On Saturday afternoon the children walked to the zoo. Everything seemed to be going smoothly since the electricity had been restored in the kitchen. Even Edward was in a good humor.
It was a cloudy day, but it didn’t dampen the children’s spirits. And then, too, the new T-shirts Edward had given them cheered them up. Edward had asked the Aldens to each choose one they liked from the zoo’s gift shop. Today they all wore jeans and their new T-shirts, on the back of which, in large letters, was the name, MARLOW’S ZOO. The front of each T-shirt was very different. Violet’s lavender T-shirt had a black panther painted on the front. Benny wore a white T-shirt with a monkey swinging from a tree. Jessie’s red T-shirt carried a sketch of seals, one diving in the water and another sunning itself on a rock. Henry’s black T-shirt had a striking head of a zebra. Even Grandfather had gotten one. His was blue with a golden lion.
The children walked along, Henry and Violet behind Benny and Jessie. Benny and Jessie picked up speed when the gates of the zoo came into view.
All at once Benny’s footsteps slowed.
“What’s the matter, Benny?” Violet asked softly.
“That black car parked at the curb,” he murmured, dragging his feet, not wanting to go by.
“It’s okay,” Jessie said, noticing the woman seated behind the wheel. “It’s Helen Brooks. Just say hello and pass on by.”
The car windows were rolled down, and
Jessie politely greeted Miss Brooks, as did the others. Benny gave her a timid hello.
“Children!” Miss Brooks ordered, a frown remaining on her pointed face, “Come here!” She leaned across the seat.
Stiffly Henry moved to the car, wondering what she wanted.
“Has there been trouble at the zoo?” she asked, her dark eyes studying Henry’s face.
“Mr. Marlow could answer that,” Henry said. He didn’t want to lie, but he didn’t want to give her information that would damage the zoo.
“Well,” Helen Brooks grumbled, “I don’t live too far from here, and the other night the animals were making a dreadful racket. I know something disturbed them, and I want to know what.”
Jessie, who had joined Henry, peered inside the car. “The animals are often restless and noisy at night,” she answered, neatly sidestepping Miss Brooks’ question.
Helen Brooks’ mouth turned down in a sour line. “I can see I won’t gain information from the four of you! You’re Edward’s friends, and that’s that!”
Violet silently agreed. She had no intention of telling her about the problem with the food.
Helen Brooks straightened up behind the steering wheel, glaring. “Run along, children.” She picked up a notebook, jotting down a few words.
“Why do you suppose she’s sitting by the zoo?” Violet questioned as they moved away.
“I don’t know what she’s looking for,” Jessie said. “Maybe she’s counting the number of people who visit the zoo.”
“You mean if not enough people come she’ll say the zoo should be closed?” Benny asked, his eyes big and questioning.
“That’s one possibility,” Henry answered, as he chuckled. “But here’s four she can count!” And they passed through the zoo’s gates.
“I think Helen Brooks is a snoop!” Benny said indignantly.
“It does look like she’s spying,” Jessie said. “I’d like to get hold of her notebook.”
“We’ll tell Edward about her,” Violet promised.
Their first stop was at the tropical Bird House where heat and moisture filled the air. The beautiful colored birds screeched and flew about. Parrots from South America had vivid colors … green, blue, and yellow.
Benny liked the laughing kookaburra from Australia with its flat bill, while Violet preferred the long-legged pink flamingos.
They soon left, and Jessie noticed Pat at the seal pond. They hurried over to see why the seals were clapping their flippers.
“Hi, kids,” Pat called cheerfully, bending over a bucket of fish. “Watch this!” She tossed a fish in the pond, and a seal, eager for a tasty snack, dived after it. Coming up with the trout in his mouth, the seal swam to the edge and clambered up on a rock where he perched and clapped for more.
“That’s all there is,” Pat said, tipping over the bucket. “Until tonight.”
Pat turned back to the Aldens. “It’s good to see you again,” she said, smiling. “I believe you like this zoo as much as I do.”
“Oh, we do!” Benny piped up. “The zoo is great!”
Pat chuckled and leaned over the railing overlooking the honking seals. “If Edward ever wants to sell this place, I’d be ready to buy it.”
Violet shot Henry a surprised look. Maybe, she thought, Pat was the guilty one. Did she think that if she could do enough mischief in the zoo she might be able to buy it at a good price?
“Let’s go and see Amos the monkey,” Benny said. “He misses me.”
Henry laughed. “How do you know, Benny? Have you two been having secret conversations?”
Benny grinned. “In a way.”
“It’s easy to get attached to particular animals,” Pat said. “And you’d be surprised how attached animals get to their keepers. Some animals want only Edward to feed them and are upset when they see me coming with their food.” She paused. “It’s too bad, though, when visitors feed them, unless it’s the prepared food sacks that the zoo sells.”
“Do people often feed them the wrong things?” Violet wanted to know.
“Yes. They feed them everything.” She shook her head. “One man held out a jar of olives to the elephant. He thought the elephant would just take one, but to his shocked surprise, the elephant swallowed the whole jar.”
“Oh, no,” Jessie said. “Was the elephant all right?”
“I kept the elephant under observation for a week, and after that time, I knew he was okay.” She walked toward the Bengal tigers’ area. “See you later,” she said with a pleasant wave.
Jessie watched as Pat walked away. She liked Pat a lot, but ever since her remark about wanting to buy the zoo, she’d begun to doubt her.
Benny ran ahead to see Amos, who immediately showed off by putting his tin cup on his head.
Violet read the sign. “ ‘These monkeys are capuchins, one of the most intelligent breed of monkeys. They are always eager to learn.’ ”
Benny nodded as if he’d known this all along. “Could we go to the bookstore and find another book on monkeys?” he asked.
