Omar leaned forward. “You’re the new kid on Zoo Lane. Right?”
“I’m Luke. You live on Zoo Lane too?”
“Down at the end,” Omar said. “Can I help you?”
“Is anyone looking for a zebra box?”
“Are you kidding?” Omar pointed to the litter basket.
Inside were dozens of boxes. Some were crushed. Others had ice cream smears.
Luke shook his head. “It’s a new box. It has a dollar inside.”
Omar stared at him. “Sometimes I put money in a box. Maybe it’s mine.”
Alex wanted the box! And now Omar!
“What else was inside?” Luke asked.
Omar pushed his cap back. “I put junk in them.” He stopped to think. “A Blue Zoo cookie?”
Luke shook his head.
“Maybe a pen.”
“No.”
“A dollar anyway,” Omar said.
“I’ll think about it,” Luke said.
It was time for lunch.
All that popcorn was making him hungry.
“See you later,” he told Omar.
He walked along the path.
He thought of Abuelo and the zoo in Florida.
They’d been in Florida for a year. But he’d made friends in two minutes.
He wouldn’t be walking alone.
Dad was coming toward him. “That field would be the perfect place…” He stopped to take a breath.
Luke waited.
“…for giraffes.”
Yes!
“There are plants with thorns,” Dad said.
Luke knew that giraffes had thick tongues and lips…
Thick enough to chew on plants with thorns.
Abuelo was worried about the giraffes. Ana trees were being cut down. Giraffes couldn’t eat their leaves anymore.
Dad must have been thinking the same thing. “Zoos have to help,” he said.
CHAPTER 9
THE next morning, Luke opened his eyes. Mom was standing in the doorway. “You might find a surprise here,” she said.
“What surprise?”
“You’ll have to see.”
Then she was on her way to the kitchen.
Dad was calling. “Hurry, Luke. You have to see this.”
Luke stumbled out of bed. He found a pair of shorts.
Benita was in the hall. “I forgot,” she sang.
Luke waited.
She took a breath. “Tori’s brother might be missing a zebra box,” she said.
Another person! Luke nodded as he went past.
He and Dad didn’t stop to eat. Mom gave them bottles of juice and muffins.
Luke brought the zebra box with him. But he wasn’t thinking of that now.
He and Dad walked to a field that looked almost like a desert. “Meerkats,” Dad said. “New to this new zoo.”
“I don’t see any animals.” Luke bit into a blueberry muffin.
Dad put his hand on his shoulder. “Wait. They’re still in their burrows.”
Burrows? Was this Mom’s surprise?
How could it be? Luke knew that there were animals who dug holes at night. They’d sleep there until morning.
Dad nudged him. “Here they come.”
A pile of them. Thirty? Forty?
They scampered around, searching for their own breakfast of insects, or maybe lizards.
All except one. It stood there looking up at the sky.
“A lookout for enemies,” Dad said. “Eagles, maybe. Meerkats watch out for each other.”
How lucky they were to have friends, Luke thought.
Dad patted his arm. “I’ll see about a zoo that might send giraffes.” He took the path to the office.
Luke took the last bite of muffin.
Then he went after Dad. He’d promised to help.
Inside, he lugged small evergreen trees into a birthing room. Dad left his computer and they carried in ferns and little trees. The room looked like a small jungle.
“Just what a puma mother wants when she has her babies,” Dad said.
Luke looked around at the green room with its sweet smell.
Abuelo would have loved it.
Luke loved it.
But it was time to think about the zebra box.
Whose was it?
Alex’s?
Tori’s brother’s?
Omar’s?
Omar had all those zebra boxes at the Blue Zoo Stand.
Maybe he kept money in one. It would be easy to mix them up.
Luke hurried to the Blue Zoo Stand.
Omar was alone today. His mouth was filled with blue popcorn. He held out a handful.
“Have some,” said Omar.
“Great popcorn.” Luke slid the box across the counter. “I brought this back for you.”
Omar reached under the counter. He pulled out another box and rattled it.
Luke looked inside. A pen. A couple of pennies. A dollar.
Omar grinned. Hs teeth were blue from popcorn. “My dad found mine. Thanks anyway.”
