Big Game by Stuart Gibbs

Author:Stuart Gibbs
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

PANCAKE

“As you can see, all the orangutans are present and accounted for,” Kyle teased. “I’ve been keeping a careful eye on them today.”

I sighed, realizing Mom must have told him about my theory. I was back at Monkey Mountain, standing in front of the orang exhibit. I’d stopped there on the way to Mom’s office. Kyle had wandered up, a takeout bag from PastafaZoola in his hand. I hadn’t actually expected any of the apes to be missing—although, in truth, I’d secretly hoped one might be, so it would prove my theory right.

The exhibit, like every other one at Monkey Mountain, was spectacular. It had been modeled after an actual place in the rainforest on Borneo, the orangutans’ natural habitat. Although most of the trees were fake, they looked real enough, and they provided plenty of places for the orangs to climb and play. Unlike chimps and gorillas, orangutans spend most of their time above the ground, and this was certainly the case at FunJungle. The adults were nestled in crooks of trees, either eating or sleeping, while the younger ones were constantly on the move through the branches. At the moment, to the great delight of the tourists around me, they appeared to be playing a game of arboreal tag, chasing one another all around the forest.

“Where’s Pancake?” I asked. “I don’t see him.”

“My goodness!” Kyle gasped, overdramatically. “You’re right! He’s busted out again!”

“Where is he really? Still sick?”

“I guess so. You heading to see your mom?”

“Yeah.”

“Come on back.”

Kyle led me to the closest door that accessed the employee area of Monkey Mountain, then entered that day’s code on the security keypad. It clicked open and we slipped through quickly, trying not to draw much attention. A family still noticed us, though. I saw the kids staring after me jealously, wondering why I got to go behind the scenes and they didn’t.

If the kids had been able to see the backstage area, they might not have been so jealous. The corridors were dull, unpainted cement, and the housing areas for the animals were much less beautiful than the parts tourists could see. Except for a window that looked out onto the gorilla exhibit, my mother’s office looked pretty much like any other office in the world.

On the way through, Kyle paused by a window that went from the hall into the backstage area of the baboon exhibit. I joined him to see what he was looking at.

Bababoonie was curled up in the corner of his cage, which was unusual. As the dominant male, he was extremely proud and was usually parading in front of the tourists. “How’s his tooth?” I asked.

“He definitely busted it,” Kyle said. “I don’t know how. Chewing on the bars or something. One of his big canines. Doc’s going to replace it today.”

“How?”

“The same way you’d get a tooth replaced if you cracked one. Doc will make a mold of the old one, use that to sculpt a new one, and then screw it into Bababoonie’s jaw.

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