“Good idea,” Henry replied. “We’ll go right now.”
They left the zoo and were soon in the bookstore searching for books on monkeys.
Mac Thatcher, sitting on a high stool by the cash register, stood up. “What can I do for you today?” he questioned.
“I need a book on monkeys,” Benny said.
“Hmmm,” Mac said, reaching for a book. “Here you go.”
Benny opened the book but he was disappointed in the long words, fine print, and lack of pictures. “No, I want one for me,” he said.
“Oh, a baby book,” Mac said, carelessly giving him a book.
“Not a baby book!” Benny said, sticking out his chin. “I’m six years old!”
“All the monkey books are in that section,” Mac said, pointing.
Benny soon lost himself hunting for just the right book.
“So what’s going on at the zoo?” Mac asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Someone switched the animals’ tags,” Henry answered.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Mac said, but he didn’t look very sorry. “Anything else?”
“The electricity was cut off,” Jessie said.
“Oh?” Mac said, his eyes lighting up with interest. “What happened?”
“We helped feed the animals until the electrician could get there,” Jessie said.
“Well, well,” Mac commented. Just then a small dog scampered over to Mac and began to whine and paw at his trouser leg. “What do you want, Scamper?” Mac asked.
Jessie glanced about, noticing the dog’s food bowl under one of the shelves. It was empty. So was the water bowl.
“I think Scamper’s hungry,” Jessie said.
Mac shrugged. “Oh, I suppose he is. I forgot to feed him today.”
Scamper lay down on an old rug, his bright eyes eagerly watching his master for a sign of food.
“If you tell me where you keep your dog’s food, I’ll be glad to fill his bowl,” Violet offered shyly.
“Forget it,” Mac said. With a sigh, he went into the back room, and returned with Scamper’s dinner.
“Satisfied?” Mac said with a scowl, glaring at the children.
“And water?” Jessie asked.
Mac grabbed the dog’s bowl and filled it.
No one said anything as they observed the dog, eagerly eating and drinking. The bowls were soon empty.
After a few minutes, Benny shouted triumphantly, “I’ve found my book!”
Jessie and Violet looked over Benny’s shoulders at the beautifully illustrated book on monkeys.
Henry paid for the book and they left, glad to leave gloomy Mac to himself.
“Mac Thatcher isn’t nice to his dog,” Benny pronounced, his mouth drooping.
“No. Mac Thatcher doesn’t seem to care if he feeds Scamper or not,” Jessie said. “He wasn’t helpful in finding Benny’s book either.”
“He’s an unhappy man,” Violet said softly.
When they opened the front door, they saw Grandfather and Edward sitting at a small table. They were playing chess.
“Hi, Aldens,” Edward called. “Is everything all right at the zoo?”
“Fine,” Henry answered. “We saw Pat, then watched the monkeys for a while.”
“But we did see Helen Brooks sitting in her car by the zoo,” Jessie said.
“She asked us questions, but we didn’t tell her a thing!” Benny said in a firm voice.
“Good for you!” Edward said.
“Then I got this book at the bookstore,” Benny said, holding it out to Grandfather.
Grandfather paged through the book. “It’s a wonderful book, Benny. I know you’ll enjoy it!”
That was one of the many things Jessie liked about Grandfather. He always encouraged them to read, and often gave them books for presents.
“Whew! I’m hot!” Benny gasped, dropping onto the sofa.
“How about a cold glass of lemonade?” Jessie asked.
“You bet,” he said, sitting up.
“And how about you, Edward and Grandfather?”
“That sounds good,” Grandfather said.
Edward was concentrating so hard on the chess game he only nodded.
Even the night didn’t bring any relief from the heat. It was very hot, even for late August.
Early the next morning the phone shrilled throughout the small house. The children were on their way downstairs.
Edward, dressed and ready to go out the door, said, “It’s Pat at the zoo. She wants me to meet her at the seals. Something is wrong.”
“Could we come along?” Henry asked.
Edward nodded. “Maybe you can help again. I can depend on you Aldens!” he said, pleased. “Your grandfather is still sleeping.”
When they reached the seals, Pat was pouring water over a coughing seal, who constantly clapped his flippers. Another seal lay on the rocks, too still and quiet.
Edward stood before the seal pond, too stunned to move. The pond had been drained. It had been a hot night, and the seals had been without water.
“Who could have done this?” Pat cried, shaking her head. “It’s good I was here early this morning. I turned the water on, but it will take a little while for the pool to fill. Pat’s face was pale and she looked helplessly at the children.
Furious, Edward whirled and got some buckets. Then he and the Aldens brought buckets of water and doused the seals, who clapped for more. The seal lying down perked up at the first bucketful of water.
Once the pool was full and the seals were again in the water, the children sat down to rest. It was good to listen to the seals honking and splashing with pleasure.
“This is terrible,” Jessie said. “The poor seals could have died.”
“We’d better find out who’s doing this,” Henry said, “before Helen Brooks finds out. The seals would fill a page in her notebook.”
Violet said thoughtfully, “I wonder why Pat came to the zoo early today.”
“I think it’s Mac Thatcher!” Benny stated, his brown eyes flashing. “He hates animals, and that’s why he’s doing all these mean things.”
“Whoa,” Henry said. “Just because he forgot to feed his dog doesn’t mean he’s guilty.”
“Then it’s Helen Brooks,” Jessie said with a firm nod. “If she could prove the animals were being mistreated, she could get the zoo closed in a minute.”
Violet didn’t answer. They didn’t really have a clue, she thought, as to who the guilty person could be. And if they didn’t find out soon, Edward would lose his zoo! Even worse, some animals might die.
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