Luke nodded. Who was next?
He sighed. Alex, he guessed.
He wandered down the lane.
He passed the petting zoo.
Alex was holding a rabbit in each arm. He was talking to them.
“Hey, Alex,” he called.
CHAPTER 10
THAT night, Luke kept watching television. He hated to go up to his dark bedroom.
Mom looked at the clock. “It’s late.”
Benita had fallen asleep an hour ago. He had to go upstairs.
He carried the zebra box with him.
The box wasn’t Alex’s.
“Mine is filled with coins,” Alex had said this morning. “I have a list of things to buy for school.”
He said a lot more, but Luke couldn’t remember all of it.
Luke put the box next to him on the night table. It had to be Tori’s brother’s.
He looked at Alex’s handprint.
But something was underneath. Writing.
Why hadn’t he seen it before?
He turned the box one way, and then another.
Right side up.
Upside down.
There were loops and dashes. Something was underlined.
None of it made sense. It was too much to think about tonight.
He knelt up in bed. The light over the Baby Zoo House was friendly.
Dad was working there tonight.
Luke began to count. “Black spider monkeys, jaguars, rhinos, meerkats.”
And then it was morning again.
Benita was singing. “Poor dangerous giraffes…”
Luke grinned. “Not dangerous,” he called. “Endangered.”
“I know that,” Benita said. “I’m making up a song so people will help.”
Downstairs, Luke heard Dad come into the kitchen. “A quick breakfast,” he said. “I have to go back. Baby pumas were born last night.”
He ate quickly and went out the back door.
Luke hurried too. He couldn’t wait to see the pumas in the jungle they’d made.
Then he had to find Tori. He’d give her the box.
He headed for the Baby Zoo House. Dad waved through the window.
Footsteps came behind him.
He turned. Alex!
He nodded at Luke. “New babies!” he said. “Could I…”
“I guess so.” Luke opened the door.
Alex slid in behind him. They followed Dad down the hall and looked through a window.
“Neat jungle.” Alex leaned close to the glass. “Someday I want to go on a safari…”
“Luke did most of it,” Dad said.
> Alex grinned at him. “Not bad!”
A great feeling filled Luke’s chest.
“Where’s the puma mom?” Luke asked. “And I don’t see her cubs.”
Alex grabbed Luke’s elbow and pointed.
Ah. There was a spotted coat, blue eyes almost open.
He looked at Alex. “Neat,” they said together.
They went back down the hall with Dad.
Luke bumped into the closed door. “What’s in there, anyway?”
Dad smiled. “I’ll open it when it’s time.”
Luke raised his shoulders.
So did Alex.
“See you,” Luke told him.
It was time to find Tori.
CHAPTER 11
TORI was in her backyard. She was leaning over a picnic table reading. “There’s a story about a jaguar. I think I heard it in school. She came out of the jungle to play with kids.”
Even Abuelo probably didn’t know that, Luke thought.
He waved the box. “It must be your brother’s.”
“He’s in the house.” Tori cupped her hands around her mouth. “Hey, Ken.”
Ken banged open the screen door.
“I’m right in the middle of something.”
Luke held out the zebra box.
“Mine’s inside, thanks.” Ken nodded at him and went inside.
Luke sank down at the table. He rested the box in front of him.
Tori pulled it toward her. “Can I look inside?”
“Sure. It’s not mine.”
She held everything up. Then she closed the box again.
She turned it on its side. “Hey, what’s this? An L?
“Here’s more.” She squinted. “A handprint. It’s hard to see.”
Luke leaned forward.
“Wait,” she said. “I think it says, ‘See Dad.’ ”
Luke closed his eyes.
Had Dad left the box for him? Could that be?
It felt right.
It felt terrific.
He thought of the green collar.
It might be something that needed to be walked.
He couldn’t wait to find out.
CHAPTER 12
LUKE rushed back to the zoo. He held the box in his hand.
“You found it.” Dad smiled. “A perfect time. The door is ready to open. The babies are set to go.”
Luke looked down the hall.
“Go ahead,” Dad said.
