wild HQ was bad enough.”

  “It would be terrifying for the pandas,” added Zoe with a shudder. “They wouldn’t have understood what was happening.”

  The winding road led away from the houses and soon the high wooden fence of the sanctuary came into view. Behind it loomed the densely forested mountains. Clouds hung low around the peaks in a thick mist.

  “Look over there,” said Ben, pointing to where the tree line began. “That land used to be forest but it’s all been cleared. We saw a lot of that on the way here with Erika.”

  “Something’s being built,” said Zoe. “Poor pandas, losing their home. It’s terrible when people don’t think of the animal life.”

  Ben brought up a satellite map of the area on his BUG and zoomed in on the Ningshang Sanctuary.

  “It’s bigger than I thought,” he said, showing Zoe. “Like a large park in England.”

  “But where do the wild pandas live?” asked Zoe. “I reckon that’s where Jing Jing’s most likely to have gone.”

  “I read all about it on the plane journey,” Ben explained. “So much of the bamboo forest has been cut down that there are only pockets here and there. The wild pandas have become quite isolated in their own little areas. Although there are a few places in Sichuan where the government and conservation groups have planted bamboo corridors to join these up.”

  “That doesn’t help us,” said Zoe, looking at the scattered zones of bamboo on the screen. “Jing Jing could be anywhere.

  He’s had plenty of time! Erika said he’d been missing five days, six now. I just hope he’s found a bamboo forest.”