Luke opened the door. A scruffy dog wagged her tail.
Two puppies rolled over next to her. One of them looked at him.
How small he was.
Luke sat on the floor. The puppy climbed on his lap.
This dog was his.
It had to be!
Dad was nodding. “One for you, one for Benita, and one for Mom and me.”
The zoo door opened. Luke looked down the hall. It was Nana-Next-Door.
“Ah, Luke,” she said. “You’ve seen the new pups. A neat surprise.”
She reached in to touch the mother dog. “Perfect pets.”
She winked at him. “Much better than zoo animals like tigers. They might eat you for dinner.”
She tilted her head. “You wouldn’t even be enough for a meal. They can eat eighty-eight pounds at once.
Luke heard a crunch. His puppy was chewing on a tiny biscuit.
“That’s just right for him,” Nana said.
She waved goodbye and went down the hall.
Luke and Dad followed. Luke carried the puppy box home; Dad walked with the mother.
He grinned at Luke. “We’ll have our own little zoo.”
Mom was waiting for them. She was making ice cream sundaes.
“A celebration,” she said. “For our new four.”
Luke held up three fingers. “The mom and two pups.”
Mom and Dad looked at each other.
“The giraffes are coming this week,” Dad said. “And two Bengal tigers. We need an expert to help us with them.”
Mom held up four fingers. “Three dogs and…”
“An expert,” Dad added.
Luke felt his heart beating fast. Did he know who the expert was?
Dad was nodding.
Was it possible?
“Abuelo?”
“Of course,” Mom said. “He’ll teach us all so many things.”
Benita began to sing. “My brother has tears in his eyes…”
Luke could hardly talk. He scooped up his puppy. He went upstairs.
Benita and Mom went with him.
Mom stopped at the empty bedroom.
A light was on. “It won’t be empty anymore,” she said. “So I’ve painted the walls.”
“Pale green,” Luke said. “Abuelo’s favorite color.”
Pictures were taped to the wall: giraffes, tigers, and Abuelo standing with Luke and Benita.
“Abuelo was lonesome without us,” Mom said. “And we were lonesome for him.”
Luke was having trouble talking again. He went down the hall with his puppy. He put her up on his bed.
The puppy was whimpering.
Luke couldn’t be afraid anymore. The puppy needed him.
“You’re going to be tough one day,” he said. “Tough as a tiger.”
A great name for a puppy.
Tiger leaned closer.
What had Dad said? “You may not be happy at first. But…you’ll see.”
Luke said it aloud to Tiger.
He had friends now. Tori and Omar.
Mitchell would be home soon. And there was Alex, who never stopped talking…
And best of all, Abuelo.
Luke heard Benita singing. “I have a dog. Her name is Sweet Pea.”
Sweet Pea? Wow.
Luke patted Tiger’s head. “Let’s count. Then we’ll fall asleep.”
“Elephants, hippos, jaguars.”
Tiger closed his eyes.
“Pumas…”
Luke closed his eyes too. “Meerkats…”
He loved this place.
He really did.
MORE ABOUT WILD ANIMALS
SPIDER MONKEYS
These are the largest of the monkey groups. They’re the only ones that don’t have thumbs—maybe with those long tails, they don’t need them.
They bark like dogs and neigh like horses.
They’re endangered now because their homes in the rain forests are being cleared. They’re also hunted for meat. Zoos are helping them stay alive.
GIRAFFES
World Giraffe Day: June 21.
A baby giraffe is called a calf. It runs with its mother when it’s only ten hours old.
Giraffes grunt and snort. They snore, hiss, and moo. When the mom whistles for her calf, it mews back.
Every giraffe has different spots. But they all have four stomachs.
In the wild, many babies don’t live to grow up. Zoos give them safe places to live.
WHAT MITCHELL LEARNED AT CAMP TO HELP WILDLIFE
Keep your cat indoors. Five million birds are killed by outdoor cats every year.
Put a birdbath in your yard. Fill it with water every day.
Plant a tree for birds to nest.
Help clean parks and outdoor spaces.
Don’t pull dandelions out of your lawn. Bees love them.
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Meet the Crew at the Zoo Page 2
